About Us
Independent Research Group (IRG) is an innovative structure to promote independent research and the uptake of research findings. Those familiar with research are aware that a wealth of improvements in scientific and technical knowledge is being compiled in a wide variety of research journals in all fields of science and engineering. However, “a consistent finding from the literature is that the transfer of research findings into practice is a slow and haphazard process” Walker et al. (2003). Moreover, smaller industry sectors, do not become aware of recent advances, do not know how or where to access the information and lack the expertise required to interpret and implement the findings, neither their scale justify permanent research departments. In this context, one important aspect to be aware of, is that although, a substantial body of research is available, it is convenient to subdivide the research papers into those contributing to the discussion and those with the potential to make an impact in the real world. The latter type is very scarce and their identification is an overwhelmingly difficult task for engineers and other scientists in industry sectors, which are called upon the task of implementing knowledge with specific goals. In fact, this identification requires a high end of the understanding from those that are involved in research in a specific field or subject and access to databases that are often available only to universities. This disconnection between research and practice is a major contributor to the difficulties associated to the uptake of research. IRG is also implemented with the goal of bridging this gap.
IRG promotes the implementation of research findings into practice by means of two divisions, IRG and Independent Research Group Uptake (IRGU). IRG conduct research in potential fields of interest with subsequent depletion, under IRGU, of means to make the findings readily available for industry. Research; in this context include IRG’s own research projects and a study and compilation of the top journal papers, within the same field, with the potential to make an impact in the real world. Steps in this directions will be noted in this website and our current projects.
