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LERU and CE7 statement on research(er) assessment

Earlier this spring, more than thirty academics and senior professionals from LERU member universities and seven leading Central European universities (CE7) gathered at Charles University, Prague, for an inspiring seminar on research(er) assessment. The event, which was held on 16 and 17 March 2023, was organized within the context of the renewed LERU-CE7 partnership.

The event focused on how to go ahead with the implementation of LERU's paper “A Pathway towards Multidimensional Academic Careers - A LERU Framework for the Assessment of Researchers” and the European Commission’s 2022 Research Assessment Reform Agreement. The participants discussed new developments and their implications for their institutions and for the European research and innovation ecosystem.

As a result from this seminar, the universities of LERU and CE7:

1. Confirm their engagement towards developing a more diverse and inclusive form of research(er) assessment. Most of LERU and CE7 universities have signed the Agreement and will continue to show leadership in this domain.

2. Observe that research career frameworks remain to this day governed by national rules and regulations (either directly by national law or indirectly by national funding rules). This means that the governments of EU member states (or of associated states) should be included in the reform process. The LERU and CE7 partners regret that the aforementioned Agreement does not foresee an appropriate role for governments as essential stakeholders in the research assessment reform.

3. Call on member state (and associated state) governments to engage in national three-party consultations with the research performing and the research funding organizations of their country, in order to confirm unambiguously their commitment to the Agreement and to discuss potential national- or regional-level barriers to the reform.

4. Call on the EU to stimulate and support such national three-way consultations.

5. Call on the EU to acknowledge and reward, more than today, research performing organizations that provide a stimulating research environment, strive to diversify their research staff and offer their researchers, especially early-career researchers, state of the art career support.

Contact:

Prof. Kurt Deketelaere

• Prof. Kurt Deketelaere, LERU Secretary-General, kurt.deketelaere@leru.org or +32 499 80 89 99

• Francesca Bucci, LERU Policy Officer Research Careers, Doctoral Training & EDI, francesca.bucci@leru.org or +32 474 48 33 56

Media contact:

• Bart Valkenaers, LERU Senior Policy Officer Strategic Communication & Public Affairs, bart.valkenaers@leru.org or +32 498 08 43 49