Late last year, the European Commission revealed it wanted to form a coalition of research organisations in favour of reforming research assessment, given the widespread recognition that employers and funders currently use «inappropriate and narrow methods».
In January 2022, the European Commission called for organizations to express their interest in becoming part of the Research Assessment Reform Coalition. Organisations that expressed their interest were involved in the drafting process of the Agreement on Reforming Research Assessment which lasted several months. The representatives of the NRFU also participated in the process of discussing the Agreement with other stakeholders.
The Coalition which brought together research funding organizations, research performing organizations, national/regional evaluation bodies or agencies, associations of research funders, researchers, as well as scientific societies and other relevant organizations and all interested – CoARA – was formed as a result. Participants committed to reforming the current research evaluation system. After our involvement in the discussion of the main principles of the Agreement, the Foundation made a decision on signing of the Agreement. So, in October this year, the NRFU officially accepted the commitments mentioned above.
This Agreement is the result of a co-creation process to set a shared direction for changes in assessment practices for research, researchers, and research performing organisations, with the goal to maximise the quality and impact of research. It includes principles, commitments, and timeframes for reforms and lays out principles for a Coalition of organisations willing to work together in implementing the changes.
It was developed by Science Europe, the European University Association, and Dr Karen Stroobants, supported by the European Commission. It takes into account input from over 350 research organisations from more than 40 countries, among which the NRFU.
The text of the Agreement can be found here
More about CoARA: https://coara.eu/about/
