In planning the project scope it is a good idea to recognize all stakeholders that may be associated with your project. A project stakeholder is any person or organization that has a vested interest in a project’s operation or its outcome. For example, MUN, collaborating universities, associated faculty, funding sponsors, community groups, regulatory bodies, and graduate students could all be project stakeholders. By identifying all relevant stakeholders in advance, the context to which a stakeholder is associated with the project is established and project expectations can be agreed upon with the stakeholder in advance. Based on the nature of the stakeholder and their interest, special requirements may have to be taken into consideration when preparing the research proposal and planning project activities. For example, the involvement of an external entity (academic or industry) in research activities will require special contracts/agreements to be put in place prior to the commencement of project activities in order to protect the intellectual property (IP) rights of both parties.
