{"id":681,"date":"2015-04-15T20:42:56","date_gmt":"2015-04-15T20:42:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/onthinktanks.org\/?p=681"},"modified":"2016-01-15T01:44:59","modified_gmt":"2016-01-15T01:44:59","slug":"think-tanks-and-universities-not-just-a-communications-partnership","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/onthinktanks.org\/articles\/think-tanks-and-universities-not-just-a-communications-partnership\/","title":{"rendered":"Think Tanks and Universities: not just a communications\u2019 partnership"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Some time ago I wrote an article for the LSE\u2019s Impact of Social Sciences Blog in which I argued that\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.lse.ac.uk\/impactofsocialsciences\/tag\/enrique-mendizabal\/\" target=\"_blank\">universities could collaborate with think tanks to enhance their capacity to communicate their theories and ideas<\/a>. Universities, I argued, are not always best places to turn<a href=\"https:\/\/onthinktanks.org\/2014\/06\/02\/communicating-complex-ideas-the-book\/\" target=\"_blank\">\u00a0complex ideas into popular ones<\/a>. Think tanks, on the other hand, are supposed\u00a0to do this.<\/p>\n<p>I was thinking of the British context when I wrote this. Or, at least, of a situation in which well-funded universities co-exist with well-funded think tanks and where both have the capacity to undertake research. In fact, the context I had in mind is one in which universities have a greater capacity to undertake research than think tanks.<\/p>\n<p>But in a different context, there are other reasons why<a title=\"Think Tanks and universities in Latin America\" href=\"https:\/\/onthinktanks.org\/2013\/12\/04\/think-tanks-and-universities-in-latin-america\/\" target=\"_blank\">\u00a0universities and think tanks\u00a0<\/a>would want to work together. And one of these reasons provides an opportunity to explore a possible funding model for think tanks.<\/p>\n<p>The context that I have in mind has some of the following characteristics:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Universities are poorly funded and are therefore unable to produce research or, what is increasingly common in developing countries, they have\u00a0sufficient funds but simply do not have the capacity to produce research (maybe they never had that mandate in the first place, or they have lost their researchers to other actors such as central banks, donors, NGOs, consultancies and, yes, even think tanks). Look at what happens in Peru:<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<blockquote><p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.larepublica.pe\/01-01-2014\/universidades-publicas-solo-ejecutaron-el-14-de-recursos-del-canon-para-investigacion\" target=\"_blank\">Public Universities\u00a0\u00a0<\/a>only spent 14% of the S\/824.6 million (USD274 million)\u00a0they had for research in 2013.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<ul>\n<li>There is\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/onthinktanks.org\/2014\/07\/30\/think-tanks-are-on-the-agenda-in-india-skills-scale-and-speed\/\" target=\"_blank\">increasing demand and expectation from the state<\/a>, the private sector and society at large, for universities to produce high quality research (both theoretical and applied).<\/li>\n<li>Think tanks\u00a0<a title=\"What happens when foreign donors leave (and they will)? Domestic funders wanted\" href=\"https:\/\/onthinktanks.org\/2014\/11\/17\/what-happens-when-foreign-donors-leave-and-they-will-domestic-funders-wanted\/\" target=\"_blank\">find it hard to access public funding or private funding\u00a0<\/a>in the\u00a0form of grants, thus making it difficult for them to develop long-term policy research programmes.<\/li>\n<li>Think tanks also find it hard to find new bright minds to join their organisations: there are\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/onthinktanks.org\/topic-pages\/topic-page-supporting-think-tanks\/\" target=\"_blank\">few qualified researchers in their labour market<\/a>\u00a0and these are highly coveted by better funded organisations.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>In summary, in a growing number of developing countries:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Universities have funding (or access to funding) and need research capacity; and<\/li>\n<li>Think tanks need funding (or access to funding) and have research capacity.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Over a long conversation, Orazio Bellettini,\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/grupofaro.org\/\" target=\"_blank\">director of Grupo FARO in Ecuador<\/a>, suggested that this opens the possibility for\u00a0a win-win situation. We just need to find the mechanisms to make it happen. Luckily, there\u00a0is a well known case from the\u00a0UK that could serve as inspiration: IDS.\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/onthinktanks.org\/2012\/10\/15\/think-tanks-and-universities-practical-considerations\/\" target=\"_blank\">Hans Gutbrod offers a very similar argument in a post he wrote on the CRRC\u2019s experience<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2>The Institute of\u00a0Development Studies as a model?