Budget constraints are one of the most common problems faced by higher education projects. Projects often require various resources that colleges and faculty cannot provide. To cover a lot of the expenses found in higher education projects, some educators are able to receive grants from various governmental agencies and other research projects are privately funded. Also, some schools try to find more affordable ways to carry out projects. For example, conducting surveys over the Internet tends to cost less than conducting surveys through paper, since researchers can more easily gain access to a larger pool of respondents. Also, if the school is developing a product, there might be cheaper resources or processes that the researchers can use.
Some projects, especially projects involving technology, can need a broad range of specializations. For example, to design a device to help developmentally disabled students swim, the project would likely require the assistance of specialists focused on developmental disabilities and also on engineers with the knowledge of how to develop these products. Specialists on the academic level are often busy, so getting together to work on a project can consume a lot of time. Also, the different members of the project must get along well and communicate in ways that can convey highly technical information. Researchers also often do not have a shared vision, which can create confusion and conflict.
Researchers must conduct themselves in an ethical manner to avoid harming participants in a study and other individuals, like copyright holders. Research participants must not be harmed in any manner when participating in the study and the participants must have confidentiality. When conducting experiments on human subjects, researchers must acquire approval from a research board or else the researchers can be in violation of laws. Due to ethical concerns, researchers are often limited in the the types of projects.
Projects are sometimes not possible due to a limitation in technology. For example, psychologists did not empirically know very much about the brain until inventions such as the MRI allowed brain researchers to see inside the brain. Researchers in one discipline might need to wait for researchers in another discipline to make an advancement or discovery in science before a project can be moved forward.