Direção de Projectos (DP)

The proposals to create National Chapters of CoARA – Coalition for Advancing Research Assessment from Portugal, Sweden and the United Kingdom were recently approved and presented at the National Chapters Exchange Forum, bringing the total number of national chapters to 15.

Representatives of CoARA’s 15 National Chapters met in Porto on February 22 and 23 for the first National Chapters Exchange Forum of this international initiative dedicated to best practices and challenges related to the systemic reform of research evaluation in national contexts. The event, co-organized by CoARA, FCT, INESC TEC and Science Europe, was attended by members of the various participating organizations or those interested in forming or joining a National Chapter, as well as several representatives from various national institutions. The more than 600 organizations already members of CoARA follow a shared orientation for the systemic reform of research evaluation, as defined in a common Agreement, and have committed to applying its fundamental principles in their organizations. For a successful implementation of CoARA’s commitments, it is essential to translate these principles into the diverse geographical, regional, institutional and disciplinary contexts of the various member organizations. The National Chapters play a crucial role in these common objectives, constituting coordination centers for joint actions and mutual learning, following a collaborative methodology and respecting the autonomy of the member organizations. The Portuguese National Chapter is made up of all 18 national institutions that are currently members of CoARA, including 9 universities, 8 research institutions and the national funding agency, FCT. The proposed work plan for the next two years, which has now been approved, covers areas ranging from promoting the principles of the Agreement among the national scientific community and broad reflection and discussion on research assessment, mapping and analyzing good assessment practices, designing and participating in pilot projects, collaborating in the implementation of the work plans of the various member institutions and promoting and participating in Research on Research Assessment (RoRA) activities,

“We are very pleased to hear that the Portuguese National Chapter has been approved, and excited to continue working together on its implementation. We believe that the work plan defined for the next two years will be an important step towards reforming research evaluation in Portugal and increasing the quality of research and the recognition of its multiple contributions to the various sectors of society,” said Bruno Béu, advisor to the FCT Board of Directors.

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