What We Do

Research Partnerships are formed against an intricate backdrop of many types of inequitable conditions and practices. Low investment in research and development perpetuates the reliance on a small number of well-resourced funders, philanthropies, and private industry, which gives them disproportionate power to shape the global research and development agenda.

In addition, the wealthiest and best-equipped institutions and organizations have a significant advantage in their competitiveness for research funding, and for exercising control over the goals and terms of research partnerships.

This results in systematically unfair outcomes between partners in their ability to shape the research agenda, their competitiveness for scientific productivity, impact, capacity building and innovation.

The RFI is an organisational learning tool designed to assist stakeholders in research to assess their practices in research partnerships, with the goal of helping them to strategize toward being more equitable partners over time. It is focused on improving equitability of partnerships with regards to the process of research as well as sharing of ALL benefits of research and innovation.