diff --git a/cmd/core-runtime/main.go b/cmd/core-runtime/main.go
index 150ade8..16e9b10 100644
--- a/cmd/core-runtime/main.go
+++ b/cmd/core-runtime/main.go
@@ -120,7 +120,7 @@ func main() {
 	if err != nil {
 		log.Fatal(err)
 	}
-	researchClient, err := newResearchRuntimeClient(envOr("RESEARCH_RUNTIME_URL", "http://research-runtime:8087"), &http.Client{Timeout: 12 * time.Second})
+	researchClient, err := newResearchRuntimeClient(envOr("RESEARCH_RUNTIME_URL", "http://research-runtime:8087"), &http.Client{Timeout: 20 * time.Second})
 	if err != nil {
 		log.Fatal(err)
 	}
@@ -815,7 +815,10 @@ func main() {
 					learnedLexicon := interactiondomain.TaskLexiconFromHistory(conversationHistory)
 					searchQuery := interactiondomain.SearchQueryWithLexicon(part, learnedLexicon)
 					searchQuery = interactiondomain.TravelResearchQuery(searchQuery, conversationHistory, now)
-					researchCtx, cancelResearch := context.WithTimeout(r.Context(), 8*time.Second)
+					// The research capability may try its configured source and a
+					// source-recovery fallback. Its caller must leave enough budget for
+					// both attempts and evidence evaluation.
+					researchCtx, cancelResearch := context.WithTimeout(r.Context(), 18*time.Second)
 					result, researchErr := researchClient.SearchWeb(researchCtx, epistemics.WebSearchRequest{
 						Plan:           epistemics.ResearchPlan{ID: epistemics.ResearchPlanID(fmt.Sprintf("plan:%s:%d", planID, index)), Question: searchQuery, SourceClasses: []string{"web-search"}, FreshnessPolicy: "current"},
 						PropositionKey: fmt.Sprintf("question:%s:%d", utterance.ID, index), Query: searchQuery,