From research evaluation assists in recovering productivity of universities and public research institutions
The conference confirmed the importance of research evaluation as a key element in supporting innovation and scientific progress, while providing valuable insights for the formulation of more effective and inclusive policies
3' min read
Key points
3' min read
The key role of scientific research evaluation as a policy and management tool for research organisations and universities, for recognising and rewarding merit, and for transparency towards taxpayers. This was the focus of the international conference 'Research Evaluation: State of the Art and Future Scenarios', hosted today in Rome, Thursday 9 May, by Universitas Mercatorum - the University of the Italian Chambers of Commerce of the Multiversity Group.
The message that emerged from the meeting is that the establishment in Italy of the National Agency for the Evaluation of the University System and Research (Anvur) and of evaluation systems associated with incentive schemes, such as the Research Quality Assessment (Vqr) and the National Scientific Habilitation (Asn), has had a decidedly positive impact in improving the scientific productivity of institutions in reducing the disparities between universities in northern and southern Italy.
The conference confirmed the importance of research evaluation as a key element in supporting innovation and scientific progress, while providing valuable insights into the formulation of more effective and inclusive policies.
Cannata (Universitas Mercatorum): research systems crucial in sustaining productivity
'Today, research systems play a key role in supporting the competitiveness of countries and socio-economic development,' stressed Giovanni Cannata, Magnifico Rettore of the Universitas Mercatorum, opening the proceedings. 'The continuous improvement of these tools,' he added, 'takes place not only through an increasing deployment of resources, but also through increased productivity in the sector. The development and growing application of new technologies such as machine learning and artificial intelligence, together with a number of important ongoing phenomena, such as the strong push towards open science and gender equality in research, as well as the unresolved debate on the most appropriate methodologies for evaluation, peer review or bibliometrics, reinvigorated by the recent establishment of the Coalition for Advancing Research Assessment (CoARA), open up future scenarios for this activity, and its evaluation, that are all waiting to be explored'.
Uricchio (Anvur): "Research quality assessment as an opportunity for universities and research institutes"
"Over the past few years, Anvur has contributed to defining and improving, with the various VQR exercises, a culture of quality and evaluation that has led to an overall growth in the scientific production of researchers," commented Antonio Uricchio, president of Anvur. "The Research Quality Assessment represents an extraordinary opportunity for universities and research institutions to promote internal policies that foster the appreciation of scientific production and the impact it can have on society.
