The Academy presents Action Plan to reform research evaluation at the CAS

Since 1993, the Czech Academy of Sciences (CAS) has been regularly performing internal evaluations of its scientific activities, constantly improving and developing the process. That is why in 2022, the CAS joined hundreds of organizations that signed the Agreement on Reforming Research Assessment. By doing so, it pledged to reflect the commitments it has now outlined in its Action Plan, which will be applied when evaluating its 54 institutes and more than 400 teams over the 2020–2024 period.

The Czech Academy of Sciences signed the Agreement on Reforming Research Assessment (ARRA) in November 2022. It has thus joined the Coalition for Advancing Research Assessment (CoARA). The CAS has been compliant for a number of years with many of the commitments it has promised to fulfil by 2027, so they will be a further beneficial impulse for the development of the system for evaluating CAS institutes.  

Of the ten Commitments, four are core: 1) recognise the diversity of contributions that research activity produces and through which it meets the needs of society; 2) base research assessment on qualitative approach in which informed peer review plays a central role; 3) abandon inappropriate use of publication metrics in research assessment; 4) avoid the use of international rankings to evaluate organisations.

The Action Plan will support quality science
“Periodic research assessment is important. We strive to provide high-quality and independent feedback to CAS institutes and their teams. We do not want our scientists to feel that we don’t evaluate their high-quality work,” said Jiří Homola, who is responsible for CAS evaluation and its coordination in the Academy Council of the CAS.

The Action Plan specifies in detail the individual activities leading to compliance with the ARRA commitments, but also identifies objectives that will potentially have the greatest impact on the further development of evaluation quality. In addition, the document describes the specific challenges for the environment of the Czech Academy of Sciences that need to be considered during the reform: from the legislative framework and national evaluation methodology to the diversity of institutes and their scientific teams, including interdisciplinary research, to improving the quality of research, international competitiveness, and cultivating the environment in accordance with the long-term priorities of the CAS. It is also concerned with finding a balance between the benefits and costs of evaluation.

The Action Plan and the impact of the activities implemented will be assessed during the regular reflection on CAS evaluation after its completion. The Action Plan in its entirety can be accessed here.

Source: Head Office of the Czech Academy of Sciences; Zuzana Dupalová and Luděk Svoboda, External Relations Division of the CAS
Photo: Shutterstock
 The text is released for use under the Creative Commons licence.

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