Juan Romo, President of Crue; Joan Guàrdia, Rector of the University of Barcelona; Joan Subirats, Minister of Universities; and Rianne Letschert, President of CoARA; at the opening ceremony.
Barcelona, January 20, 2023
The President of Crue and Rector of the Carlos III University of Madrid, Juan Romo, and the Spanish Minister of Universities, Joan Subirats, inaugurated the National Forum for the reform of research assessment this Friday, 20 January, in an event held in the Aula Magna of the Historic Building of the University of Barcelona. The Rector of the host institution, Joan Guàrdia, and the President of the Coalition on Advancing Research Assessment (CoARA), Rianne Letschert, also took part in the event.
The President of Crue stressed that the forum ‘was created with the intention of becoming a space for work and reflection where ideas and good practices on the reform of research assessment can be shared’ and that ‘research is one of the pillars of the knowledge society and is fundamental for the development and progress of our societies’. In this regard, he recalled ‘the role played by universities during the pandemic with the development of vaccines that have saved millions of lives and prevented the collapse of the economy’, which, in his opinion, shows the need to consider research as a ‘priority investment’.
He also stressed that the University ‘is a key institution in the creation of knowledge’ that ‘generates almost three quarters of all research’ carried out in Spain and that, in order to improve these good results, which place us among the top eleven countries in the world in terms of scientific production and ninth in terms of highly cited researchers, we need to ‘reflect’ on changes that will make us ‘more competitive’.
Romo pointed out the importance of evaluation ‘recognising the diversity of research profiles, analysing the metrics used and promoting multidisciplinarity’ and ‘above all, respecting objectivity and eliminating arbitrariness in evaluation’.
Finally, the President of Crue encouraged universities and those working in research to ‘participate in the open debate in the national forum on research evaluation’ and assured that the reform of evaluation will help Europe to strengthen its research activity.
The Minister, Joan Subirats, welcomed the creation of this Forum and stated that ‘spaces and moments for pause and reflection, such as those offered by this forum, are a privilege’. According to him, the reform of research assessment ‘is at a moment of a certain effervescence’ and he stressed that it is a ‘very important issue that affects the core of the university system’.
For his part, the Rector of the University of Barcelona, Joan Guàrdia, pointed out that the constitution of CoARA ‘catalyses will’ and allows for sustainable work on the reform of research assessment. ‘We are in a scenario of need, opportunity, capacity and will. The University of Barcelona feels comfortable in innovation and moving beyond our comfort zone’, he added.
The inaugural speech was given by the Chair of the Coalition on Advancing Research Assessment (CoARA), Rianne Letschert, who during her speech at the opening ceremony of the forum expressed her satisfaction that ‘so many Spanish universities have signed the agreement’ and said that her attendance at this forum, ‘the first on CoARA’, aims to ‘listen to all the concerns’ of the Spanish university sector.
About CoARA and Crue Spanish Universities
Crue has recently joined the Coalition for Advancing Research Assessment (CoARA), constituted on 1 December 2022 with the aim of serving as a platform for piloting and experimentation, as well as for the development of new assessment criteria, methods, and tools and for joint reflection and the exchange of good practices. CoARA brings together universities, university associations, public and private research funding bodies, research centres and institutes, associations and alliances, national and regional authorities, accreditation and evaluation agencies, scientific societies, and researcher associations, among others.
