Mapping humanitarian research and innovation capacity

Background

We believe that solving big humanitarian problems is possible, and that the right experience and expertise exists to do so. But at the moment it’s hard for humanitarian ‘problem holders’ to connect with those who have the time, capacity and expertise to help solve complex challenges. Additionally, learning often happens in siloes and technical experts don’t always speak the same ‘language’ as humanitarians, so good ideas don't always achieve the desired impact.

The UKHIH is dedicated to fostering more equitable, problem-led collaborations. We recognize the wealth of relevant expertise held by science and technology specialists within academia, and the public and private sectors, both in the UK and globally. However this vast array of academic expertise is currently not mapped or connected in a way that is beneficial for humanitarian funders, practitioners and policymakers themselves. As such, we worked with Science Practice to bring together the humanitarian research community with practitioners and other actors through strategic networking events and the creation of an online, open access directory.

The purpose of this directory is to map the humanitarian academic landscape and provide a quick way to navigate the capabilities and knowledge within UK academia. By focusing on academic research centres, the directory offers a high-level overview of UK capabilities and serves as a starting point to quickly make sense of the field and available specialisations. We hope that this directory serves as a valuable resource, highlighting the range and diversity of existing expertise that can be called upon to address pressing and evolving humanitarian needs.

What is an academic research centre?

We chose to focus on academic research centres rather than individual academics as they are less subject to change and provide a more maintainable profile for a directory.

Academic research centres are based within universities or higher education establishments focused on specific fields or interdisciplinary areas. They bring together academics, researchers, experts, and resources across departments to advance knowledge, innovate, and address complex challenges.

They often collaborate with a range of stakeholders including international organisations, NGOs, governments, community groups, industry, and other academic institutions. Their contributions can range from conducting research and evaluations; advising and sharing expertise; inspiring, developing and applying new approaches, methods, and technologies; influencing policy; shaping public discourse; and driving societal progress.

As we are interested in all academic contributions to the humanitarian sector, we have also included academic research institutions, and academic research groups in the directory. The difference between a research centre, institution, and group lies in how they are organised:

• Research centres are part of a single department for administrative and financial purposes but collaborate across different departments.
• Research institutions operate independently from specific departments.
• Research groups are typically more informal gatherings of academic researchers.

Directory scope

We are starting with a focus on the UK academic landscape because this is core to the support UKHIH is able to offer. The UK is one of the leading funding recipients and producers of humanitarian research and innovation. Therefore, it is a critical responsibility to ensure that resulting expertise, capacity and know-how are easily available and accessible to those who most need it to address global humanitarian challenges.

Concurrently, we recognise the importance of local expertise. If there is interest to further expand this directory or complement it with other, global efforts, please get in touch by emailing us at information@ukhih.org.

Other resources