Research assessment practices
Channel: Initiative for Science in Europe
Date: 04/03/2021

The Initiative for Science in Europe (ISE; https://initiative-se.eu/) is a science-advocacy group, whose membership includes a large number of European learned societies and prestigious fellowships alumni associations.  The Researchers' Careers Task Force at ISE has been conducting a long reflection on the organisation of academic research in Europe, with a focus on the systemic structural changes that will be necessary for Europe to remain an attractive place to do science, and a competitive economic and scientific powerhouse.

One such change involves the gradual reform of research assessment practices, which currently drive both researcher precarity and overall inefficiency in European R&I. Existing criteria for awarding grant funding, and the recruitment or promotion of scientists centre on publication metrics, which can confound researchers' career progression when they produce alternative research outputs or do not publish in 'prestigious' journals. Likewise, research assessment practices themselves do not accurately underpin institutional or societal objectives, dissuading academic researchers from pursuing questions that may help achieve them. Finally, evaluation procedures often lack transparency or explicit criteria, thus becoming susceptible to bias during peer review.
 
This webinar brings together experts from academia, policymaking and funding bodies to discuss past and present problems, new initiatives, and future opportunities and challenges facing research assessment.

Moderator: Mathew Tata (Eurodoc)

Panelists: 
- Cecilia Cabello Valdés (ERAC)
- Noemie Aubert Bonn (Hasselt University and VUmc Amsterdam)
- Jan Palmowski (The Guild)
- Stephen Curry (DORA)