Capacity Strengthening

The SOAR consortium strives to strengthen local capacity to conduct high-quality operations research that simultaneously supports the translation, dissemination, and use of research results. We aim to foster a system-wide culture that values evidence and supports in-country ownership so that operations research is relevant, disseminated, and used to improve policies and programs. Our capacity-strengthening strategy combines proven and innovative approaches to strengthen the skills of research institutions and individuals to carry out high-quality studies, create partnerships between researchers and data users, develop manuscripts for scientific publications, and provide support for continued professional learning. SOAR encourages its local study investigators to work side by side with key local stakeholders—including government officials—along the research continuum from study conceptualization, to implementation, and then to research dissemination and utilization. SOAR capacity-strengthening activities include regional workshops on HIV operations research, mentored grant writing opportunities, and training on writing peer-reviewed publications.