Whilst fieldwork will be tailored to each individual country, there are some broad themes / research questions which will help shape this research across all countries. Below is a sample of the types of questions and themes to be explored in this study.

Overarching Framework / Mapping:

• What are the most eye-catching and distinctive features of this country’s STI system?
• What are the main structures for science and innovation (institutions, policies, funding etc.)?
• What is the history and how rapidly are things developing?
• What are the key indicators and metrics that reflect the health of this system?
• What is the place of STI in the overall economic priorities of this country?
• Who are the ‘home-grown heroes’ of this country’s science?
• What are the key transformational moments or snapshots of this country’s science and innovation system?
• In which fields are the key STI strengths? What are the key areas of potential strength?
• How might recognised international best practices by applied or tailored to this country to promote and improve STI?
• What legal frameworks / regulations are in place to govern STI? What learnings from other systems might be applied /tailored to this country?
• What is the balance between basic and applied research in this country?
• How is government policy informed?
• How is STI promoted in this country? Does more need to be done in this regard? If so, how?
• Where appropriate, what is the place of STI in national development plans?
• How absorptive in this country to new and /or alternative technologies?
• How is technology diffused across the country?
• Where appropriate, what are the emerging centres of scientific excellence within this country? Are they internationally recognised?

People & Human Capital:

• Can we measure flows of scientific and research talent in and out of this system?
• What are the key trends in human capital production?
• How best can scientists, inventors and innovators be rewarded / acknowledged internationally?
• What are the strengths and weaknesses of the secondary and higher education system?
• How do the public and private institutions compare?
• How have university enrolment trends changed?
• What are the numbers of university graduates at PhD and Masters level?
• How well does the HE system prepare for careers in science? How employable are graduates from a business / government perspective?
• How do universities encourage a spirit of innovation and entrepreneurship?
• Is entrepreneurship / innovation embedded in the university curriculum?
• What place does engineering education hold within the broader STI system?
• Where are this country’s diaspora of scientists/ entrepreneurs around the world? What impact do they have on the country’s STI potential? To what extent do they contribute to international collaboration for the country?

Places:

• What is the current geographical distribution of STI and how are current patterns likely to change?
• Where are this country’s science ‘hotspots’ and which are the places / institutions / companies to watch and why?
• What are the differences between the established centres and the ‘rising star’ cities?
• How strong is the divide between rich and poor within the country, and the related absorption and access to science and technology?
• What is the impact of different regional systems of innovation?
• Is STI policy governed by central and/or regional innovation policy and if so, what is the variable impact of these policy approaches?

Business:

• What are the innovation sectors and domains of particular strength?
• What is the balance between public and private sector R&D?
• What is the contribution of development assistance and philanthropy to R&D?
• How much (if any) multinational R&D takes place in this country? Is this sort of investment encouraged?
• How innovative is domestic enterprise? Is this changing?
• What is the potential for indigenous private sector R&D?
• Who are the major indigenous companies and are they doing cutting edge research?
• What mechanisms are in place to attract FDI? What other tools might be relevant?
• Where there is FDI, how effective has it been in transferring knowledge / skills / competitiveness into domestic industry?
• What is the climate for entrepreneurship / venture capital?
• How is entrepreneurship viewed in a cultural sense?
• What venture capital schemes exist? How effective are they? How might they be improved?
• How suited is the regulatory environment to supporting multinational R&D?
• Are science / tech parks and business incubators present in this country? How successful are they?

Culture:

• How does this country approach the governance and ethics of science?
• What role do women play in this country’s STI system? How accessible are research careers to women this country?
• What national and institutional policies are in place to overcome obstacles faced by women in their scientific careers?
• How do we understand the relationship between Islam, science and politics in this country? How is this changing?
• What are the distinctive features of this country’s STI trajectory? What do they mean for other world regions?
• What social / political trends have an impact on STI – such as the impact of governance / ethics systems, open source movements,
• What levels of public engagement are used in decision making on pertinent scientific issues
• What is the relationship between science and development?
• Is there a culture of cross-over and exchange between academia and business in this country? How successful are initiatives aimed at driving the commercialisation of research?

Collaboration:

• How well connected is this country to research and innovation hubs in Europe, the US, Canada, Japan, China, India and elsewhere?
• Which other Islamic-world countries does this country collaborate with on science, and how have these relationships changed / evolved? Are they based on historical ties or more current drivers? To what extent does their country’s OIC membership drive collaboration?
• How successful is the currently collaboration between this country and others?
• How can international collaboration be strengthened? What are the barriers to this?
• What are the boosts and barriers to collaborating in and with this country?
• What is the relationship between the country’s foreign policy and its scientific collaborations?
• How have the flows of this country’s students overseas or foreign students coming there influenced international collaboration trends?