Research Strategy, 2005 - 2010
Defining policy for the recognition and management of research entities
In order to achieve the MRC's research objectives as outlined above, research priorities will be driven by two different mechanisms:
- Initiatives that are strategic in nature and are driven by the MRC Board and executive and are responded to by individual researchers
- Initiatives that are driven by individuals requesting a response from the MRC in terms of its policies.
Initiatives that are strategic in nature are identified as MRC national collaborative research programmes (NCRPs) and rapid response projects. Some collaborative research groups (CRGs) could fall under this category.
Initiatives driven by individuals are identified as research projects and units. Some units and projects in the same thematic area could also wish to work together within CRGs.
The following definitions are suggested for the four categories of research entities:
Research project
This constitutes the fundamental unitary research activity conducted or supported by the MRC. Projects will be recognised either as stand-alone, single initiative, or within the context of larger entities such as units or strategic programmes.
Each project should be motivated by an accountable project leader, have a clearly defined research question, describe its proposed methodological approach and include a defensible and realistic budget. It could have a planned duration of one, two or three years, and must be closely monitored and accounted.
Projects can either be entirely initiated by individuals, or be initiated by individuals in response to specific calls for proposals from the MRC Executive Management Committee.
There will be three categories of research project:
Self-initiated
- Developmental
- Rapid response
The self-initiated project is the prototypical unit of research activity. The funding of the project is based on the scientific merit of the project and the research productivity of the project leader.
The developmental project has as its principal aim the creation of a practical research framework within which new researchers are inducted into the research process. For this to be a relevant and useful exercise it needs to qualify for all the other criteria as specified for the self-initiated project. To succeed, the project may require support and mentoring from established researchers as well as input from the MRC Capacity Development Technical Unit.
The rapid response project is solicited by the MRC Board and executive in the form of specific calls for proposals in response to specific health or disease issues as they unfold. Emergency contingency funds are budgeted for retention by the MRC executive for commitment at short notice.
Projects could be stand-alone entities, or could choose to join other thematically related projects within a unit, CRG or NCRP. Currently researchers within an MRC unit are not allowed to apply in an individual capacity for MRC grants or funds. This is an impediment to the development of young researchers, and this constraint should be removed.
Research unit
Currently, the MRC research unit is considered the prime means by which the MRC recognises and supports the country's outstanding health researchers. The number of MRC research entities has now grown to nearly fifty, and not all of them are internationally competitive or productive. Most of the extra-mural units/groups/centres receive only a fraction of their research costs from the MRC, and the MRC is in no position to optimally support the large number of them that have been established over the years. Moreover, unqualified support for the continuation of the current MRC perception of units could lead to the perpetuation of 'silos' instead of the collaborative and multidisciplinary approach to research that the MRC is contemplating in its new MRC Strategic Plan 2005-2010. The following measures are proposed to address the above problems:
- Outstanding researchers and individual research initiatives, both intramural and extramural, should continue to be encouraged to compete for the establishment of new units or the continuation of existing units in areas where they are highly productive, and where there is no competitive advantage in joining forces with other MRC research entities.
- Wherever possible and practicable, individual units and projects should be encouraged to join, or to work strategically with, other thematically related research entities within collaborative groups and national programmes in areas of national and regional priority.
- Intramural research activities, especially in the Health Systems, Settings and Policy focal area, could continue to be best served through the consolidation, and possible merger, of existing intramural units.
- Other intramural units could be encouraged to reconfigure and join forces to form core facilities for the provision of technology support to the MRC's collaborative and national health research initiatives.
- Intramural research units and projects which are not involved in service provision should be funded under the same guidelines as extramural research units.
Collaborative research group (CRG)
This new MRC research entity aims to encourage broader networking and diversification in health research. This could be a researcher-led or executive initiative and consists of two or more self-associated project leaders and unit directors working on a specific theme. It is a flexible, dynamic structure but has formal recognition; can be transnational or transcontinental; and should be multidisciplinary and multi-institutional to encourage both internal and external cross-fertilisation.
National collaborative research programme (NCRP)
This is normally an MRC Board and executive initiative. It addresses a major national strategic health, disease, or systems issue. This constitutes one of the major mechanisms for the alignment of the strategic objectives of the MRC with the Department of Health. The expected outcomes should normally address all three focal areas: Population Health, Disease and Disease Mechanisms, and Health Systems, Settings and Policy.
The MRC national collaborative research programmes constitute a national base of investigators, comprising intra- and extramural unit directors and other entities whose objectives are in alignment with those of the MRC. The lifespan of an MRC national collaborative research programme will be determined by the objectives of the individual programme and will be subject to review at predetermined intervals. The MRC will collaborate with partners such as the National Department of Health, the Department of Science and Technology and the Department of Trade and Industry to obtain funding support for such entities.
The proposed MRC national collaborative research programmes (NCRPs) and the MRC collaborative research groups (CRGs) will be selected from topics within these areas:
- HIV and AIDS (including SAAVI)
- Tuberculosis
- Malaria
- Cancer
- African health indigenous knowledge systems, and drug discovery and development initiatives
- Genomics, proteomics and computational biology
- Nutrition
- Crime, violence and injury
- Women, maternal and child health
- Cardiovascular and metabolic diseases
- Mental health and functional disorders
- Policy and implementation
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