A report from Elsevier shows that research funders are facing significant gaps between their stated priorities and the implementation of such priorities, particularly in aligning funding with societal impact.
The report titled “The Evolving Research Funding Landscape” was based on a global survey of 150 research funders and government leaders conducted between August and September 2024. Elsevier asked respondents to assess transformation potential and progress across 21 strategic performance objectives, including sustainability, diversity in leadership and meaningful community impact.
According to the study, sustainable development, digital transformation and graduate outcomes emerged as the top three strategic priorities for funding organizations.
6 Strategic Paradoxes in the Current Research Funding Landscape
The Elsevier report identified six strategic paradoxes that highlight the gap between aspiration and implementation in the global research ecosystem: the sustainability paradox; innovation-implementation divide; academic-impact tension; diversity implementation crisis; graduate outcomes opportunity; and the transition from reputation to impact.
According to the study, 91 percent of funders stated that they consider sustainability a top priority, but only 45 percent reported making significant progress. The report cited challenges, including standardizing metrics, capacity for implementation and benchmarking outcomes.
Eighty-five percent of funders and government leaders reported prioritizing digital transformation, yet only 43 percent of respondents indicated progress.
The report identified cultural and governance barriers to digital transformation, noting that artificial intelligence remains underutilized in most transformation efforts.
The Interconnected Research Ecosystem
The survey also highlights the interconnected nature of the research funding and university ecosystems.
Funding agencies don’t just allocate resources: they set directions, expectations and impact criteria.
In return, universities must demonstrate how they translate these investments into measurable outcomes, not only for science but also for society.
This dynamic interplay means that the effectiveness of funding strategies ultimately depends on how well funders and institutions align on goals, evidence and accountability.
Understanding this relationship is at the heart of Elsevier’s analysis.
Regional Analysis
The study found that U.S. research funders consider digital transformation and graduate outcomes as top priorities. However, only 47 percent of respondents report progress in digital transformation and 44 percent in graduate outcomes.
Effective digital transformation, meaningful community impact, real-world research impact and diversity in leadership emerged as top priorities for funders in Europe, reflecting a pivot toward inclusivity, digital modernization and societal relevance, according to the report.
Addressing the Gap Between Ambition & Implementation
According to Elsevier, the gap between ambition and execution suggests that research funding organizations struggle with coherence and visibility in decision-making.
Elsevier suggested several measures that funders can consider to help address the implementation gap, such as developing internal capabilities for data analytics and evaluation; focusing on institutional-level impact, including societal outcomes; integrating digital tools into decision-making; and making the research culture to be more diverse and interdisciplinary.
