Navigating the Complex and Evolving Research Landscape without a Precise Map

“We need reliable support to help us make smarter, defendable decisions about allocating internal funding.” - Vice Chancellor for Research

Academic decision makers need accurate research performance insight to make appropriate funding decisions and develop strategic blueprints that will lead their institutions to valuable breakthroughs

“Pinpointing new interdisciplinary themes is like looking for a needle in a haystack. We need to take the guesswork out of it.” – Director, Office for Research

To date, research output has been evaluated based on the journal in which it is published. Each scientific journal is classified into a major field despite the fact that journals are progressively covering a wider array of disciplines and paradigms (sub-topics) that are not properly reflected in their field classification. The nature of this “square peg in a round hole” system leaves critical interdisciplinary research overlooked and unaccounted for – allowing only a simplistic and reductionist view of current institutional research initiatives.

As a result, valuable resources may not be put to their best use, collaboration opportunities can be missed, and emerging research trends can go undiscovered.

“We need to put together exceptional research teams in order to solve new problems and get at the funding.” – Vice Chancellor for Research

What is needed is an integrated and multidisciplinary view of the unique research strengths and vulnerabilities of one’s institution in order to answer the following questions:

•  How effective have our strategic decisions regarding research been?
•  How can we best allocate limited internal funding?
•  How do we compare to competitors in our areas of strength?
• Are we overlooking opportunities?
•  Which researchers should we consider recruiting? Which should we be sure to retain?
• Who are our potential collaborators?

Find out how SciVal Spotlight helps provide the answers.
Click here.