Starting a research-practice partnership may seem overwhelming at first, especially for those who have not partnered outside of their respective agencies. Below we provide some key tasks to consider:

(1) Identify and select a partner. Establish channels of communication and expectations early on. Who will be responsible for what? How often should you check-in? Is there a mutually developed vision?

(2) Start looking for funding. While some partnerships may be able to start out small and build a foundation without financial support, in the long run, the health of the partnership will likely suffer without it. Additionally, some funding opportunities may require particular infrastructure to be in place prior to being considered for an award. For this reason, it’s best to check these rules before diving too deep into data agreements, research agendas, and so forth.

(3) Get together with your partners to start co-defining and negotiating the research agenda and partnership goals. What questions will the partnership focus on? What time frames are appropriate? What are the deliverables? What is the partnership’s theory of action?

(4) Look into what types of data agreements, MOUs, charters, staffing requirements, etc. make the most sense for your RPP, given item (3).

(5) From here, the basic structures are in place. Going forward, the partnership may then proceed in an infinite number of ways, depending on the arrangement, the focus of the research, the student population, etc.