Through mapping and bringing together key players, UKCDR provides a coherent picture of the UK’s spend on international development research. Doing so, we hope to harness the true power of UK-funded research to address the major challenges that confront our evolving world.
We convene thematic funder groups – on health, research capacity strengthening, disaster research, epidemics, communications – providing a good basis for decision making by sharing who funds what, and working with funders on good practice.
We have also been bringing together UK research funders to support coordination of the UK research funding response to COVID-19.
Through mapping and analysis we are able to tell the whole story of UK’s collective work to address global challenges – such as climate change, the built environment, antimicrobial resistance – through investing in research.
For example, we recently mapped UK research funding in Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa.
Our networks bring decades of expertise of work at the interface of research and international development. We make the most of this experience by acting as a go-to source of information and knowledge for the international development research landscape, by producing best practice guidance, tools and resources, and by supporting our community to capture lessons learnt around areas of common interest.
A recent example is our work on developing safeguarding standards and guidance specifically in the context of international development research.
See our guidance and resources for:
We are working with our members to support coordination of UK research funding in response to COVID-19.
In particular, we have collaborated with GloPID-R to form COVID CIRCLE – COVID-19 Research Coordination and Learning. CIRCLE aims to provide coherence to funding efforts, connect networks of researchers, and collate learnings to inform future epidemic and pandemic responses with a focus on lower-resource settings.
Working with global funders to identify barriers, enablers and recommendations to support good funder practice in ensuring equitable research partnerships.
Working with our members to inform future approaches and investments to strengthen research capacity in low- and middle-income countries.
Aligning funders of international development research to raise safeguarding standards across the sectors.
We are working to understand the collective UK offer for research on climate change and international development, particularly leading up to COP26.
Improving data on research and innovation activities funded by UK Official Development Assistance (ODA).
Analysing the connections between how development research is conducted and what development impact is achieved.
UKCDR ran a series looking at racial inequality in international development research, and particularly the effects on Black, Indigenous and People of Colour (BIPOC) communities. The series includes a long-form article, which explores some of the ways in which racial inequality is perpetuated and efforts to decolonise research and mobilise global voices, as well as three invited blog pieces to bring the issues in question to life through the eyes of three African researchers currently working at different levels within the research pathway.
While these insights are far from exhaustive, UKCDR recognises that the journey towards race equity requires both considered discussion and commitment to change. The articles are therefore intended to share insights with the hope that it helps to foster open dialogue and encourages review and change of practices across the sector.
We have been proud to support the UK Government’s new and distinctive commitment to work alongside, invest in and partner with African nations. In particular, driving greater coherence and impact across UK’s investments in science, technology and innovation, as well as supporting long-term research partnerships between UK and African institutions.
By 2050 two-thirds of the global population will live in cities. Many of which have not been built yet. UK research funders have acknowledged the need to engage with the built environment, given its intersection with and impact on some of the most critical challenges the world faces, climate change, poverty reduction, sustainable development and rapid urbanisation.
We commissioned IIED to help us identify trends, knowledge gaps and opportunities in the built environment research space. The report also includes recommendations to UK funders how they can add value and maximise the impact of built environment research for international development.
The rise in drug-resistant infections, caused by microorganisms such as bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites with increasing AMR, is an urgent threat to global health that has been projected could claim up to 10 million lives by 2050. Investing in research and development (R&D) for drugs, vaccines and diagnostic tools as well as interventions that address the drivers of AMR (including prescribing) is central to global efforts to tackle AMR.
In 2018/19 UKCDR analysed information on joint initiatives by leading global research funders based in the UK related to combatting antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in low and middle-income countries (LMICs).