What works? Maximising the value of international research and innovation funds: learning brief (accessible)
Updated 7 July 2025
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Essential elements
Evidence-based approaches that enhance development impact
- Equity, diversity and inclusion: Funds should integrate equality and inclusion to ensure that groups vulnerable due to gender, disability, sexuality, age or other status have the autonomy to succeed.
- Collaboration and networks: Complex R&I challenges need to involve civil society, business, communities and government from design to catalyse impact.
Five ways to promote impact
These need to be prioritised and integrated by fund leadership, not only at commissioning but during implementation to ensure full value.
- Context: On-the-ground insight is crucial for relevant, locally-aligned R&I with impact.
- Fairness: Equal power over resources and decisions leads to greater partner country impact.
- Capacity strengthening: Careful planning ensures long-term learning and skills for individuals and institutions in the UK and abroad.
- Partnership: Equity in R&I investment promotes outcomes with longevity.
- Use and uptake: Focusing on use and uptake from design onwards promotes greater impact.
Ways of working: Commissioning to implementation
Commissioning: What can fund managers do during design and commissioning to build in these components?
Context: Use partner country expertise to tailor fund design.
Capacity strengthening: Develop an explicit strategy to guide the exchange of knowledge and skills between the UK and its partners.
Partnership: Dedicate resources to setting up novel partnerships through seed funding and pump priming.
Fairness: Give equal control of budget and R&I teams to UK and partner country researchers.
Use and uptake: Develop programmes and calls driven by the needs of users in partner countries.
Implementation: How can fund managers maintain a focus on these components to ensure the best possible results?
Context: Adapt programmes and awards based on advice from partner country researchers.
Capacity strengthening: Promote early career research exchange and partner country leadership in teams and publications.
Partnership: Include all partners in decision-making bodies, encouraging critical questions and joint problem-solving.
Fairness: Give equal access to data, intellectual property and follow-on funding.
Use and uptake: Go beyond journal articles to produce outputs tailored to user needs.
Spotlight on global impact
The GCRF evaluation shows how integrating essential elements and ways of working promotes positive outcomes.
Nurturing talent leads to ground-breaking research
Countries:South Africa, The Gambia, Ghana, Uganda
Value: £6,336,135
Project: The African Career Accelerator successfully empowered African scientists by addressing research gaps and fostering global South collaboration.
Outcome: Despite challenges like the Covid-19 pandemic, the initiative provided targeted leadership development and training, resulting in the first human genome sequencing in Africa, a biotech startup and 59 published papers. It laid a robust foundation for sustained advancements in health research.
Collaborative innovation creates commercial potential
Countries: UK, India, Uganda
Value: £1,708,769
Project: Researchers and private sector innovators teamed up on a biotechnology project to tackle the invasive water hyacinth, utilising it for bioenergy, fertiliser and clean water. A pump priming grant supported the partnership’s development.
Outcome: All team members contributed from design onwards, with clear roles and responsibilities. The team prioritised peer learning and exchange between researchers and private sector partners. Facilities have been commissioned in India to use the technology produced. UK, Indian and Ugandan team members have secured follow on funding.
User-led research informs post-conflict policy and practice
Countries: Bosnia Herzegovina, Serbia, Kosovo
Value: £644,341
Project: The Art and Reconciliation: Conflict, Culture and Community award investigated what works in post-conflict reconciliation.
Outcome: To address this major gap for academics and practitioners, the team designed their study with advice from UNDP and other funders of reconciliation initiatives to ensure their research was useful. They showcased their work through art exhibitions and youth journalism. Their guidance has been adopted by UNDP, and they have secured follow-on funding for in-country partners.
Evidence Base
Evidence from Global Challenges Research Fund evaluation, 2020-25, implemented by Itad Ltd.
GCRF: 3000+ awards
4 years’ data collection, 5th year in progress
347 awards reviewed in depth, 45 in progress
2336 awards surveyed
146 programmes surveyed
580+ stakeholders consulted so far