Working conditions key to research output

New figures indicate that a functioning research environment is more important than higher salaries or bursts of extra training for getting good quality results out of scientists. Only when a good working environment was in place, did salary or the short-term training interventions favoured by donors and non-governmental organisations, influence productivity, according to Catherine Ragasa, author of the study and a senior researcher at IFPRI. The study involved 300 randomly selected researchers and representatives of 47 public research institutions and universities from Nigeria, and 137 researchers and representatives of 16 agricultural research institutions and universities from Ghana. "The organisational climate has been found to be very significant in inducing researchers to produce more — better facilities and research infrastructure served as important motivating factors," said Ragasa.