Risks for Academic Research Projects, An Empirical Study of Perceived Negative Risks and Possible Responses

TL;DR

This empirical study investigates perceived risks in academic research projects, highlighting common concerns like funding and team stability, and emphasizes the need for organizational responses to manage these risks effectively.

Contribution

It provides an empirical analysis of perceived risks in academic research, identifying key risks and suggesting that systemic responses are necessary for effective risk management.

Findings

Funding, team instability, and data access are top perceived risks.

Most risks are general and require organizational responses.

Academic research risk management is often undisciplined and ad hoc.

Abstract

Academic research projects receive hundreds of billions of dollars of government investment each year. They complement business research projects by focusing on the generation of new foundational knowledge and addressing societal challenges. Despite the importance of academic research, the management of it is often undisciplined and ad hoc. It has been postulated that the inherent uncertainty and complexity of academic research projects make them challenging to manage. However, based on this study's analysis of input and voting from more than 500 academic research team members in facilitated risk management sessions, the most important perceived risks are general, as opposed to being research specific. Overall participants' top risks related to funding, team instability, unreliable partners, study participant recruitment, and data access. Many of these risks would require system- or organization-level responses that are beyond the scope of individual academic research teams.