Following the establishment of the National Research Fund (NRF) through the Science, Tech- nology and Innovation (ST&I) Act No. 28, Section 32, of 2013, the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MoEST) gave the National Commission for Science, Technology and Innova- tion (NACOSTI) the responsibility to operationalize the NRF. NACOSTI organized a national stakeholders’ consensus-building workshop with support from the Consortium for National Health Research (CNHR). The workshop was held on 26th August 2014 to discuss the opera- tionalization of the NRF. The workshop recommended a Planning Working Group (PWG) be constituted from among the stakeholders to develop a conceptual framework paper to guide the operationalization of the Fund. The PWG was appointed by NACOSTI in October 2014. Based on the Terms of Reference (ToRs) provided by NACOSTI, the PWG undertook its work through working committees that were tasked to deliberate and provide recommendations on four critical aspects, namely: legal framework and institutional design, resource mobilization, funding and grant management mechanisms, and anticipated challenges.
Relying on the provisions of the ST&I Act 2013, and in reference to government policy papers and strategies, the PWG report provides the basis for operationalization of the Fund in six chap- ters: introduction; review of selected case studies on research funding mechanisms; legal framework, governance and management structure of the NRF; resource mobilization for the NRF; funding and grant management mechanisms; and anticipated challenges in operationaliz- ing the NRF. The report was reviewed during the stakeholders’ validation workshop held on 17th March, 2015 before being finalized for submission to the Cabinet Secretary for MoEST. The find- ings, strategies and recommendations provided the basis for the MoEST and NRF Board of Trustees to develop guidelines, standards and procedures in the process of operationalizing the Fund. As provided for in the ST&I Act, 2013, the Board of Trustees, and MoEST are expected to undertake this process in consultation with NACOSTI and other key stakeholders in the ST&I sector.