Institute of Academic Research and Development

Paññāsāstra Institute of Academic Research and Development (PIARD) was founded in July 2012 as a freestanding institute within Paññāsāstra University of Cambodia (PUC) authorized by the Ministry of Interior as a non-profit entity. As a freestanding unit, staff members of PIARD conduct original research and provide applied research services to nonprofit organizations and public and private agencies throughout Cambodia. Research services include quantitative (survey) and qualitative study designs, sampling, survey and evaluation instrument development, data collection, data analysis and reporting. In addition to generating academic research findings, much of the work conducted at the research unit is designed to assist organizations and public agencies in answering questions about public perceptions and knowledge as well as assessing the impacts of various projects and programs.

Multidisciplinary social sciences, including environmental challenges facing the global community are complex, dynamic and multifaceted and directly or indirectly influence human health and well-being. Addressing these challenges will require major breakthroughs in science, technology, and policy that create and promote sustainable development and improve natural resource integrity and resiliency in ways that foster vibrant communities and healthy populations. These breakthroughs, along with the development and implementation of strategies to effectively meet these challenges, will require novel interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary approaches combining expertise from traditional academic disciplines.

Through the establishment of a novel cross college institute, PIARD is committed to meeting these challenges, leveraging and augmenting existing strengths in social and environmental science, technology and policy to develop a flexible research organization poised to address society’s most pressing problems. Our effort to create innovative research programs by developing mutually beneficial, sustainable solutions to our environmental challenges, initiating policy-relevant research, and collaborative projects will make a positive impact on society. Through these activities, the core value of PIARD will always be in our community and humanity–who we are as a group and what we are able to do together. We are grateful to be part of this community and am looking forward to working with our partners at Paññāsāstra University of Cambodia and other universities and research organizations, and the wider policy world to convene new discussions, build new capacity, and jointly develop new analytical work to inform and improve approaches to implementing our global sustainability goals.