The Adult Literacy and Numeracy Australian Research Consortium (ALNARC) received sponsored research funding to study adult literacy and numeracy, network with field-based stakeholders, and disseminate findings. It studied these three layers of participant involvement and response to the sponsored research program: research leaders; sponsored researchers; and field--an ill-defined group of stakeholders who were the target of and vehicle for generating research outcomes. Analysis indicated the sponsored research program was acknowledged as an innovative venture that received mixed responses in terms of its value; responses were often dependent on the degree to which participants had been involved in projects or directly benefited from activities; and regardless of the apparently single source of federal funding, the research was viewed as an activity involving federal and state government funding sources, university resources, and substantial in kind resources. Five key dimensions to the research training and mentoring models adopted across states and territories were that they included building research skills; sponsored researcher outcomes included changes in practical capacity to complete a research project; expectations were far-ranging; managing a research agenda involved building a visible research culture; and converting research outcomes into concrete organizational change strategies was recognized as a difficult task. (Appendixes include 67 references and sponsored researchers' and stakeholders' views.) (YLB)