Building Programme Governance From
Scratch in Funded Research Environments
FEATURED PAPER
By Sudhir Taneja
Programme and Project Manager
Swansea, United Kingdom
Abstract
Governance failure in funded research programmes is commonly treated as a management problem: the wrong approach, the wrong tool, or insufficient oversight. This article argues that it is a structural one. The delivery infrastructure required to run a complex, multi-partner programme does not emerge when funding begins. It has to be built deliberately, by someone who has first understood what the specific environment actually needs. Most practitioners skip that step. They import a framework, select a tool, or replicate a structure from a previous role. The system is implemented. It is not adopted.
This article introduces the Diagnose-Design-Sustain sequence, a practice-derived approach to constructing governance from scratch in funded research environments. It is grounded in direct delivery experience across two nationally funded UK research programmes managed concurrently at Swansea University between August 2024 and August 2025: the UK Mental Health Mission, funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), and the DATAMIND Trusted Research Environment, funded by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI).
The central argument is that the first act of governance is not design. It is a diagnosis. What failure looks like in this specific programme, from the perspective of each stakeholder group, must be understood before any governance architecture is built. The evidence presented shows what that sequence produces when it is followed: 100% funder reporting compliance maintained throughout both programmes, on-time researcher delivery improved by approximately 30%, the DATAMIND Trusted Research Environment delivered live in July 2025 on the target date set at programme outset, and £4,000 in annual tool cost avoided through diagnostic-driven decision-making.
Keywords: Programme governance, Funded research management, Research programme delivery, Governance design, Diagnostic methods, NIHR, UKRI, Higher education management, Project management practice, Delivery infrastructure
- Introduction
Governance failure in funded research programmes is not usually caused by the wrong people being in the room. It is caused by the absence of a room entirely. The delivery infrastructure required to manage a complex, multi-partner programme, including the milestone structures, reporting cadence, ownership clarity, and escalation pathways, is routinely missing at the point a programme manager arrives. This is not an isolated oversight in any particular institution. It is a predictable consequence of how research is funded, designed, and initiated. The people hired to do the research are not hired to build the governance. And the people hired to manage the programme frequently arrive after the environment is already in motion, with active funder obligations, engaged partners, and informal working arrangements already in place.
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How to cite this paper: Taneja, S. (2026). When There Is No Framework: Building Programme Governance From Scratch in Funded Research Environments; PM World Journal, Vol. XV, Issue V, May. Available online at https://pmworldjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/pmwj164-May2026-Taneja-When-There-Is-No-Framework.pdf
About the Author
Sudhir Taneja
Swansea, UK
Sudhir Taneja is a programme and project manager specialising in governance design and delivery infrastructure for complex, multi-partner programmes. He has held programme management roles across funded research, financial services, and operations, working across the UK and India. His recent work includes concurrent management of two nationally funded UK research programmes at Swansea University, the UK Mental Health Mission (NIHR) and the DATAMIND Trusted Research Environment (UKRI), spanning seventeen partner organisations, including NHS bodies, HDR UK, SAIL Databank, and King’s College London. Earlier in his career, he held senior roles at IndusInd Bank, ING Vysya Bank, and UTI Bank, where his work focused on building reporting and governance infrastructure across large branch networks. He holds an MBA and is based in Swansea, United Kingdom. He can be contacted at sudhirstaneja@gmail.com and Website: https://sudhirtaneja.com/home/. ORCID ID: 0009-0003-2977-8780; ORCID record: https://orcid.org/0009-0003-2977-8780.
