European cooperation will improve the quality of research
Mid Sweden University has joined the new European coalition CoARA (Coalition for Advancing Research Assessment), which aims to improve the quality, efficiency and impact of research.
CoARA was established in 2022 and has been developed at the initiative of the European Commission together with Science Europe and the European University Association. Currently, 638 international organizations are affiliated and the goal is to reform the systems for assessing research and create an international consensus on issues related to research evaluation and merit.
– The coalition will be important in driving the development of methods for evaluation and reward systems for research. The ambition is for the systems to become better and fairer, not more extensive, says Håkan Wiklund, pro-Vice chancellor.
Through the affiliation, Mid Sweden University undertakes to work actively with reforming both its own systems for research evaluation and merit and to contribute to development nationally and internationally. This distinguishes CoARA from Dora (The Declaration on Research Assessment), which many have signed but which does not have the same requirement for action.
Both Mid Sweden University's research council and both faculties have supported the affiliation. Several universities and all major research financiers in Sweden and the EU have already joined CoARA and the collaboration will receive high priority in the future.
– We want to work to change the way the academy and research financiers look at and assess the content and results of research, where a breadth of different merits is valued and where research can be evaluated and assessed from different angles. An important starting point in the work is to find a balance between a qualitative assessment made by experts (peer review) and a responsible use of quantitative indicators as support for that assessment. The coalition gives us access to an exchange of knowledge and experience that is necessary for continued development of our quality and merit systems, says Håkan Wiklund.
After the accession, Mid Sweden University must now develop a plan for how the university will tackle the ten principles that CoARA has defined. Areas that are affected are, for example, how scientific and pedagogical skills are assessed, how skills such as leadership and cooperation with the surrounding community are assessed, design of the quality system for research and how the university follows up and evaluates research.