Why research excellence alone is not enough?

To maintain its global competitiveness, the European Union (EU) seeks to narrow the innovation and productivity gap between Europe and other major economic regions. Research and innovation play a central role in achieving this goal. (European Commission, 2025a; European Commission, n.d.-a). Despite the global strength of European higher education institutions and research systems, translating research outcomes into innovation, market uptake, and commercial value remains a persistent challenge. This suggests that human capital excellence and sustainable research and innovation capacity cannot be built through scientific expertise alone. Addressing this challenge requires a range of complementary measures. It also depends on the organisational structures, leadership practices, administrative systems, and learning capabilities that enable individuals and institutions to thrive.

The APPROACH project, a Horizon Europe-funded initiative supporting the development of young talents in solar energy harvesting technologies (APPROACH Project, n.d.), explored how investment in human capital can strengthen research and innovation capacity. This article examines the organisational and human factors that enable excellence in and beyond research.

The Four Dimensions of Human Capital Excellence

Human capital excellence is built through four interconnected dimensions: academic excellence, knowledge sharing, organisational excellence, and human-centred excellence. Together, these dimensions combine scientific expertise, collaborative learning, effective organisational practices, and the leadership capabilities needed to support high-performing teams.

Academic excellence provides the foundation through education, training, and research expertise. Knowledge sharing strengthens learning through open science and peer exchange. Organisational excellence creates the structures that support research and innovation, including project management, communication, administration, and knowledge management. Human-centred excellence focuses on the people behind innovation, encompassing leadership, trust, inclusion, wellbeing, and individual capabilities such as communication, leadership, self-management, and time management. Effective organisational structures and support systems enable researchers to focus on discovery and innovation, while strong leadership and people-centred practices create the conditions in which individuals and teams can perform at their best (Edmondson, 1999; Bang, Rørstad & Mogård, 2022).

Workshop-Based Learning and Knowledge Exchange

To explore the factors that help research and innovation teams thrive in the solar energy sector, the APPROACH project organised a series of workshops for young research talents, project managers, research leaders and support professionals who enable research excellence. These workshops provided a platform for peer learning and the exchange of good practices, enabling participants to share, discuss, and validate practical solutions to common organisational and human challenges affecting research and innovation performance (Oraviita, 2025).

Through peer learning, participants developed their knowledge and skills by exchanging experiences and good practices, perspectives, and practical insights (Boud, Cohen & Sampson, 1999). Good practices offered transferable methods, tools, and processes, whilst peer discussions enabled participants to evaluate, adapt, and refine their application across different organisational contexts (Serrat, 2008; Skyrme, 2002).

Key Findings from the workshops

The workshops proved to be an effective means of identifying, comparing, and validating good practices that support human capital excellence. They provided not only an opportunity to share practices but also to validate them through experience-based discussions across multiple organisations and countries.

Across the workshops, a clear message emerged: excellence depends not only on professional expertise but also on the organisational structures, leadership practices, and supportive working environments and tools that enable people and teams to focus on the essential, deliver the work smoothly, and perform at their best. In this context, expertise extends beyond scientific competence. Skills such as communication, leadership, time management, collaboration, and self-management were repeatedly identified as essential for effective individual and team performance, project delivery, and innovation, while safeguarding both quality and individual well-being. Equally important were the practical systems, processes and tools that support day-to-day work, including effective communication methods and channels, documentation practices, worktime and project management processes, digital tools, administrative systems, and resources management tools and systems, including working time planning, allocation, and follow-up.

It is also to be recognised that building sustainable research and innovation capacity requires the development of research leaders, project managers, directors, and administrative staff alongside scientific talent. The more effectively an organisation functions, the stronger is its capacity to develop and sustain human capital excellence, attract talent, foster innovation, and achieve breakthroughs in science and development.

The key findings from the workshops can be summarised in the following points (Oraviita, 2025):

1. Work organisation and clear structures and working practices

Well-defined work plan, processes, roles, responsibilities, and project management practices were identified as critical enablers of excellence. Whether related to projects, collaborations, or administrative functions, clear and predictable organisational structures create a common understanding, a framework for work and enable researchers to spend less time navigating uncertainty and more time focusing on research, development, and innovation. They also create a common framework and shared language that facilitate communication, coordination, and collaboration across the project team.

2. Administrative support and effective project implementation

Efficient document management, timesheet and resource allocation and planning systems, data governance, monitoring, reporting practices, and audit-ready processes were repeatedly highlighted as essential components of successful research environments. Strong administrative foundations increase organisational capacity and reduce misunderstandings and the workload associated with project implementation. These too become part of the shared operational project and process language.

3. Reducing organisational “noise” and enabling focus

Unnecessary complexity, fragmented or inexistent systems, unclear instructions, duplicated processes, and communication overload were identified as barriers to performance. Reducing this organisational “noise” was seen as critical for improving focus, productivity, and innovation outcomes.

4. Effective communication

Communication emerged as one of the strongest determinants of project success. Clear communication and responsibilities, structured communication channels, agreement on communication principles, recognisable and user-friendly communication principles, regular information sharing, and transparent decision-making help prevent delays, reduce misunderstandings, and improve collaboration across multidisciplinary and international teams.

5. Leadership and human factors matter as much as processes

Structures alone are insufficient. Trust, psychological safety, inclusion, motivation, and supportive leadership were identified as equally important enablers of excellence. More open and trust-based project teams with flatter hierarchies are often better equipped to anticipate and overcome project-related challenges. Organisations that invest in people-centred leadership create conditions in which talent can develop and perform at its best.

6. Organisational learning accelerates capacity building

Peer learning and the systematic exchange of good practices proved valuable mechanisms for strengthening research and innovation capacity. Sharing experiences in a versatile group enabled participants to identify transferable solutions and common pitfalls.

7. Excellence requires a whole-organisation approach

A recurring finding across all workshops was that excellence is not created solely by researchers. Research leaders, project managers, administrative staff, and institutional support functions all play a vital role in creating environments where scientific talent can flourish. Human capital excellence therefore emerges from the interaction between academic, organisational, and human-centred dimensions.

Conclusions

The findings from the workshops suggest that, for innovation teams to thrive, it is first necessary to recognise that excellence is not primarily an individual characteristic only, but also an organisational outcome enabled by effective structures, leadership, learning, and collaboration. Research excellence and innovation capacity therefore emerge as collective and systemic achievements rather than the result of individual talent alone.

Another central finding was that innovation capacity depends not only on scientific expertise but also on the organisational environment. Inefficient administrative systems, fragmented communication, and unclear responsibilities were repeatedly identified as barriers that reduce time and resources available for research and innovation.

These findings highlight the need for capacity-building and training that extends beyond scientific and technical competencies. To strengthen research and innovation capacity, investment is needed not only in young research talent but also in research leaders, project managers, administrators, and decision-makers, particularly in areas such as leadership, communication, collaboration, project management, and innovation.

The findings are particularly relevant in the solar energy sector, where innovation increasingly depends on multidisciplinary collaboration between researchers, engineers, industry partners, and international project consortia. However, the implications and their applicability extend beyond solar energy to other sectors. By strengthening organisational structures, leadership capabilities, and collaborative practices, institutions can better support knowledge exchange, innovation, and the translation of research into impact. In the longer term, such capabilities may contribute to strengthening European competitiveness and innovation performance.