Note from Managing Editor
Dear Readers,
With the beginning of a new year, we present to you a brand new issue of Aditi Bulletin. The theme of this issue is ‘Building a Research Agenda’, which is representative of new beginnings. Research is the ‘bread and butter’ of think tanks, thus building an agenda to guide the direction in which research is conducted is a crucial exercise. In this issue, we have tried to capture a couple of different ways in which organisations approach their research agenda-setting activity. After reading this issue, if you would like to share your stories, do write to us at cpe@cstep.in. Since Aditi is essentially a blog, there are no restrictions on adding new content to an issue. Happy reading!
Regards,
Managing Editor, Aditi
Editorial
Jai Asundi
Research Coordinator, CSTEP
A research agenda is a plan that focuses on ideas and issues which are relevant and topical to a nation and important and useful for an organisation/think tank. It helps an organisation to plan and articulate long and short-term goals. Having an agenda, not only helps a think tank prioritise research topics, but also aids in various decision making processes within the organisation. In addition to this, it indirectly helps in improving the quality of research data because the focus remains on topics of relevance and interest.
One of the main objectives of a think tank is to inform and create an impact on society, influence a nation’s policy making process and contribute to public debate. Researchers may form only a small part of a nation’s policy making process but are sometimes able to exert influence by providing solutions to issues of national importance. With this in mind, an organisation defines a research agenda by identifying topics which are of importance to the nation and is also, often, part of the political agenda of a government.
CSTEP, as a think tank working to become a foremost institution for policy innovation and analysis, has identified several areas of importance and defined its research agenda accordingly. These areas have been chosen based on the need for evidence based research, its ability to inform the policy making process and most importantly, raise sufficient funds to conduct the necessary research. Any prospective funder always looks at partnering/providing funds to issues that they assign topmost priority on their political agenda. So, while creating a research agenda, it is crucial to understand the larger picture of how your research agenda may have elements which could provide partial solutions to an issue of political importance.
At CSTEP, the primary areas of research are identified, by the senior management through a well- planned exercise, based on availability of expertise, interest of the political community and importance of the topic. Ideally a research agenda is a living document, which is referred to and updated when new priorities are identified.
In this issue of Aditi Bulletin, Alfred R Bizoza, Director of Research and Alexandre Simons, Sennior Research Fellow at IPAR-Rwanda, talk about how the institute set its research agenda, keeping in mind the country’s emerging goals, its vision and various strategic goals of the government, its regional needs and international goals such as the Sustainable Development Goals. Prof. S. B. Agnihotri, Head, Centre for Policy Studies, IIT Bombay, in his article, talks about the need for dialogue, between technical and social science disciplines, especially when policy issues are increasingly required to appreciate technological dimensions of different issues. Leandro Echt, General Coordinator of Politics & Ideas and Andrea Odronez, Associate at Politics & Ideas talk about the next step after identifying policy relevant research agenda: validating it using internal and external sources. According to Echt and Ordonez, without connecting the initial ideas and interests with the opinions and needs of others, the research agenda might become only a wish-list, disconnected from reality, and lacking social and political relevance. Finally, Dr. Shyamika Jayasundara- Smits, a researcher at the International Institute of Social Studies, Erasmus University Rotterdam in the Netherlands, believes that thinking in terms of ‘wicked problems’ (she describes them as problems worth solving, but are also seemingly impossible to solve due to various reasons) helps a researcher build an impactful research agenda that closely reflects the realities on the ground- even if pursuing this path requires intellectual stamina and the ability to walk around with a ‘black sheep’ label among peers.
We hope you enjoy reading this issue!
by S.B. Agnihotri, Head, Centre for Policy Studies, IIT Bombay
Drafting and validating your research agenda
by Leandro Echt, General Coordinator of Politics & Ideas; Coordinator of the On Think Tanks School and Editor for Latin America & Andrea Ordoñez, Associate at Politics & Ideas; Research Coordinator at Southern Voice
This post describes the components of a short course conducted by the On think Tanks School on Designing policy relevant research agendas.
Dear Readers,
With the beginning of a new year, we present to you a brand new issue of Aditi Bulletin. The theme of this issue is ‘Building a Research Agenda’, which is representative of new beginnings. Research is the ‘bread and butter’ of think tanks, thus building an agenda to guide the direction in which research is conducted is a crucial exercise. In this issue, we have tried to capture a couple of different ways in which organisations approach their research agenda-setting activity. After reading this issue, if you would like to share your stories, do write to us at cpe@cstep.in. Since Aditi is essentially a blog, there are no restrictions on adding new content to an issue. Happy reading!
