Research and Innovation

Shaping a R&I driven ethos

R&I is a cornerstone of SIRIS’s identity, embedded into all aspects of our consulting and knowledge-brokering activities. Through curiosity, evidence, and critical thinking, we help clients move beyond assumptions, contextualizing evidence to inform impactful decision-making. Our team thrives on curiosity and interdisciplinary collaboration. We provide a supportive environment for exploration while ensuring our recommendations are rooted in rigorous analysis and evidence-based insights. Placing R&I at the heart of SIRIS thus has major implications for the way we work.

• R&I is seamlessly integrated into every project, enabling evidence-based, innovative solutions tailored to client needs. By employing multidimensional approaches, we adapt our tools to ensure unique and impactful solutions for each project.
• We value evidence over authority, both internally and in our relation with clients. We encourage team members to explore new questions and approaches that foster creativity and innovation. We are convinced that the rigorously argued opinion of a junior member has the same weight as that of any other team member.
• We think that ground truths are a necessary starting point. If a project does not align with basic ground truths and goes against existing evidence then we will explain this to the client and if we do not reach an agreement, we will cease working on the project in alignment with our duty to advise.
• We always remain open to questioning existing evidence and theories, even when they are widely accepted. Through interdisciplinary methods and strategic partnerships, we bring cutting-edge practices into our daily work. This leads us to constantly explore new approaches and test new ideas.
• We are aware that this ethos has financial implications and strive to balance curiosity-driven exploration with strategic investments, ensuring long-term impact and scalability. By dedicating resources to high-impact initiatives, we maintain cutting-edge expertise and align our R&I plan with client needs and global trends.

Maximising positive Societal Impact

Our R&I driven ethos has consequences on our world view, including on questions that have political consequences such as sustainability and inequality. It therefore impacts our R&I priorities, our choice of projects on which we work and the way we work.

• Our overarching goal is to generate knowledge that will have a positive societal impact on the ecosystem in which we work. We use R&I to drive positive change, sharing findings through publications, events, and collaborations to inform policymaking and contribute to wider scientific and societal debates.
• We actively promote open science, and in particular open access, open data, and open-source principles, sharing knowledge transparently with clients and the broader community. This includes publishing in open-access journals, using open-source tools wherever possible, and encouraging clients to share results transparently. We actively enhance the quality and availability of data, supporting clients in accessing and utilizing open data for transparent and informed decision-making.

Through these commitments, SIRIS leverages its expertise to provide innovative, impactful solutions while fostering a culture of openness, collaboration, and long-term sustainability in research and innovation.