Academic research is under increasing pressure to demonstrate tangible societal, environmental, and economic impact, prompting increased engagement between scientists and practitioners. This paper investigates how such partnerships evolve, how science contributes across different phases of the policy process, and what conditions enable or constrain their effectiveness. It does so through the case of SafePani, a professional rural water service delivery model in Bangladesh. Conceptualised and piloted through UK-based research funding in schools and healthcare facilities, SafePani was later scaled under a six-year, results-based funding contract co-funded by the Government of Bangladesh. The study integrates the multi-level perspective, actor-centred institutionalism, and institutional work to analyse the micro-level activities that actors engaged in to build networks, shape dominant discourses and drive institutional change. Findings show that SafePani’s success stemmed not only from technical innovation but from its strategic adaptability. This included evolving actor configurations from academic-led research to government-led implementation, mobilising financial, intellectual, and political capital, engaging credible boundary actors to build trust, and engaging bureaucratic champions. Crucially, institutional stamina of the government, the model’s low cost and public value, and the funding flexibility enabled actors to overcome institutional inertia. SafePani offers a replicable example of how interdisciplinary science, sustained engagement, and contextual adaptation can drive institutional reform in complex policy environments.