<\/h2>\n<p class=\"highlight\"><em>[Editor\u2019s note: I should note that I am not trying to describe the IDS model in detail. I am using it to encourage a discussion of the possibility for a new form of think tank \u2013 university partnership.]<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"highlight\">The\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.ids.ac.uk\/\" target=\"_blank\">Institute of Development Studies<\/a>\u00a0(IDS) was founded as an independent research institute based at the\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.sussex.ac.uk\/\" target=\"_blank\">University of Sussex<\/a>, but it does not belong to the university.\u00a0IDS has close links with the University, but is financially and constitutionally independent.\u00a0It is, in fact, registered in England as a charitable company (no.\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/get-information-about-a-company\" target=\"_blank\">00877338<\/a>) limited by guarantee, and with registered charity number\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/apps.charitycommission.gov.uk\/Showcharity\/RegisterOfCharities\/CharityWithPartB.aspx?RegisteredCharityNumber=306371&amp;SubsidiaryNumber=0\" target=\"_blank\">306371<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>This\u00a0<em>hosting<\/em>\u00a0takes the shape of a contract between both institutions. IDS pays a \u2018fee\u2019 to the University of Sussex for its use of its building, university services, and other benefits. A straight forward contractual arrangement that works well for both.<\/p>\n<p>IDS\u2019s original mission\u00a0included both research and teaching so the relationship with the university allowed it to obtain accreditation for its teaching programmes. At the same time, the university gained a new centre and teaching programme -which at the time was not something one could find any where else in the UK.<\/p>\n<p>Some characteristics\u00a0of this relationship, from IDS\u2019 point of view, include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>IDS is governed by a Board of Trustees, who are responsible for agreeing our overall strategy, setting policy, monitoring performance and promoting the interests of the Institute.<\/li>\n<li>Consequently, IDS has its own identity. Its website is separate from the university\u2019s: this is\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.ids.ac.uk\/\" target=\"_blank\">IDS<\/a>\u2018 and this is the\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.sussex.ac.uk\/\" target=\"_blank\">University of Sussex\u2019s<\/a>\u00a0(and this is the UofS\u2019\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.sussex.ac.uk\/development\/\" target=\"_blank\">international development programme<\/a>).<\/li>\n<li>IDS has control over its communications, including how and what it communicates. In fact, its head of comms is part of\u00a0the strategic leadership group.<\/li>\n<li>Funding from its clients or funders is provided to IDS and not to the university. This means that the when a funder or client funds an IDS researcher to undertake a study, it is funding IDS and not the University of Sussex.<\/li>\n<li>As a consequence, IDS has control over its finances including how it manages its income, allocating it to different objectives as it sees fit.<\/li>\n<li>This means IDS can make strategic choices about the issues it wants to study and how it wants to go about doing so.\u00a0It can establish partnerships with other organisations independently of the university. Its\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.ids.ac.uk\/about-us\/who-we-are\/governance-and-funding\" target=\"_blank\">board and its strategic leadership group<\/a>\u00a0make sure of that.<\/li>\n<li>IDS\u2019 staff is hired by the think tank but\u00a0benefits from the affiliation to the university when it comes to staff benefits. Not all IDS staff have teaching responsibilities and its\u00a0strategic freedom allows it to allocate these as it best sees fit.<\/li>\n<li>The university acredites the institutes\u2019 teaching programmes. Although IDS runs its own international development postgraduate programmes, students effectively graduate from\u00a0University of Sussex.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Is this the best model for a think tank in a developing country?\u00a0Well, it is a start.<\/p>\n<p>The IDS model is different to what I had in mind in terms of funding. The win-win situation we are referring too implies that universities would have to fund the think tanks to do research -at least a significant proportion of its long term research agenda. In the case of IDS its largest five donors in 2013\/14 were:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>UK Department for International Development (38.9%)<\/li>\n<li>Economic and Social Research Council (9.3%)<\/li>\n<li>International Development Research Centre (4.3%)<\/li>\n<li>Swedish International Development Co-operation Agency (4.1%)<\/li>\n<li>Program for Appropriate Technology (3.8%)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>So, in this case, the university is not a key funder. But in our model, and in contexts where universities are well funded but lack the capacity to undertake research themselves, we could expect a significant proportion of funding for research to come from the university itself. Some of those USD274 million in the case of Peru could make a huge difference for more than a few think tanks in the country and, why not, the region.