What if Project Management Could Address the Major Challenges of Research?

By Malorie Vuillemin, Research Coordinator – Project Management, Unité de soutien SSA Québec

Research is, by nature, unpredictable and innovative. Can it then be managed like a construction site or an IT project? This question fuels an ongoing debate in the scientific community. Project management is sometimes seen as an administrative constraint, a rigid framework that would hinder creativity. However, when tailored to the specificities of research, it becomes a strategic tool to structure, optimize, and accelerate work. How can project management practices help address the major challenges of research?

Challenge 1: Fostering Effective Collaboration in a Complex Research Ecosystem

A Reality Marked by a Diversity of Stakeholders with Multiple Obligations

The field of research involves many actors with often competing responsibilities, such as teaching, grant applications, or managing other projects (Paprica, 2024). In a Learning Health System, this complexity increases with constant interactions between research, clinical practice, and healthcare improvement.

Levers for Effective and Aligned Collaboration

Facilitative Leadership

Project managers can play a key role in creating favorable conditions for research. Their mission is to remove obstacles: designing a realistic timeline that considers academic and financial constraints, ensuring compliance with funders’ requirements, and facilitating communication among stakeholders (Biely, 2024).

Structured Governance and Clear Roles from the Outset

From the beginning of a project, a precise definition of roles and responsibilities reduces ambiguities and strengthens coordination (Paprica, 2024). Establishing a steering committee to guide scientific orientations, combined with appointing a sponsor to ensure strategic alignment, enables smooth and coherent management.

An inspiring example is the Living Lab for the Local Implementation of Quebec’s Alzheimer’s Plan, which operates with a two-level governance structure:

This model illustrates the importance of distributed and flexible leadership in ensuring the success of research projects (Couturier, 2025).

Challenge 2: Managing Uncertainty and Complexity

An Inherent Uncertainty in Research

Research projects are constantly evolving, with objectives being redefined and results being unpredictable. In a Learning Health System, the diversity of stakeholders and their interactions directly influence the direction and application of findings, making project management even more dynamic.

Flexible and Evolving Approaches

Adaptive Planning

Structuring the project around intermediate milestones and regular reviews facilitates strategic adjustments based on progress (Paprica, 2024). An iterative approach, quickly testing hypotheses and adjusting strategies, allows for informed decision-making and greater responsiveness to unexpected developments.

Enhanced Transparency Through Visual Tracking

A clear view of ongoing tasks, obstacles, and decisions to be made helps manage uncertainty. Using visual dashboards and regular action plan reviews aids in tracking project progress and anticipating necessary adjustments (Hidalgo, 2018).

Challenge 3: Managing Resources and Time Constraints

Limited Resources and High Time Pressure

A project, by nature, faces the triple constraint (cost, quality, and time). Research projects are no exception. Certain project management tools can help teams stay within these boundaries.

Tools for Optimizing Time and Budget Management

A Structuring Timeline

Developing a clear schedule that integrates key milestones and main activities promotes effective time management. While some researchers hesitate to use tools like the Gantt chart due to research’s inherent uncertainty, it remains essential for visualizing dependencies and time constraints (Paprica, 2024).

A Deliverable-Based Budget

Structuring the budget by deliverables rather than as a whole allows for better allocation of resources across project phases. This approach facilitates tracking financial overruns and ensures more effective funding for critical activities.

Best practices in project management can certainly be adapted to the research context. More importantly, embracing them can help address the major challenges of research: fostering collaboration in a complex ecosystem, managing uncertainty and complexity, and optimizing resources and time constraints.

Project management to meet major research challenges: in a nutshell