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A mathematical model for managing national portfolio of basic research projects

Taha Shokatian (Department of Information Technology Management, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran)
Sepehr Ghazinoory (Department of Information Technology Management, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran)
Shohreh Nasri (Department of Science and Research Policy, National Research Institute for Science Policy, Tehran, Iran)
Hadi Safari (Department of Information Technology Management, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran)

Journal of Modelling in Management

ISSN: 1746-5664

Article publication date: 24 September 2024

16

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to develop and apply a process model for prioritizing and selecting basic research projects in developing countries.

Design/methodology/approach

Basic research is mainly funded by governments and since, unlike technological research, it does not have clear business goals, its prioritization is one of the complicated issues in formulating science and technology policy. Adopting a design science research methodology, the authors chose a general framework for project portfolio selection as an appropriate artifact for solving this problem. By customizing it for two specific features of this study, i.e. national scale of the problem and the basic nature of research proposals, the authors developed the proposed framework for solving the problem of priority setting.

Findings

The process for selecting basic research proposals consists of several steps, which can be categorized into eight steps including strategic decisions, preparation, pre-screening, evaluating individual proposals, screening, portfolio selection and monitoring. This study emphasizes the necessity of defining goals that can be evaluated for the national basic research portfolio, as a key strategic decision. Evaluating individual proposals is a peer-review-based process. In contrast, portfolio selection is done through a zero-one linear programming model. The validity of the proposed framework has been confirmed based on the data obtained from the Iran National Science Foundation.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, in this research, for the first time, a mathematical model for prioritizing basic research at the national level has been presented, which effectively contributes to policymaking regarding the development of an optimum national research portfolio.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

Data availability statement: The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

Citation

Shokatian, T., Ghazinoory, S., Nasri, S. and Safari, H. (2024), "A mathematical model for managing national portfolio of basic research projects", Journal of Modelling in Management, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/JM2-12-2023-0310

Publisher

:

Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2024, Emerald Publishing Limited

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