Research is vital for the socio-economic development of Cambodia. This background report provides an overview of the research ecosystem of Cambodia and outlines several recommendations to strengthen research capacity and quality. The analysis of the research ecosystem was conducted around nine building blocks: Research organizations, research topics, researchers, research funding, research quality and performance, researcher mobility and international collaboration, academia-industry collaboration, academic input for policy and research policy and regulatory frameworks.

Based on the analysis of these blocks, the following recommendations are proposed: Align research topics with national developmental needs; introduce a research fund to finance the national research agenda; clarify the roles, mandates, means, objectives and budgets of government research institutes; select some publicly-funded research and training organizations to become centres of excellence in research, providing them with adequate funding; introduce an attractive research career system and incentives for researchers; incentivize the private sector to conduct research in collaboration with academia; develop strong international university networks; and inform and train policymakers to integrate research into policymaking.