Making research matter
Many ideas never leave the campus. Yet the world needs that knowledge to improve how organisations, communities, and industries operate. As the Director of the Humanitarian Operations and Supply Chain Management (HumOSCM) Lab, Dr Bublu Thakur-Weigold applies research to where it matters most. We spoke with her about how she makes it work.
Sebastian Wagner-Vierhaus (SW): What sparked your interest in knowledge transfer and keeps you engaged today?
Bublu Thakur-Weigold (BT): I noticed early on that much of the best research stays hidden in our libraries. Academics often publish in technical journals to which managers and policymakers rarely have access. At ETH, we produce an extensive knowledge base that is funded by Swiss taxpayers. We must, therefore, ensure that decision-makers benefit from it. Logistics affects healthcare, development, and economic activity globally. Sharing our insights is crucial. What excites me is developing roles and processes to make this happen systematically.
SW: Do you see knowledge transfer in your work through research, application, or consultancy?
BT: Primarily through applied research at the HumOSCM Lab. We interact with humanitarian organisations, bringing research directly into practice. This is not consulting. It involves structured interventions, measuring impacts, and refining theories based on real outcomes. Unlike consulting, it tests solutions scientifically in practice, revealing insights that traditional research methods may miss.
“Early-career researchers focus on publications, and many journals demand complex models. Real organisations want clear results with little delay.”Bublu Thakur-Weigold
SW: What challenges do scholars face when aiming for practical impact?
BT: First, incentives in academia reward technical rigour, not relevance. Early-career researchers focus on publications, and many journals demand complex models. Real organisations want clear results with little delay. Another challenge is language. Scholars write for their academic peers, but leaders need concise recommendations. Funding structures also matter. If grants do not include resources for fieldwork or collaboration, connecting with practitioners becomes difficult.
SW: What steps should researchers take to ensure theories and models influence the real world?
BT: Clear communication and structured project management are essential. Researchers must consider the practical context. They should define expected outcomes with practitioners at the project's start, to ensure that both sides benefit. This alignment is frequently overlooked, leading to frustrations and even failure. Basic project management methods, adapted to research settings, can significantly enhance effectiveness.
SW: Can you suggest specific tools or methods for facilitating knowledge transfer?
BT: I have been working on both sides of the wall for over thirty years, wondering how we tear it down. My own toolbox addresses everything that typically goes wrong in projects like these. But it is not a silver bullet. You have to begin by looking at the root cause of the problem set. Is there a difference in expectations between stakeholders? Are they all speaking the same language?
SW: How do humanitarian activities differ from corporate strategy in this context?
BT: Non-profit humanitarian logistics focuses on resource allocation in highly unpredictable environments, funded by donors rather than paying consumers. Unlike businesses, humanitarian organisations operate where the operating conditions are typically challenging and resources limited.
SW: How do these constraints affect knowledge transfer?
BT: Humanitarian organisations often have no choice but to dedicate fewer resources to innovation. Decision-makers face restrictions imposed by donors, who demand low overhead and immediate results. Effective transfer will therefore require that we adjust our research methods to these realities. Concisely formulated and actionable insights are critical.
SW: Can corporations learn from humanitarian practice?
BT: Yes. Commercial firms can learn efficiency from the humanitarian organisations that achieve results despite extreme constraints. Many simple impactful interventions that were developed under pressure can be transferred to corporate settings, and drive process innovation.
“The idea that practical, applied work is less rigorous frustrates me. Intervention-based research [...] can provide deep insights and faster innovation cycles.”Bublu Thakur-Weigold
SW: Which misunderstandings about knowledge transfer frustrate you the most?
BT: The idea that practical, applied work is less rigorous frustrates me. Intervention-based research, involving direct application and impact evaluation, is both rigorous and important. In the management sciences, it can provide deep insights and faster innovation cycles, and yet most of academia still undervalues this.
SW: Finally, how do you see knowledge transfer developing in the future?
BT: It must become structured and systemic. Institutions like ours need dedicated resources and specialists in knowledge transfer. ETH could benefit from training its outstanding researchers to communicate more broadly. This would enable practitioners and research partners to access the critical scientific knowledge that we generate.