Hed-Core Academic Commons

Commissioned Research Project Request Form

Commissioned Research Project Request Form

Project Request Form

Use this form to propose a new commissioned research or evaluation project through the hub. The information you provide will help us understand your needs, assess feasibility and co‑design a project that delivers clear, usable outputs for policy, practice and/or research.

You do not need to have every detail finalized. If you are at an early “idea stage”, you can still submit this form and indicate that you would welcome a scoping conversation.

How to submit your request

  1. Copy the form below into a text editor or document.
  2. Fill in as much as you can. If a section is not yet clear, you can write “to be discussed”.
  3. Go to the Commissioned Research group on the site.
  4. Open the forum topic 01_Project Requests.
  5. Start a new reply and paste your completed form.
  6. A group admin or review team will respond to clarify, refine and, if appropriate, move the project to the scoping phase.

Project Request Form – Template

1. Title of proposed work
(A clear, concise working title for the project.)

2. Commissioner / partner organization(s)

  • Organisation name(s):
  • Main contact person:
  • Role / position:
  • Email address:
  • (Optional) Website or brief description of the organisation:

3. Background and rationale
(2–5 sentences describing the context and why this work is needed. For example: a policy reform under way, a new programme being designed, a gap in evidence for a particular decision, a learning need across a network, etc.)

4. Purpose and intended use

  • What decision, process or problem is this work intended to support?
  • Who are the primary users of the outputs (e.g. ministry officials, programme managers, practitioners, researchers, trainers)?
  • How do you expect the outputs to be used (e.g. inform strategy, design a programme, support training, contribute to academic debate)?

5. Key questions and focus
(List the main questions you want the project to address. Try to keep them focused and answerable within a realistic scope.)

6. Type of work and methods (if known)
(For example: rapid evidence reviews, case study, comparative analysis, programme evaluation, data synthesis, OER module development, mixed‑method study. If you are unsure, you can write “open to advice”.)

7. Expected outputs
(Tick or list the types of outputs you think would be most useful. You can add others.)

  • Full report / study
  • Policy brief or guidance note
  • Case study or learning brief
  • Dataset or data summary
  • OER module / training material
  • Presentation or slide deck
  • Other (please specify):

8. Indicative timeline

  • When would you like the work to start (or when did you start considering this)?
  • Are there any key milestones or deadlines (e.g. policy cycle, programme design window, conference, board meeting)?
  • When would you ideally like the final outputs to be available?

9. Geographic and thematic scope

  • Which countries, regions or contexts are you interested in?
  • Which sectors or themes (e.g. health, education, social protection, governance, environment, etc.)?

10. Stakeholders and partners

  • Which other organisations, teams or groups should be involved or consulted (e.g. other ministries, implementing partners, beneficiary groups, academic partners)?
  • Are there any existing initiatives or evidence that we should build on?

11. Constraints and special requirements
(For example: confidentiality or data protection needs, specific methods or approaches required or excluded, language requirements, budget or resource constraints, donor requirements, etc.)

12. Licensing and dissemination preferences (if any)

  • Do you have preferences regarding open access, licensing (e.g. Creative Commons), or restrictions on sharing?
  • Are there any audiences with whom you especially want the outputs to be shared (or not shared)?

13. Resources and support (if applicable)

  • Is there any budget or in‑kind support available for this work (e.g. staff time, data access, field support)?
  • Are there any resources you expect the hub to provide (e.g. lead researcher, coordination, repository deposition)?

14. Additional comments
(Any other information that would help us understand your needs or context.)

What happens after you submit?

  • Initial review: A group admin or review team will check your request for clarity and feasibility and may ask follow‑up questions in the forum thread or by email.
  • Scoping conversation (if needed): For more complex requests, a short call or exchange may be arranged to refine the questions, scope and outputs.
  • Decision: You will be informed whether the project can go ahead, and if so, what the next steps are (design, team, timeline).
  • Project setup: Once accepted, a thread will be created in 02_Running Projects, and the detailed work plan and documentation will begin there.

If you have questions before submitting, you can post them in the Commissioned Research group forum or contact a group admin directly.

Commissioned Research Quality, Ethics and Safeguarding

See also