Facilitating researcher collaboration with UK government departments

In the UK, each government department periodically publishes Areas of Research Interest (ARIs) to highlight areas that they’d like to see research on. These ARIs fall neatly into the definition of an Octopus research problem,

Our new integration with the Areas of Research Interest (ARI) database regularly updates Octopus with UK government ARIs, publishing them as research problems.

By presenting the ARIs as research problems, users can formulate ideas and theories directly linked to government priorities. Researchers can propose investigation plans, bridging the gap between policy and academia. The integration will facilitate greater collaboration by giving users the option to share relevant contact details and links to their work with the relevant government department when they publish a hypothesis that is linked to one of these ARIs.

The change will also make it easier for government departments to automatically keep track of academic work relevant to their areas of interest. This approach encourages collaboration between researcher teams and the UK government, ensuring valuable research reaches decision-makers.

By allowing ARIs to be linked with other work, and minting a DOI for them, researchers are now able to cite their ARI-linked work on Octopus to get credit for the societal impact of their research. This could help secure potential funding, while providing government departments with fresh ideas and insights as well as a broader range of academic contacts.

Every week, Octopus will automatically check for new ARIs and updates to existing ones, ensuring that the latest content produced by government is always accessible to researchers on Octopus.

We are excited to see that the feature has generated enthusiasm from UK governmental staff and funders. Professor Dame Angela McLean, government chief scientific adviser (GCSA) at the Government Office for Science, said: “Areas of Research Interest questions are designed to help researchers and government organisations identify relevant evidence for policy making and highlight opportunities for collaboration, and this UKRI-funded initiative can help with those aims. The integration of the ARI Database with Octopus.ac represents a new opportunity to connect users with research interests across various government organisations.”

Professor Dame Jessica Corner, executive chair at Research England, said: “This integration offers an excellent way of linking the research community with the research requirements of UK government departments. This can help to build links between academic research and policy, and to support the development of research reflecting key areas of interest for government, and so achieve impact through informing and influencing the direction of policy and public services in the UK.”

For more information, visit Octopus at https://www.octopus.ac or explore the ARI database at https://ari.org.uk.

To find out how to link your work to government priorities and open the conversation with government departments register for our upcoming webinar scheduled for the 20^th of February 2025: How to publish on Octopus.ac - Jisc

If you’d like to provide feedback on this new feature, please send an email to help@jisc.ac.uk.