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About the Programme

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WHY DOING RESEARCH?

The implementation of the global agenda for sustainable development requires local research capacity to ensure that the scientific community is equipped to critically analyze development and policy challenges, and to inform policies and reforms with contextualised knowledge of the local environment. 

The Doing Research (DR) programme launched by GDN in 2014, systematically assesses how the characteristics of a national research system impact the capacity to produce, diffuse and use high-quality social science research, for social and economic development, in Low- and Middle- Income Countries (LMICs). By providing new data and research on these aspects through a new comparative framework, the DR program aims to help national policy makers, national and international donors, research institutions, and academics to strategise their efforts to strengthen the local production of quality academic research and its contribution to public debate and sustainable development policy.

   

The program focuses on the implementation of an original comparative methodology called the Doing Research Assessment (DRA) to assess social science research systems in LMICs. This methodology allows local research teams to generate high-quality evidence on the strengths, weaknesses, challenges and bottlenecks that affect quality and policy-relevant social science research across LMICs. GDN partners with research institutions in LMICs (competitively selected) to implement the DR Assessment in their country.


HOW DOING RESEARCH EVOLVED

Since its introduction in 2014, the DR programme has gone through three phases of development: The pilot phase, the proof-of-concept phase and the scale-up phase. Learn more here.

1. Doing Research Pilot

The DR pilot was the first phase (2014-2016), which aimed to characterise, describe, and, whenever possible, measure the most relevant features of the research environment across 11 countries: 
Africa: Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Niger, South Africa
Latin America: Bolivia, Paraguay, Peru
Asia: Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Indonesia

Covering a diverse sample of countries in very different contexts, and using varied research methodologies, the pilot provided rich qualitative information on the complex nature of research environments. The DR Pilot was implemented by GDN between April 2014 and April 2016 and generously supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Agence Française de Développement (AFD), French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Development and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation.

Find more about the Doing Research Pilot stage | Read their case study reports | Read the Pilot Phase Synthesis | Read the independent Evaluation Report

 

2. Doing Research Proof of Concept 

In 2017, GDN summarised the 11-country-level studies undertaken in the pilot phase and developed a standard methodology called the  Doing Research Assessment (DRA) to study social science research systems in developing countries. In 2018, GDN decided to root the implementation of the methodology in the work of national institutions interested in the topic, supporting at the same time the emergence of a network of research centres around the Global South. The DRAs in Myanmar, Indonesia, Nigeria and Bolivia were implemented from January 2018 to December 2020, with funding from GDN and International Development Research Centre (IDRC) (for Myanmar).

The programme produced knowledge on the performance of research systems, release original data on research systems and organise discussions and outreach about strengthening research systems to enable social progress. GDN ensured that results were locally relevant, actionable and comparable.

Find more about the Doing Research Proof of Concept stage | Read about the Proof-of-Concept kick-off workshop

 

The DRAs in these countries have shown a strong demand for the knowledge the programme generates, from the national and the international level.

In Myanmar, GDN was asked by the Ministry of Education to support the drafting of the next National Education Strategic Policy (2021-30) with regard to research-related priorities, and the National Education Policy Commission requested a national webinar to launch the Myanmar language edition of the 2020 report. GDN worked with two international donors to expand the exercise and replicate it in 2021.

In Indonesia, the National Institute of Sciences (LIPI) invited the DR team to join the social science agenda setting meetings at the national level. In addition, the launch of the Bahasa Indonesia edition of the 2020 report offered an opportunity to engage further players.

In Nigeria, the DRA was launched by the Deputy Minister of Science and Technology, TETFUND and the National Universities Commission.

In Bolivia, the Director of the Centre for the Studies of Social and Economic Realities (CERES) launched the DRA in Cochabamba, Bolivia. The launch, which has been a thought-provoking discussion about Bolivia’s research landscape for social sciences, was also attended by, among others, key social science researchers from Latin American Council of Social Sciences (CLACSO). The production of the Spanish edition of the report is expected to keep fuelling the debate and much evidence generation on the topic. 

Read the DRA Country Reports (and executive summaries in local language) and watch the webinars where the reports were presented and discussed with external key players.

 

3. Doing Research Scale-Up

With the standard DRA methodology, GDN is now scaling up the Doing Research programme to entire regions or groups of countries. Find more about the Doing Research Scale-Up stage

EL SALVADOR AND VENEZUELA  |  2021-2022

The scale-up phase kicked off with a DRA in El Salvador in 2021 and a preliminary effort to make sense of the state of science and technology in Venezuela (in partnership with the International Development Research Centre). Read the Doing Research in Venezuela report (English | Spanish), a preliminary study of the state of the country's research system that draws on interviews and desk research.