Managing Editor, Aditi
Editorial
Jai Asundi
Research Coordinator, CSTEP
A research agenda is a plan that focuses on ideas and issues which are relevant and topical to a nation and important and useful for an organisation/think tank. It helps an organisation to plan and articulate long and short-term goals. Having an agenda, not only helps a think tank prioritise research topics, but also aids in various decision making processes within the organisation. In addition to this, it indirectly helps in improving the quality of research data because the focus remains on topics of relevance and interest.
One of the main objectives of a think tank is to inform and create an impact on society, influence a nation’s policy making process and contribute to public debate. Researchers may form only a small part of a nation’s policy making process but are sometimes able to exert influence by providing solutions to issues of national importance. With this in mind, an organisation defines a research agenda by identifying topics which are of importance to the nation and is also, often, part of the political agenda of a government.
CSTEP, as a think tank working to become a foremost institution for policy innovation and analysis, has identified several areas of importance and defined its research agenda accordingly. These areas have been chosen based on the need for evidence based research, its ability to inform the policy making process and most importantly, raise sufficient funds to conduct the necessary research. Any prospective funder always looks at partnering/providing funds to issues that they assign topmost priority on their political agenda. So, while creating a research agenda, it is crucial to understand the larger picture of how your research agenda may have elements which could provide partial solutions to an issue of political importance.
At CSTEP, the primary areas of research are identified, by the senior management through a well- planned exercise, based on availability of expertise, interest of the political community and importance of the topic. Ideally a research agenda is a living document, which is referred to and updated when new priorities are identified.
In this issue of Aditi Bulletin, Alfred R Bizoza, Director of Research and Alexandre Simons, Sennior Research Fellow at IPAR-Rwanda, talk about how the institute set its research agenda, keeping in mind the country’s emerging goals, its vision and various strategic goals of the government, its regional needs and international goals such as the Sustainable Development Goals. Prof. S. B. Agnihotri, Head, Centre for Policy Studies, IIT Bombay, in his article, talks about the need for dialogue, between technical and social science disciplines, especially when policy issues are increasingly required to appreciate technological dimensions of different issues. Leandro Echt, General Coordinator of Politics & Ideas and Andrea Odronez, Associate at Politics & Ideas talk about the next step after identifying policy relevant research agenda: validating it using internal and external sources. According to Echt and Ordonez, without connecting the initial ideas and interests with the opinions and needs of others, the research agenda might become only a wish-list, disconnected from reality, and lacking social and political relevance. Finally, Dr. Shyamika Jayasundara- Smits, a researcher at the International Institute of Social Studies, Erasmus University Rotterdam in the Netherlands, believes that thinking in terms of ‘wicked problems’ (she describes them as problems worth solving, but are also seemingly impossible to solve due to various reasons) helps a researcher build an impactful research agenda that closely reflects the realities on the ground- even if pursuing this path requires intellectual stamina and the ability to walk around with a ‘black sheep’ label among peers.
We hope you enjoy reading this issue!
Articles
by Alexandre Simons, Ph.D., Integrated Expert – Senior Research Fellow and Alfred R. Bizoza, Director of Research at the Institute of Policy Analysis and Research (IPAR-Rwanda), Rwanda
by Dr. Shyamika Jayasundara-Smits, PhD Researcher at International Institute of Social Studies, Erasmus University Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Drafting and validating your research agenda
by Leandro Echt, General Coordinator of Politics & Ideas; Coordinator of the On Think Tanks School and Editor for Latin America & Andrea Ordoñez, Associate at Politics & Ideas; Research Coordinator at Southern Voice
Interesting Readings
Defining a research agenda. Balancing internal and external influences
The article provides an insight into various external and internal factors influencing research agendas of think tanks in developing countries. The author also shares some ideas on how a research agenda can be defined and designed.
The power of reflection when building your research agenda
The article focuses on the importance of reflection while designing a research agenda. The author attended the course on Doing Policy Relevant Research by P& I, which shed light on problems plaguing institutional and personal research agenda setting..
Research Uptake – what goes in is what comes out
This article highlights the importance of integrating Research Uptake (RU) related components (like impact measurement, stakeholder engagement planning, etc.) in the research agenda designing process.
Short Course on Designing policy relevant research agendas
