Exploring research institutes: Structures, functioning and typology

Research institutes play an important role as part of the innovation landscape, which includes industrial, academic
and governmental organisations. Although there is often much
confusion over what constitutes an institute and there can even
be a number of different terms associated with such organisational forms, including centres, networks, programmes
and laboratories. Indeed institutes can enable multidisciplinary
research and the translation of knowledge generated to deliver
societal benefits and address industrial requirements. However,
despite the benefits offered by establishing research institutes,
there has been a distinct lack of studies in this area. Therefore,
this paper provides the findings from an initial research study
into the structure, functioning and typology of institutes.
Following a literature review on institutes, a benchmarking
study involving examination of 25 research institutes associated
with the energy sector has been carried out. This study
identified key features of the institutes, in regard to the research
area, technology readiness level, funding, partners, organisational structure, leadership and governance
arrangements. Subsequent analysis of these findings has
resulted in three main types of institute being identified. The
pros and cons for each institute type are provided along with
recommendations on the development and management of
research institutes.