Civil security research often sees itself as a field of applied interdisciplinary research, which is oriented towards the needs of practitioners (organizations from police and non-police emergency response forces, operators of critical infrastructure). Unfortunately, it frequently happens that in the context of civil security research, the practitioner is only invited to join a research consortium shortly before the submission deadline. These short-term inquiries about possible project participation are often unsuccessful because practitioners (especially government authorities) have extensive hierarchies that may need to be involved in advance. Practitioners in research projects generally pursue the goal of meeting their research needs, which arise from their daily work/tasks. Practitioners contribute their needs and experiences to the projects. They also evaluate the research results achieved and provide feedback to the researchers. Get in touch with practitioners early on, ideally six months before a submission deadline, to better understand practitioner needs and target your research project accordingly.

If you are interested in launching a research or innovation project with practitioners, ForAn will help you find the right German practitioner. If you have already developed a product/concept that is almost ready for the market, ForAn will help you to find practitioners for possible trials. Please feel free to contact us.