“Institutional health” is a concept that refers to the overall well-being and functionality of research institutions, emphasizing their ability to produce meaningful and impactful research.
Institutional health is maintained and improved through various strategies:
- Commitment: Ensuring that the institution’s leadership is demonstrates its commitment to fostering impact and providing the necessary resources and support.
- Connectivity: Building and maintaining strong networks and collaborations within the institution
- Coproduction: Engaging with stakeholders outside the institution to ensure that the research is relevant and useful.
- Competencies: Developing the skills and capabilities of researchers and support staff to conduct impactful research.
- Clarity: Clearly defining roles, expectations, and goals related to impact to ensure that all members of the institution are aligned and motivated.
Overall, institutional health is about creating a sustainable and supportive environment that enables researchers to thrive and produce research that makes a difference. This concept is integral to developing and maintaining impact literacy within research institutions
The responsibility for maintaining institutional health lies with everyone involved in the research ecosystem, including leaders, researchers and professional services staff. It requires a collective effort to foster an environment conducive to impactful research.
Institutional health encompasses the capacity of an institution to support, produce, and sustain impactful research. It includes the creation of a positive research culture, the provision of adequate resources and support, and the alignment of institutional goals with broader societal needs.
Fostering institutional health is crucial because it directly impacts the institution’s ability to conduct research that is not only academically rigorous but also socially valuable. A healthy institution can better support its researchers, attract funding, and engage with stakeholders, ultimately leading to greater research impact and societal benefits.
The Five C’s of Institutional Health are outlined in our paper and our Institutional Health workbook.
Julie Bayley 