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The aim of this paper is to present results of a foresight study on identifying priorities for health-related research and development (R&D) in Russia for the period until 2030.

Research priorities were identified through consistent integrated expert analysis and evaluation of the subject area, i.e. biomedical research preceding development of medical technologies.

Key global and national trends in the biomedical R&D sector and related areas (medicine and health) were identified. According to the experts, the following markets have the best prospects for Russia: regenerative medicine, biodegradable and other biocompatible materials, diagnostic systems, implants, surgical equipment, targeted delivery systems and non-invasive visualisation systems. Entering these markets requires providing support to R&D in the following areas: promising drug candidates, molecular diagnostics, molecular profiling and mechanisms of human diseases, cell technologies (therapies), new materials (biomimetics and other), bioelectronic, bioimaging and biosensors and human genome databases.

Regularly updating research priorities is a necessary prerequisite of successful science and technology development of countries, innovative companies and academic institutions. Allocation of (always limited) financial resources on the basis of such priority-setting exercises’ results is evidence of adherence to scientific planning principles. Combined with monitoring and evaluation tools, priority setting for biomedical R&D must become an integral component of Russia’s innovation policy.

This is a first-ever presentation of Russian experience in setting research priorities for the health-related sphere. Global and national contexts for development of biomedical R&D are described; markets and research areas with the biggest potential for Russian companies are identified.

This paper aims to identify the strengths of the universities based on the research area which are prioritized by the Government of Indonesia in the National Medium Term Development Plan 2015–2019, in the research areas of food and agriculture; energy, new and renewable energy; health and medicine; transportation; telecommunication, information and communication; defense and security technologies and advanced materials.

The mapping of the research strength in Indonesian universities is performed by using data of the university research output in the Information System for Research and Community Service, Ministry of Research, Technology and Higher Education and categorized into seven categories, i.e. accredited national journals, international journals indexed by Scopus or others, Intellectual Property ownership, textbooks, prototypes and an appropriate technology. Based on the data obtained from Information System for Research and Community Service, there are 904 universities in Indonesia conducting research activities and generating 14,188 research outputs.

This paper analyzes 3 of the 9 National Research Priorities, namely, food, energy and health and medicine. The data show that there are 904 universities in Indonesia conducting research activities and producing 14,188 research results. The research strength index based on National Research Priorities shows that three universities have the highest cluster strength index. Gadjah Mada with an index value of 4.95 is the highest index in the food cluster. In the energy cluster of the Institut Teknologi Bandung with the highest index value of 0.63. Meanwhile, the Universitas Indonesia reached 2.06 as the highest index value in the health and medicine cluster.

Measurement of the strength of the study was conducted using data from research results from universities in 2016 which were recorded in the Information System for Research and Community Service. The University’s R&D strength is calculated from seven categories of research results: accredited national journals, international journals indexed by Scopus or others, intellectual property rights, textbooks, prototypes and appropriate technology products.

This article aims to overview research undertaken through the Canadian Association of Research Libraries (CARL) to identify themes and issues of interest to library leaders in Canadian research libraries.

This paper discusses the context of the research, including moves by the Canadian Association of Research Libraries (CARL) to develop closer collaborative projects with Canadian Masters of Library and Information Sciences (MLIS) programs and to develop a National Research Agenda (NRA), inclusive of National Research Priorities (NRP). It overviews the specific research undertaken to develop the NRP, including the methodology and research outcomes.

The research resulted in the NRP, which identified key themes/issues of interest to directors in CARL member institutions. As such, it provides a snapshot of current issues and trends in research library management and leadership within Canada. CARL is now promoting its NRP and encouraging researchers (individuals and teams) to undertake applied research on the identified themes/issues, as part of its strategy to encourage research collaborations; increase research intensiveness within academic librarianship; and, use of evidence‐based decision making and applied research to solve management challenges.

The article identifies the context for the research, the research approach (including methodology) and research outcomes which point to issues of concern for library leaders in Canadian research libraries. It is a snapshot of current issues of concern to library managers.

Foresight is frequently used to establish science and technology investment priorities and develop corresponding technology and innovation support programmes. In the light of technology and innovation policy, many individual Foresight studies are undertaken which are separate and little linked with the broader policy scope and ambition. This paper aims to look at an approach towards a consistent Foresight system which is linked closely to science, technology and innovation policy.

The paper provides an in-depth case study of the Russian Foresight system. The case study is based on desk research and extensive experience of the authors with the system.

Russia has developed a systematic approach towards organising Foresight which involves and serves multiple stakeholders, including government, ministries, federal and regional agencies, higher education institutions, public research institutes, state-owned companies and private businesses and a large range of associations. Under the auspicious of a dedicated commission, targeted Foresight is undertaken with clearly defined scope for each. The paper finds that the Russian system is unique in its organisational structure and in the integration of Foresight with science, technology and innovation policy measures.

The paper describes all facets of the Russian Foresight system which has not been done before. It also outlines the practical steps to further develop and leverage the system.

The fire sector within the United Kingdom has identified a need to further develop their systematic use of academic literature and develop mechanisms to include academic knowledge to inform evidence-based policy and practice. By increasing knowledge exchange between the fire sector and academia, the ability to horizon scan and identify future relevant phenomena of interest to the fire sector will be achieved. Consequently, the evidence base and horizon scanning will increase the specificity of techniques, approaches and practices needed to continually improve the safety of the activities completed within the firefighting occupation, and it will also provide priority areas for investment and increase firefighter safety.