 

FRANCOPHONE AFRICA  |  2022-2024

In 2022, the DR global initiative expanded into Francophone Africa. After GDN launched a call for expressions of interest to conduct DRAs, five research teams, each led by a Principal Investigator (PI) from institutions in:

  • BENINAction Center for Environment and Sustainable Development (ACED) (PI: Professor Roch MONGBO)
  • CHADCenter for Research and Socio-Economic and Political Studies (CRESPO) (PI: Professor Madjindaye YAMBAIDJE)
  • MALIEducational Research Network for West and Central Africa (ROCARE) (PI: Professor Nouhoun SIDIBE)
  • CAMEROONUniversity of Dschang (PI:  Dr. Armand MBOUTCHOUANG)
  • BURKINA FASOCenter of Documentation and Economic and Social Research (CEDRES)/University of Thomas Sankara (PI: Dr. Natéwindé SAWADOGO).

The DRAs in Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad, and Cameroon are funded by the French Agency for Development (AFD), while the DRA in Mali is funded by GDN.

 

Scale-up in 2024

TUNISIA

In March 2024, the DR global initiative expanded to Tunisia, in a funding and programmatic partnership with Expertise France, in the context of the EC-funded project, Savoirs Eco. Eight teams responded to the call that was launched in October 2023 to carry out the research that will lead to the DR report on Tunisia. An international selection jury comprising GDN staff, a representative of Expertise France, and three renown scholars with interdisciplinary backgrounds, convened in February 2024. The selected team was put together by the Applied Social Sciences Forum (ASSF), coordinated by Professor Abdelwahab Benafaiedh, and is composed by an interdisciplinary pool of experienced and younger researchers who will be responsible for the actual research. As is usual in DR initiatives, the team in Tunisia will be supported by a mentor, Professor Ghazi Boulila.

The programme was launched at the oldest public research center in the country, the CERES, in the presence of representatives from the Ministry of Higher Education and Research, the CERES and other research centers, and individual researchers with an interest in the development of social sciences and economics in Tunisia. The objective of the meeting was to also launch an inclusive, public forum on the state of health of social sciences in Tunisia and their contribution to national development, anticipating the Doing Research initiative’s milestones and dissemination activities.

The research commenced in May 2024, with the country analysis chapter. This was discussed at an internal meeting in June, and will be presented officially at the mid-way workshop scheduled for October 3, 2024 in Sidi Bou Said. The project was presented at the annual meeting of the Association of Tunisian Economists from June 7-8, in Hammamet, Tunisia. The programme will run for 15 months, and has a budget of 130,000€. The final conference where the results of the project will be presented, is scheduled for April 2025.

 

ASIA AND SOUTH PACIFIC

In May 2024, GDN launched a call to invite applications from research teams based in Asia to act as Doing Research (DR) national correspondents interested in leading DRAs in their respective countries starting in October 2024. All Asian countries were welcome to apply, particularly teams from countries represented in the Association of Asian Social Science Research Councils (AASSREC). Specific attention was given to applications from teams based in Cambodia, Laos and India. A grant of up to 50,000 USD is available for each research team to implement a DRA in their respective country for a period of 15 months, with technical support and advice from GDN’s global Doing Research team. This call is closed.

The three DRAs in Cambodia, Laos and India will be implemented as part of the programme, Boosting Social Sciences and their Contribution to Better Lives across the Indo-Pacific, a joint effort by AASSREC and GDN, in partnership with UNESCO and supported by Canada's IDRC. In India, GDN has joined hands with the Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR), one of the largest producer of quality social science research in the global South. 

In August 2024, GDN launched another call for expressions of interest from research teams based in Thailand, Indonesia and Fiji to evaluate social science research systems in the respective countries, using GDN's DRA methodology, starting in early 2025. A grant of up to 50,000 USD is set per research team to implement a DRA in their respective country for a period of 15 months. The DRAs results will be presented at the biennial conference of Association of Asian Social Science Research Councils (AASSREC) in December 2025. The application deadline has been extended to October 14, 2024.

APPLY NOW!

This marks the first wave of regional expansion of the DR global initiative in Asia!

