Financial planning for surgical research. Project portfolio as an instrument for research planning

: Planning of research funding should assure both volume and continuity of economic support. Funding of new research concepts usually depends largely on the internal budget of the research institution (primary economical resources). More mature projects can be funded by governmental and non-profit (secondary) or industrial sources (tertiary economical resources). In general, a balanced proportion of financial support will assure maximal research independence. The respective funding of a research project should be regarded as extrinsic to the quality of the said project. Portfolio analysis of research projects is introduced as a new means of planning and controlling academic and industrial research. In principle, research projects will be evaluated with regard to the inherent potential of development (e.g. potential impact on clinical or scientific concepts) and the current productivity (e.g. output of results and publications). The 2-dimensional portfolio-matrix will be used to analyse these factors, manifesting both the overall activity of a research unit and the development of new research and funding strategies. In addition, repetitive project-portfolio analyses will enable control of both spending and efficiency in research. The application of the current project-portfolio method is exemplified by an analysis of the research activities of the department of surgery at the university of Basel. To date, project-portfolio analysis is not a mature method: Development of more quantitative portfolio strategies and of multidimensional project-portfolios are proposed. However, project-portfolio analysis is a promising means of planning and controlling research. It should be used and developed further in institutions with a number of concurrent research activities.