This technical paper primarily features an initial scoping review of academic and grey literature and an operational incident data review. This was completed to provide an initial and updated review of disciplines and areas of academia that are actively engaged in research relevant to the fire and rescue service. Consequently, this method sought to identify and examine the various disciplines of academia involved in fire research. This paper then uses that outcome to suggest a model of multidisciplinarity to inform the fire sector.

As a result of the scoping review, each academic discipline was identified and an initial review developed a predetermined set of key search terms. This was established through identifying the most frequently used fire-related terms within each discipline. This allowed for a comprehensive understanding of the breadth of activity and depth of complexity of fire related research within each discipline and an indicative set of key search terms to be developed. Recommendations are formulated to suggest next steps to routinely incorporate the academic knowledge base in the learning process of the fire and rescue services in the United Kingdom.

This paper provides an initial scoping map of academic literature and disciplines relevant to activities completed in the UK fire sector, which can be used to further develop the evidence base to inform the fire and rescue service of the United Kingdom. It also outlines possible mechanisms and a model to systematically facilitate knowledge exchange between academia and the fire sector by which knowledge exchange could further support the development of evidence-based policy and practice. The broad range of benefits of collaboration between the fire and rescue service and academia are explored.

This paper provides clear evidence as to why fire related research should have an increased priority status to inform the national fire and rescue services learning process and evidence for national policy and guidance development within the UK fire and rescue service. Additionally, recommendations are made to support the consideration of academic evidence in the systematic sector wide learning process.

Previously, the UK fire and rescue service had limited coordinated strategic engagement with academic disciplines to further develop their learning processes in order to produce an evidence base, which is cognisant of academic research to inform practice and guidance. This paper begins the narrowing of that gap by categorising academic literature relevant to fire research into clear disciplines, mapping these to an updated breadth of current activities undertaken by the fire and rescue service across the United Kingdom. The process also details a pilot of the proposed model to support knowledge exchange by producing an academically evidence-based submission to the National Fire Chiefs Council organisational learning process.

The progress of research and development, funded from government sources, during the last three decades is reviewed, together with forms of sponsorship and support. The Office for Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI) functioned from 1965 to 1974 and concentrated on developments for bibliographic and information analysis services. When transferred to the British Library (with the title of the R&D Department) the scope was widened. The trend has been to more applied, more commissioned research reflecting national priorities. Current broad areas of concern attracting financial support are: information technology for library and information services, implications of information being treated as a tradeable commodity and the effects of economic and social constraints on services.

The current paper sought to assess health research institutions in transferring knowledge from health research findings into decision and policy making in Malawi. The study employed both a qualitative and a multi-case study approach. Data was gathered through interviews. The study's participants were purposefully chosen directors of research institutions, public universities, and the ministry of health. Few research institutions compile a list of organisations that might benefit from their health research findings, and even fewer libraries have databanks or repositories. Policymakers rarely receive actionable messages from research institutions. Researchers are short on communication skills as well as time to transfer research findings into usable formats. Research centres including libraries should provide an opportunity for interacting and enhancing the use of research evidence. Individuals, research groups, institutions must all develop stakeholder interaction structures. Structures should define incentives and advancement opportunities for those working in health research institutions.

Although its contributions to global science date from 1980, Qatar embarked on an ambitious plan in 2009 to position itself as an important hub for global research production. This paper assesses Qatar’s contribution over the past three decades to global research output and science productivity in STEM+ fields, as measured by scientific journal article production.

The core of the analysis is based on a specially coded dataset of all peer-reviewed journal articles in the STEM+ disciplines with at least one author whose primary affiliation was a Qatar-based research organization. The original data source is Thomson Reuters’ Science Citation Index Expanded (SCIE). Analyzing trends between 1980 (the first year in which a paper with a Qatar-based author appeared in these selected leading journals) and 2011, the chapter documents how scientific journal article production in Qatar has developed over three decades.

Between 1980 and 2002, rates of journal article production were relatively low. From 2003, reflecting considerable investments in higher education and research, the annual number of journal article publications increased dramatically. Most publications were authored by university-based scientists (58%) and scientists based at research hospitals or other medical research facilities (30%). By 2011, over 83% of scientific journal articles published with at least one Qatar-based author were the result of collaboration with international partners. European, North American, and Middle Eastern research scientists and organizations were the most common international collaborators.

This is the first comprehensive empirical study of Qatar’s contributions to global scientific production in the STEM+ disciplines.

Research suggests that 85 per cent of health research is avoidably wasted. The research and development management community has an important role in the research process and can contribute to improving the quality and value of research. Al-Shahi Salman et al. (2014) identified ways in which the community can contribute towards the reduction of research waste by increasing the efficiency of recruitment and retention of research participants, data management and data sharing in studies, and promoting the integration of research into practice. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

A project undertaken between May 2016 and May 2017 explored the perspective, and contribution, towards reducing research waste amongst the research and development management community. The study identified those categories of research waste the community felt were the most important and of the most value to address. It also examined spheres of influence and barriers to addressing research waste.

The most important and highest value categories of research waste to address were: implementation of research in practice, prioritisation of research, and design, conduct and analysis of research. The research and development management community’s level of influence in those areas was low. The categories where the community felt they had most influence, with the exception of design, conduct and analysis of research, were generally those they thought were less important and valuable, i.e. research taking place to time and target, public and patient involvement, and administration.

Waste in research is a significant area of waste in health care expenditure. This study has provided a better understanding of research waste for the research management community. The research and development management community can take a leadership role in formulating an action plan and identifying measures of success in reducing waste in research.