Kivu designed and implemented a programme of tailored capacity building for a network of eight think tanks from across South Asia. The capacity building support focused on skills which maximise the potential impact of research on policy making. It covered all key aspects of successful evidence-informed policy influencing including: using political analysis to inform research design; research design itself; policy analysis and development; strategic advocacy; and a full suite of communications techniques. The programme included a combination of face-to-face training sessions for the whole group of partners and tailored mentoring, using a ‘learning through doing’ approach for each individual think tank.