Strategic planning-a key for R&D management

The importance of strategic planning and a practical approach to formulate strategies in R&D environments are discussed along with some insight for overcoming some common barriers and obstacles. The author emphasizes that, because of direct global competition and lack of sufficient research funds, technology transfer must become one of the key elements of comprehensive strategic plans of research facilities. The importance of technology transfer and general project management challenges for developing cohesive teams out of a diverse mix of specialists while encouraging the creative potential of all team members is described. A recent case example of a successful technology transfer from TRIUMF (the Tri-University Meson Facility, a world-class particle accelerator research facility) is described to illustrate the main lessons learned.<>