Gaps	Suggested actions
Research strategies and policies
No research policy or strategy available for the institute	Develop an attainable research policy or strategy that can be utilized by departments and act as a guidance for the management of research.
Absence of plans for prioritizing research topics in each department	University needs to plan for and prioritize the health needs of the population of the country, where research for a specified period on a particular topic will generate evidence from our country’s perspective.
Unclear guidelines for research protocol reviews and none available for the various members of IRB, detailing their roles and responsibilities	Establish regulations and policies for ethical reviews of research proposals, along with guidelines for the IRB members for maintaining professional standards of conduct and prevent infringement of those.
Lack of authorship guidelines promoted by the University	Departments need a meticulous authorship guideline to support the contributing authors, and to avoid authorship malpractice.
Institutional support services and infrastructure
Lack of research support offices and/or inadequate coordination among departments for collaborative research	Proactive engagement between the research members from various departments needs to be encouraged. Collaborate with other contract research organizations to overcome the lack of in-house research facilities.
Insufficient development of research infrastructure within the University to support research	Urgent upgradation and integration of information and communication technology (ICT) facilities for storing and monitoring patient’s history, diagnostic report, and track the current health condition, which can be used for research. Establish dedicated research laboratory facilities with international accreditation. Develop clear processes and diminished costing for researchers wishing to access lab facilities. Consider the development of a biobank for the storage of patient’s blood, serum, tissues, etc. for future research. Improved access to health science journals in the library by increasing subscriptions of Elsevier and Springer journals, easy login to HINARI database from any device logged into BSMMU’s intranet and appropriate listing of all scientific and academic outputs from all departments of BSMMU.
Inadequate inclusion of research related activities in the post graduate curriculum	Revision and emphasis of research-based courses in the postgraduate curriculum. Early planning for thesis’s proposal development and writing to reduce hassles and delays related to submission. Include publication of original thesis findings in University’s journals/ international peer-reviewed journals as a part of the curriculum. Dedicated day for poster presentation of all the resident student’s thesis ensuing their defense examinations.
Inefficient tracking and cataloging of research proposals with corrections and amendments	Establishment of electronic management system for cataloguing all the proposals with their review decisions and corrections. Development of a checklist to be attached with every proposal undergoing review process listing the changes/ corrections made with written notifications on decisions regarding approval/ disapproval of proposal.
Human resource management for research
Academic and administrative workloads overburdening the researchers Lack of appreciation for the researchers in the University Very few doctoral students in the University No formal postdoctoral career posts for researchers and non-existent career paths for research staff	Dedicated time slots for research related activities assigned by the University’s authority. Motivate researchers by enticing them with yearly recognition or awards, waivers for publication into high-impact journals, budgetary allotment for travel and stay for original paper/ abstract/ poster presentation. Formal doctoral and post-doctoral programs need to be established to develop skilled researchers in health care. Formalize career tracks for research staff.
Human resource development for research
Deficiency in continued professional development of resident students/ researchers/library staff/IRB staff	Early introduction into research skills training for resident students. Training needs assessment for all research staff will enable in developing tailored training programs. Establish institutional programs, for technical improvement of resident students which mainly include statistical knowledge and use of statistical software, research articles writing skills, etc. For research staff more attention should be given for developing non-technical skills such as project management, leadership, supervision & monitoring, etc. IRB committee members need both initial and continuing education and training in research ethics, methodology and governance. Periodic trainings of the library staff to retain their knowledge of computer skills, literature search, database management, etc.
External promotion of research
Promotion of the research activities and successes are not publicized well enough	Regular emendation of the University’s website to include all current research activities and publications. Ensure easy accessibility to University’s website along with proper functional hyperlinks.
National research engagement
Very few research outputs from the institution have the ability to influence national policies	University should publicize its research findings more on the national forums for its uptake into the national policies and programs. Improvement into the researcher’s capability to write medical jargon free press releases.