<\/p>\n<p>This last point is important. This model should work with foreign think tanks, too. Cash-rich universities wanting to leap-frog to the international leagues could very well attract global think tanks to set-up shop within their campuses -physically or virtually.<\/p>\n<h2>A new win-win model<\/h2>\n<p>Therefore, the new model proposed could involve:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>A partnership or contract between an independent think tank (with\u00a0its own legal status, board, leadership, and identity), most likely a charity, and a University, public or private.<\/li>\n<li>Core funding from the university for the think tank to undertake core academic and\/or practical research on issues that are set by the think tank but with, understandable and appropriate, influence of the university -maybe through the think tank\u2019s board or an advisory committee.<\/li>\n<li>A likely condition that\u00a0core funding may be providing against the expectation of a certain number of academic publications per researcher or overall. This is particularly relevant for universities interested in improving their local and international ranking.<\/li>\n<li>Either or both the participation of the think tank\u2019s researchers in teaching programmes led by the university or the accreditation, by the university, of a teaching programme led by the think tank.<\/li>\n<li>A payment, from the think tank to the university, for items such as rent (in case the university provides the think tank with office space), utilities, services, and, possibly, he university\u2019s good will. This payment may be agreed as all cash or part cash part in-kind. It could be a fixed amount or may involve a degree of variability, for instance, through an overhead charged on each project or on the institute\u2019s operating profits (annually or multi-annually).<\/li>\n<li>A number of rights\u00a0\u00a0and responsibilities from both parties to protect each institution from the actions of the other as well as to ensure each other\u2019s independence \u2013 intellectual, operational and financial- yet take full advantage of the association.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Making this happen will take more than lawyers (but they\u00a0will be necessary). It will demand a charm offensive and the development of long term partnerships. \u00a0A possible road-map could include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>An internship programme to provide students or graduates at the university to join think tanks. Again, ad-hoc arrangements based on personal relationships need to be replaced for formal agreements based on institutional links.<\/li>\n<li>Small\u00a0research projects that can help to build trust and strengthen the links between both organisations.<\/li>\n<li>A visiting lecturers programme through which researchers at the think tank participate in teaching programmes at the university. Many researchers at think tanks already teach part-time at local universities. But the relationship in these cases is mostly based on personal relations rather than at\u00a0an institutional level.<\/li>\n<li>Long-term research programmes funded by the University (or through the university) involving the think tank\u2019s researchers.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>These may involve some costs that think tanks and their funders should be willing to accept. The pay-off is likely to make up for it.<\/p>\n<p>They may also demand change to universities\u2019 own mandates and rules and in the case of public universities, it could involve national educational policy changes, too.<\/p>\n<p>Who better than think tanks to advocate for them?<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>Do you know of a similar model? Please write to us below and let us know its pros and cons.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Think tanks and universities can work together to maximise the impact of the latter&#8217;s research. They may also undertake research together and can provide interesting career paths for their own staff. But think tanks and universities can also come together in a win-win funding for research partnership. This post takes inspiration from IDS&#8217; model in the UK to suggest a model of collaboration relevant for some developing countries.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"tags":[220,182,204,193,187],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/onthinktanks.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/681"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/onthinktanks.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/onthinktanks.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onthinktanks.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onthinktanks.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=681"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/onthinktanks.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/681\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/onthinktanks.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=681"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onthinktanks.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=681"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}