The University of Gdańsk has received a grant of €60,000 in the first edition of the CoARA Boost Cascade Funding competition. CoARA - Coalition for Advancing Research Assessment - is an international coalition of more than 700 research organisations, funding agencies and assessment bodies from around the world committed to reforming research assessment methods and processes, researchers and research institutions.
The University of Gdańsk joined the CoARA coalition in 2023, as the first classical university in Poland. In June 2024, the CoARA Action Plan was adopted - a plan for 2024 - 2028 aimed at improving the research and academic staff evaluation system. The expert factor, including the establishment of Expert Councils at individual faculties, which began in the current academic year, plays a key role in the assumed activities aimed at developing a comprehensive, reliable, transparent and discipline-specific evaluation system.
CoARA Boost Cascade Funding is foreseen for 12 months; this will allow some of the planned activities to be implemented immediately.
‘The main objective of the project is to analyse the strengths and weaknesses of the current system of academic teacher evaluation, to work with external experts and to develop a research development policy that takes into account the results of the analysis and expert consultations carried out,’ says Director of the Office of Science dr Katarzyna Świerk, project coordinator. ‘To prepare for the implementation of the policy changes, preliminary research, surveys, focus group meetings, and collaboration with leading experts will be carried out. All activities will provide a solid basis for reviewing existing procedures and adapting them to the needs of researchers.’
The University of Gdańsk received funding as one of 25 scientific institutions. 63 applications qualified for the competition. ‘Obtaining a CoARA grant in the first edition of the competition demonstrates the key position of our university in its efforts to change the system of assessing science in Poland. Both the improvement of the system for evaluating scientists and the introduction of expert councils to evaluate the scientific activities of faculties are not only an element of the winning project but also a priority of the commenced term of office,’ says the Vice-Rector for Research, prof. dr hab. Wiesław Laskowski.
‘The University of Gdańsk is consistently taking strategic measures to improve working conditions for the entire academic community, including ensuring the highest standards in recruitment, evaluation, and promotion of employees under the principles of the European Charter for Researchers,’ said Rector of the University of Gdańsk prof. dr hab. Piotr Stepnowski. ‘We joined the CoARA coalition due to the high expectations of the academic community regarding the regulation of the evaluation of scientific activity. Not only do we want to prepare appropriate internal evaluation procedures in line with the needs of academics, but we also want to engage in a broader discussion on the evaluation of scientific activity at the national and international level.’