Priority Setting

Researchers and stakeholders jointly identify questions for research

About

Traditionally, researchers, research institutions, or funding organizations decide on the questions that research should answer. However, influential bodies, like the European Commission (EC), the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD), the World Health Organization (WHO), or the UK’s National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) are strongly advising researchers to actively involve non-research stakeholders in setting the scientific research agenda. And indeed, increasing efforts are made to identify stakeholders’ research needs by involving them in research priority setting.

Research priority setting encompasses any activities that involve stakeholders in identifying, prioritizing, and reaching consensus on those areas, topics, or questions that research needs to address. Particularly in the first stage of the research process, when deciding what to research, input from non-research stakeholders can be very beneficial. It has been shown to promote the uptake and implementation of research evidence, secure optimal return on investment, reduce “research waste”, and foster the relevance and legitimacy of research overall.

How we support you

We advise and support researchers in collaboratively working together with stakeholders in order to identify those areas, topics, or questions that research needs to address most urgently. We provide consulting, coaching, and mentoring for the questions: How must the priority setting project be designed and implemented? Who needs to be involved in the project? And how can the identified priorities be sustainably integrated into the research landscape?

We hereby build upon our multifaceted experiences with crowdsourcing research questions („Tell Us! What Questions about Mental Health Does Research Need to Answer?“, „Tell Us! What Questions about Accidental Injuries Does Research Need to Answer?“), lead user / lead expert workshops and sandpit approaches like the Ideas Lab.

Our highly innovative approaches have led to the very successful establishment of two research institutes (LBI for Digital Health and Patient Safety, LBI for Digital Health and Prevention) and three research groups (Research Group D.O.T., Research Group Senescence and Healing of Wounds, Research Group Village).

Resources

Our Priority Setting Project Database offers a comprehensive overview of those projects in which researchers have worked together with non-scientific stakeholders to define priorities for research.

In our scoping review „Involving Stakeholders in Research Priority Setting“, we present how stakeholders have thus far been involved in setting the research agenda.

Contact us for a consultation

Dr.in Christiane Grill

Senior Program Manager Involvement | currently on maternity leave

+43 1 513 27 50-41 puevfgvnar.tevyy@yot.np.ng