On 22 May, Acting Vice-Chancellor, Margareta Friman, signed an agreement that Karlstad University joins CoARA, the Coalition for Advancing Research Assessment.
CoARA was established at the initiative of the European Commission together with Science Europe and the European University Association. The objective is to reform the research assessment system and create an international consensus so that researchers do not get caught between the requirements and priorities of different systems. For example, one system may reward open access publications, while another system rewards publications in a limited number of high-status channels.
By joining CoARA, Karlstad University commits to actively reform its own systems for research assessment and acquisition of qualifications, as well as contributing to the advancement of research assessment nationally and internationally.
The reason why Karlstad University now joins CoARA is based on an assessment by the Research Strategy Team stating that several universities and funding bodies in Sweden and the EU have already joined CoARA and that the coalition therefore will have a high priority in the future.
Acting Vice-Chancellor, Margareta Friman, explains why it is important to join CoARA:
– This is an important initiative that can change the way academia and funding bodies view and assess research content and output. The coalition gives us access to an exchange of knowledge and experience which is necessary to further our research assessment system.
Sofia Andersson, Research Advisor at the Grants and Innovation Office, acts as the university’s point of contact in matters related to CoARA, and she explains what the membership will mean for the university’s researchers:
– In the short term, individual researchers will not be affected but in the future, changes in the assessment system will be noticeable in connection with, for example, recruitment and acquisition of qualifications. The university’s internal processes for research follow-ups and reviews also need to be adapted to meet the new assessment criteria.
On Friday 2 June, there is an opportunity to learn more about CoARA. The Association of Swedish Higher Education Institutions (SUHF) organises a seminar on Zoom under the theme “CoARA and open science - what does it mean for Swedish universities?”.
The seminar will be held in Swedish. More information and how to register can be found here:
https://suhf.se/aktiviteter/coara-och-oppen-vetenskap-vad-innebar-det-for-de-svenska-larosatena/
