Collaboration between research and practice in public administration: potentials, barriers and options

Resumé

Public administration research is in a cross-pressure between relevance for the international research community and for Danish practice. This cross-pressure is particularly evident in hiring of new academic staff and the distribution of grants from public and private research funds. It is generally expected that there will be more focus on so-called double impact, where researchers and universities are measured on publication in prestigious journals as well as generation of knowledge with practical use. This article discusses opportunities, gains and challenges of strengthened collaboration between research and practice in public administration. The article particularly focuses on some of the potential gains from closer collaboration and discusses a number of challenges and barriers to establishing closer collaboration between research and practice.