Getting consortium project development right

The dynamics of multi-disciplinary and multi-stakeholder consortia can be harnessed to solve the complex challenges that hold back health research and innovation. However, consortium projects are an unusual way of working.

Even the most experienced researchers and innovators take part in at the most five consortium projects throughout their careers. The form and structure of a consortium project is unlike most other projects. The first challenge is that pulling together a consortium project is a complex process. There is a very real risk that the effort that partners need to invest in proposal development balloons uncontrollably.

Once a consortium project gets started the best way to achieve good interaction is through online meetings, but these can be difficult to run effectively. Everyone in a consortium has their own interests that have to be integrated with the objectives of the overall project. A lack of understanding and open conflict are common in consortium projects. Most importantly consortium projects are about making a real difference which means they have to be ambitious.

But that does not mean consortium project members have to sacrifice their individual careers for the sake of the project. On the contrary, a well-designed and highly interactive consortium project are a vehicle for the involved individuals and their organisations to become transformative leaders in their field.

At BioSci Consulting we have designed and guided more than consortium projects. A well-designed project inspires all those involved.

We help you achieve a consortium project that will make a real difference by:

• structuring and guiding dialogue in online meetings in order to leverage multi-disciplinary and multi-stakeholder thinking to develop new ideas and solutions to problems that would develop much slower, if at all, in isolation

• providing an approach to consortium projects that makes them highly effective and leads to their evolution into an expanding source of collaborations and funding

•  serving as a neutral moderator making online meetings more productive

• applying our knowledge of cross-boundary disciplines, such as data science, AI, precision medicine, and stakeholder engagement to increase the impact of a consortium project

• strategically writing the text of a plan or proposal so it clearly demonstrates both the science and the impact of a consortium project