 

VIEW DOING RESEARCH COUNTRIES | RESULTS OF DR PROOF OF CONCEPT AND SCALE-UP


STRUCTURE AND FUNDERS

Team Structure

The Doing Research programme involves six interrelated groups:

1. GLOBAL TEAM AT GDN

Meet the driving force behind the Doing Research programme at GDN!      

2. TECHNICAL CONSULTANTS

There are two DR Technical Consultants which oversee the development of the DRA tool and DRA Framework indicators. Based on DRA Country Reports produced by NFPs, these individuals review the DR methodology and note any contextual differences of implementation with a view to comparing and harmonising DRA indicators.

1. NATIONAL FOCAL POINTS
Since 2018 (Proof of Concept stage), GDN has been implementing Doing Research Assessments in partnership with competitively selected national research institutions – which are called National Focal Points (NFP). The NFP is made up of researchers from local institutions in the Global South dedicated to informing national research policies, using new research-based, comparative evidence. Through the collaboration between GDN and these local institutions, the DR programme aims to inspire research policies, map research strengths, support research capacity building efforts and enhance the quality of research that can be used for policy decisions and local democratic debate in developing countries.

 

2. SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL ADVISORS
Scientific and Technical Advisors, also known as Mentors, are the pinnacle of NFPs’ successful implementation of a DRA and production of quality DRA Country Reports. Mentors provide input for the development of the DRA implementation approach and methodology as a whole. This support is very much focused on adapting the DRA methodology to the country context and think through how to self-evaluate the project (key impact areas and strategies to achieve them), including in terms of the report’s dissemination and uptake among key stakeholders. This group includes world-class scholars and experts on social science policy and research systems, such as Hebe Vessuri (for the NFP in Bolivia), Fred Carden (for the NFP in Indonesia), Thomas Bossert (for the NFP in El Salvador), Charlotte Galloway (for the NFP in Myanmar) and Andy Frost (for the NFP in Nigeria).

 

3. ADVISORY COMMITTEE
GDN has constituted an Advisory Committee for the Doing Research programme which brings unique knowledge, perspectives and skills on a better way to implement the program. The advisory committee serves to advise, provide recommendations and key information on improving the implementation of the programme, and perform the role of programme advocacy to the global and local (research) community.

  • Aleko Sarris, Emeritus Professor, Department of Economics, University of Athens
  • Anindya Chatterjee, Regional Director for Asia at IDRC
  • Eunice Muthengi, Deputy Head of the DFID East Africa Research Hub
  • Fabian Käser, Executive Secretary, Swiss Commission for Research Partnerships with Developing Countries (KFPE)
  • Fred Carden, Founder of Using Evidence and former Director of Evaluation at IDRC
  • Gargee Ghosh, Director of Development Policy & Finance at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
  • Heide Hackmann, Chief Executive Officer of the International Science Council (ISC)
  • James Wilsdon, Vice-Chair of the International Network for Government Science Advice (INGSA) and Professor at Sheffield University
  • Late Lynn V. Meek, Professor at University of Melbourne and Founder of the LH Martin Institute
  • Nelson Torto, Executive Director of the African Academy of Sciences
  • Patrick Guillaumont, President of the Foundation for Studies and Research on International Development (FERDI)
  • Shanta Devarajan, Senior Director for Development Economics (DEC) at the World Bank

 

4. PREVIOUS ADVISORS

  • Merle Jacob, Lund University
  • Jon-Andri Lys, Swiss Commission for Research Partnerships with Developing Countries
  • Ian Carter, University of Sussex
  • Joseph Hoffman, Independent Consultant
  • Lemma Senbet, African Economic Research Consortium
  • Nupur Barua, South Asia Research Hub, DFID

If you are interested in becoming a Doing Research Scientific and Technical Advisor or Advisory Committee Member, write to us.

 

Funders

The DR programme has benefited from the  Bill and Melinda Gates FoundationAgence Française de Développement (AFD)French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Development and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation for US$785,000 who generously supported the DR pilot phase from 2014-2016.

The current DR scale-up phase is partly funded by GDN, and International Development Research Centre (IDRC), especially in Myanmar. GDN is leading the creation of a coalition of donors and partners to continue support Doing Research Assessments across 50 countries.

To support this work through direct funding or help in identifying donors, please contact Francesco Obino.

 

To support our work in other ways, please write to: 

Daniel Fussy (Asia, Latin America, Anglophone Africa)

Dr. Kadijatou Sama (Francophone Africa)

Dr. Daniele Cantini (Tunisia)