Addressing the Gaps: Focused Research Investments

Beyond Research

In this episode, we continue our thought-provoking conversation with Stefan Leslie and Dr. Melissa Flagg. If you missed the last episode, Gaps; Opportunities in the Current Research System, you might want to listen to it first. It set the context for this discussion on a new initiative in Nova Scotia, Focused Research Investments (FRI).

Listen as we discuss the challenges and opportunities inherent in reshaping the research landscape, with a particular emphasis on salient, collaborative research, community engagement, and the pursuit of impactful solutions for society – solutions that address immediate problems but also have applicability in other ways and areas.

We hope you enjoy the conclusion of this insightful discussion.

Find our transcript here: https://researchns.ca/beyondresearch-addressing-the-gaps-focused-research-investments

In Season 3, Episode 7 – Addressing the Gaps: Focused Research Investments, we discuss:

01:10 – What are Focused Research Investments?
03:59 – Selecting and defining problems and outcomes
18:31 – The importance of collaborative and community-engaged research
23:06 – Key ingredients of Focused Research Investments and how they’re unique from other funding opportunities
29:30 – Challenges and opportunities inherent in reshaping the research landscape

Learn more about Focused Research Investments: https://researchns.ca/fri/

Thank you to our guests:
Dr. Melissa Flagg is the founder and president of Flagg Consulting LLC, a fellow at the Acquisition Innovation Research Center (AIRC), a visiting fellow at the Perry World House, and a senior advisor to the Center for Security and Emerging Technology (CSET) at Georgetown
University. Prior to this, she served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Research, responsible for policy and oversight of Defense Department science and technology programs. Dr. Flagg has served on numerous boards including the National Academy of Sciences Air
Force Studies Board and the Department of Commerce Emerging Technology Research Advisory Committee. She is currently on the Advisory Board for the Andrew W. Marshall Foundation. She holds a Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Chemistry.

Stefan Leslie is the CEO of Research Nova Scotia. Prior to this, he served as Executive Director of the Marine Environmental Observation Prediction and Response Network, or MEOPAR, a national oceans research network. He has also worked for Fisheries and Oceans Canada and
the New Zealand Ministry of Fisheries.

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