Abstract:

The topic of research development at higher educational institutions (HEIs) has a significant social and economic profile nowadays. It has become a way of stimulating competitiveness and productivity of universities. This presentation is based on the UK universities’ experience of research development, which is designed in different forms, taking into consideration HEIs’ social, economic, cultural, and other internal and external factors.
This strategy, one known widely in scholarly papers as a research capacity building (RCB), attempts to promote research at all levels of HEIs, may they be degree programs, staff and administrator training or infrastructure. RCB in HEIs of the UK is considered, within recent studies, to be at the heart of research development. In this presentation I will provide a theoretical framework of what RCB implies for HEIs of the UK. Within the research work and scholarly articles there are different approaches to building research capacity. This research shows building research capacity, either for individuals or for systems which act as networks for those who perform research, is crucial in order to develop the quality of research, competent research staff, and to enrich research projects. RCB, as a sophisticated process directed toward the development of research productivity of HEIs, has been defined in different ways by different researchers.
This paper attempts to define a theoretical framework for RCB for HEIs in the UK. It reviews scholarly articles over the last decade, together with official documents in the same period, which have been adopted by organizations working on RCB, studying the existing work and existing networks. The paper does not claim to present a theoretical framework for RCB in universities as a whole. It is focused on developing a theoretical framework of research capacity building in education departments only. The objective of this paper is to provide a clear theoretical framework for RCB, how it works within a university system, and how it creates connections between HEIs and other related organizations. The findings of this paper give ideas to HEIs in developing countries in order to strengthen their RCB in HEIs and to take tentative steps to promote their research development.

Keywords:

Research capacity building, educational research, research development, higher educational institutions.