From the Dean's Desk: Why we must evaluate our research
The five departments at Health will soon begin an extensive evaluation of their own research. Can we stand critical reflection on our research? Of course we can!
"From the Dean’s Desk" – a column in Inside Health
Shortly after a meeting in the Academic Council at which we talked about involvement, I received an email from one of the members of the council. She had thought about our discussions and suggested that I write directly to employees at Health in the faculty's newsletter. She suggested that I could write about some of the initiatives currently on my desk, so that all employees can keep abreast of some of the things we’re working on at the faculty.
I think it's a brilliant idea - thank you! I intend to continue this column once a month from now on.
These days, I’m focusing on a task that will require many work hours from all departments.
Like the rest of Aarhus University, we must evaluate our own research. We’ll do this in a thorough self-evaluation process and with help from panels with international colleagues who will be visiting us in 2024 with an open and constructive approach.
As researchers, we are used to being assessed individually. But we have also often challenged the simplified way of assessing research with one-dimensional metrics such as the H-index, citations of individuals and the journal impact factor. Data and metrics are one dimension – now we want to add a more qualitative assessment of the overall research at our departments.
This is also fully in line with the Coalition of Advancing Research Assessment (CoARA), which aims to work for a broader assessment of research and research quality.
In research evaluation, management and staff together can discuss the department's research profile and what is needed to strengthen research in the future. One separate point is that work must be forward-looking: What visions do we have for research at the department, how can our research contribute to solving some of our major health challenges, and where can we improve the way in which we conduct research?
The research evaluation is anchored locally at the departments because this is where you experience the challenges, and this is where you can decide together what is needed to strengthen your research efforts.
Inclusion is therefore an absolutely central and crucial element, at department level, in the Academic Council and at faculty level. We’ll also be providing regular briefings in the faculty's liaison committee.
I know that discussions about research quality can be difficult. Therefore, it’s important that we keep in mind that this is not an evaluation at individual level. It’s important that you as researchers contribute so that the departments have the best possible basis for discussing shared visions for research.
Preparations have already begun at the departments. And I’m looking forward to hearing and discussing what turns up after you’ve all been involved in the process.
So, what do I expect to come out of this? A qualified basis for ensuring that you at the departments – and the faculty as a whole – know where we want to go with current and new research areas. A basis, which most of all can be used to improve the framework for research across the faculty.
Contact
Dean Anne-Mette Hvas
Aarhus University, Health
Phone: 87 15 20 07
Email: dean.health@au.dk