Improving the Effectiveness of the Research-to-Translation Value Chain

* The Inaugural LASER PULSE Research for Development (R4D) Conference *

May 6-8, 2019

Speke Resort Munyonyo, Kampala, Uganda

LASER PULSE is a USAID-funded global program for supporting the discovery and uptake of university-sourced, evidence-based solutions to development challenges.  We bring together university researchers, development practitioners (including donors and NGO implementers), and government, private sector, and community leaders to connect, collaborate and innovate together.

What is it about?

The first-ever LASER PULSE R4D Conference will be an exciting gathering of selected researchers, donors, NGO implementers, and government and private sector actors.  Our interactions will emphasize innovation resulting from translated research in those areas, as well as the suite of factors necessary to achieve impact.  LASER, through our R4D Conferences and the grants rounds that follow, is focused on the academic or institutional research roots of translation, and the partnership and pathways for this to happen.

This conference is oriented primarily towards Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania in the context of addressing development challenges in the sectors of basic education, food security, maternal/child healthcare, water.  A mix of small and large group experiences will be featured, including sessions on: research networking, effective practices for supporting research, research capacity gap analysis, and input into sharpening the research topics within the aforementioned sectors.

In particular, the conference will focus on:

•   Identifying research priorities: Through a process known as Comprehensive Issue Analysis, LASER PULSE will propel the collaborative development of actionable research questions tied to region-specific priorities.  This methodology will not only help program participants create a research agenda, but will also demonstrate an effective method which participants can replicate for future priority issues.
•   Supporting collaboration: The LASER PULSE R4D Conference will provide a range of opportunities for researchers, development actors, policy makers, and donors to connect, engage and collaborate with each other.
•   Advancing research translation: A key focal point of the conference is how to achieve successful translation of research to products, practices, or policies that are geared to solving development challenges.  It will also include significant opportunities for all participants to increase their capacity to participate in the research translation value chain.

    >>  The conference will also feature a Poster Session; for submission guidelines and information, please click here

What outcomes do we expect?

• Refined research priorities around 4 sectoral issues: basic education, food security, maternal/child healthcare, water
• Increased awareness of researchers and institutional representatives about barriers and potential solutions along the research-to-translation value chain
• Facilitated connections and opportunities for collaboration among researchers, and between researchers and various development actors
• Increased capacity of prospective research applicants to submit competitive proposals for LASER-funded research grants
• Ignited interest in LASER PULSE as a new channel for funding development research

Who will attend?

The conference will bring together invited LASER PULSE Higher Education Network partner researchers; development practitioners including donors and NGO implementers; and government, private sector, and community leaders.  Approximately 120 participants are expected – 40 of whom will be from Uganda, 40 from the wider region (East Africa), and 40 international.  We seek to strike a balance between researchers, development practitioners, and policy-makers and donors.

* For this initial conference, participation is by invitation only and there are no registration fees.  USAID personnel attending must cover all of their own expenses; for all other attendees, LASER PULSE shall cover airfare cost and hotel and meal expenses for the 3 days of the conference.  For East African participants, we will purchase your tickets directly; hotel and conference meals will be covered directly by LASER PULSE for all participants (except those USAID attendees for whom this does not apply).

Why have a LASER PULSE R4D Conference?

Connecting researchers with implementers as partners in development can be difficult. Researchers in academia often don’t know what are the most pressing challenges in the field, or what those already working on the issues use in terms of current strategies.  Meanwhile, NGO partners often struggle to present their challenges in terms that researchers understand as relevant to their disciplines, skills, and incentives. Finally, government officials and private sector representatives may not have the kind of symbiotic relationships with LMIC academic institutions that these stakeholders have with ‘first world’ researchers.

LASER PULSE presents an opportunity to co-design solutions to development challenges in a manner that meets the needs of all of these actors, by bringing these groups together twice a year for Research for Development (R4D) conferences.  Ultimately, the program seeks inclusive co-designed solutions to facilitate the attainment of global Sustainable Development Goals.