  Academic research projects receive hundreds of billions of dollars of
government investment each year. They complement business research projects by
focusing on the generation of new foundational knowledge and addressing
societal challenges. Despite the importance of academic research, the
management of it is often undisciplined and ad hoc. It has been postulated that
the inherent uncertainty and complexity of academic research projects make them
challenging to manage. However, based on this study's analysis of input and
voting from more than 500 academic research team members in facilitated risk
management sessions, the most important perceived risks are general, as opposed
to being research specific. Overall participants' top risks related to funding,
team instability, unreliable partners, study participant recruitment, and data
access. Many of these risks would require system- or organization-level
responses that are beyond the scope of individual academic research teams.
