Jadara Platform for Applied Research, Innovation & Impact

By: Prof. Dr. Iman Al-Basheti Vice President, Jadara University

The development of Jordan’s research ecosystem is no longer an academic option or an issue confined to universities. It has become a national imperative that reflects the country’s capacity to generate knowledge, translate it into evidence-based decision-making, support sustainable development, and strengthen its competitiveness in the knowledge economy.

While Jordanian universities have made significant progress in research productivity and scholarly publication, the most important question today is no longer: How many papers have we published? Rather, it is: What real impact has this research created for society, the economy, and public policy?

This requires a shift from a culture of “research for publication” to a culture of “research for impact.” The value of research should not end with publication in an academic journal; rather, publication should be the beginning of a process through which knowledge contributes to solving real-world challenges, informing evidence-based policies, improving services, and creating measurable societal and economic value.

Achieving this transformation requires stronger connections between universities, researchers, government institutions, the private sector, and productive industries. National challenges should be translated into clearly defined research priorities, around which applied research projects can be developed, funded, implemented, and evaluated.

In this context, Jordan would benefit from establishing a National Platform for Applied Research and Innovation that connects knowledge with need, researchers with decision-makers, and universities with industry. Such a platform could transform national challenges into research opportunities and research findings into practical solutions.

Equally important is the development of mechanisms to measure the impact of research. Research excellence should not be assessed solely through the number of publications or citation rates. It should also be evaluated through its economic, social, legislative, administrative, and developmental impact. Establishing a National Research Impact Observatory could therefore provide a systematic framework for monitoring how research findings are translated into policies, programs, innovations, and measurable improvements.

At the same time, research evaluation must recognize that impact takes different forms across disciplines. In applied sciences, impact may be reflected through technologies, patents, products, or industrial solutions. In the humanities and social sciences, impact may take the form of improved legislation, stronger public awareness, preservation of cultural identity, social development, or better public policies. A fair research evaluation system must therefore recognize and measure these diverse forms of impact.

Jordan possesses considerable academic and research talent capable of producing high-quality and internationally competitive knowledge. The real challenge, however, is to build an ecosystem that places this knowledge at the heart of national development and decision-making.

The future of research should not be measured only by how much we publish, but by how much of our knowledge we can transform into impact.

The goal, therefore, should be to build a Jordanian research ecosystem that does more than produce knowledge—one that connects knowledge to need, research to solutions, universities to society, and findings to impact.

From publication to impact… this is the next step in advancing research in Jordan.

Jadara University seeks to strengthen the role of scientific research as a tool for solving problems, supporting development, and informing decision-making — not merely an activity limited to academic publication. From this perspective, the university proposes establishing the Jadara Platform for Applied Research, Innovation & Impact within Jadara Research Center, to serve as an organized bridge between researchers and governmental, private, industrial, and societal entities.

The platform receives real-world challenges faced by institutions, transforms them into executable and measurable applied research projects, then follows up on the adoption of results and documents the achieved impact.

Institutional Position & Governance

The platform is established in its first phase as a specialized unit within Jadara Research Center, under the center's management and the university presidency's support. The experience will be evaluated after the first year in preparation for institutional expansion when needed.