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TRAINING (2.5.1)
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This Guide supports research partners to develop ethically sound, efficient and effective partnerships.

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Specify roles and responsibilities

to ensure alignment, transparency, and accountability.

  • Understand roles and assign responsibilities jointly.
  • Share resources and merits transparently and fairly.
  • Adapt collaboration to changing circumstances.

Having clear roles and responsibilities helps to ensure alignment towards the jointly-defined goal (see P1), enabling all partners to contribute to the success of the collaboration. Moreover, clear roles and responsibilities enhance transparency, accountability, and equity in decision-making and resource-sharing (see P2). However, working towards a shared goal does not mean that each and every step has to be carried out together, or that all partners have to contribute to the same extent. Instead, it means appreciating different skills, expertise, capabilities, and competences. Cooperation can take a variety of forms, ranging from an informal exchange of information to project-based contract research or long-term research collaborations.

If roles and responsibilities are not clearly assigned, partners may find themselves in functions that do not match their competences or interests, and resource-sharing may be perceived as untransparent or inadequate. A lack of clarity may result in partners acting solely on self-interest, making it difficult, if not impossible, to establish trust or genuine collaboration towards a common goal. The extent of different strategic partners’ involvement depends on the goals of the partnership and on each partner’s capacity (see P1).

Specifying roles and responsibilities involves jointly developing a roadmap or governance structure that outlines how partners will contribute to the common goal (see P1). This includes agreement on how each partner will contribute, within what timeframe, and with what resources. Moreover, an inclusive governance structure should clearly set out how to collaborate, how to share information, and how to adapt the collaboration to changing circumstances and topics that were not initially included in the research agenda. Only the joint, transparent definition and assignment of roles and responsibilities – combined with collective decision-making on adequate resource-sharing – will allow the team to balance individual expectations and objectives with the common goal.

Effective governance begins with a due diligence investigation of all potential partners. This means carefully assessing strengths and weaknesses of potential research partners and funding sources, and considering ethical implications before entering into a partnership. To conduct due diligence, a project consortium must first understand who the research partners and strategic partners are, their different roles, and the context they work in. Therefore, a thorough investigation (covering scientific, financial, human resources, and communication capacities), is necessary to maximize the partnership’s potential, address existing weaknesses, and benefit from strengths.

In-depth:

Further ressources:

Gather all relevant partners at the outset, either in-person or online, to jointly, openly, and transparently discuss expectations in relation to tasks and responsibilities. Co-develop a guiding document that clarifies roles and responsibilities (e.g. Memorandum of Understanding, Framework Agreement).

To develop an inclusive governance structure, clearly define project leadership and coordination roles, and give reasons for your decisions. Establish a steering board or similar oversight group to guide the process, ensuring that all involved parties are represented.

Tools:

Define how to handle communication among the project administration, partners, and strategic partners. Create a mediating body to bring partners together regularly, and to ensure that information reaches all relevant parties. Ensure open and systematic internal communication with regular feedback loops to enhance cohesion and transparent collaboration. Note that language barriers can pose challenges to internal communication and equitable collaboration, a factor that must be actively managed.

Further ressources:

Adhere to policy and institutional frameworks. Establish clear and accessible agreements and contracts using language and formats that are understandable to all parties. Offer support if the contract and the implications of signing it are not fully clear to all parties.

Tool:

Address how to resolve internal and external conflicts. Establish a clear protocol to ensure that internal disagreements do not disrupt the collaborative endeavour. If the research takes place in an environment affected by societal tensions or examines a contentious issue, proactively map potential external conflicts and associated risks in advance. The mapping should include risk thresholds that the project cannot cross and specific strategies for mitigating or managing external risks (see P1).

Further ressources:

Roles and responsibilities should be matched with decision-making rights and adequate compensation. Since resources are generally scarce, they must be allocated transparently and fairly. Resources don’t only include salaries; they also include acknowledgement or opportunities for career advancement (see P4). When specifying roles and responsibilities of partners and members, you should also define the resources, especially budgets, required to carry out these tasks. The two should be directly coupled, as assigning responsibilities without the corresponding resources creates structural inequities. It is particularly important to clearly establish who holds the final decision-making authority on responsibilities, budgets, and tasks.

Global partnerships result in benefits that need to be shared. Openly discuss this at the outset, including potential salaries (see P2, “Ensure fair allocation of resources”), authorship, intellectual property rights (e.g. patents), access to funding, academic career advancement, and learning opportunities (see P4). Establish clear guidelines for ownership and ensure an equitable distribution of benefits among all partners. Define in writing at the start of the project how authorship will be handled (e.g. author order). Consider using standardized tools or agreement templates (e.g. collaboration agreements, data management plans) to document these arrangements transparently.

Tools:

All parties must help navigate obstacles in institutional systems. This includes securing permits or ethical clearance as well as facilitating administrative procedures, which vary across places and partner organizations. Allocate the necessary space, time, and resources for these activities.

Tool:

Further resources and literature

Roles of scientists in society. Step by Step Guide. SCNAT

Bentele U (2020) Guidelines to Conflict Sensitive Research. Swiss Academies Communications 15 (5).

Swiss Academies of Arts and Sciences (2017) A Conflict Sensitive Approach to Field Research – Doing Any Better? Swiss Academies Reports 12 (5).

Effective collaboration requires a clear and fair division of roles and responsibilities that reflects each partner’s capacity and function. Financial arrangements should enable this by giving partners control over their own budgets, contracts, and reporting processes.

Adaptive funding that allows for adjustments to changing circumstances and workplans fosters innovative, relevant, and impactful research and reduces administrative dependencies. Providing fair access to overhead funds strengthens institutional sustainability.

Learn more about the role of funders:

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