Flexible Networking in Research Capacity Building at the National University of Laos: Lessons for North-South Collaboration

Abstract

This paper describes a research-training project for building social science research capacity at the National University of Laos (NUOL),supported by IDRC. At the international level, the project was structured as a flexible network of resource persons from six countries. The main successes of the project turned out to be unanticipated: the project offered significant insights to NUOL's ongoing assessment of its administrative capacity to manage university-based research. The flexibility of the network approach, combined with a structure that oriented the international network toward engaging with, and responding to, needs articulated by NUOL staff proved crucial to the project's ability to respond to changing institutional needs in NUOL. The importance of paying careful attention to how projects can be structured so that they are responsive to Southern needs has been heightened by intensified pressure in Canadian universities to generate funds, while promoting excellence in research and training takes a backseat.

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