Quality Assurance Committee (KNAW) calls for a broad assessment of research

13 August 2008

KNAW's Quality Assurance Committee advises a fairer approach to assessing research. They emphasise that the non-academic activities of researchers should be properly considered in research assessments. Their vision is set out in the advisory report 'Quality assurance in science'. From SEP to KEP: Balance between justice and simplicity, KNAW Quality Assurance Committee, 2008.

(This is a quotation, pp.20-21)

Finally with respect to the broader relevance of research the committee notes the following. A fairer assessment procedure must fully consider the non-academic activities of researchers. Much research now takes place within the context of social problems; There is a growth in public-private partnerships with a concomitant increasing pressure to 'valorise' research. This valorisation is far broader than the economic context and includes the contribution to the social, cultural, political and welfare processes. This aspect should preferably be scored using indicators or indications that are supported by the discipline. Technical disciplines could, for example, use patents or cooperation with industry; medical and biomedical research could choose clinical applicability and protocols; in the humanities an example is exhibitions; whereas in the social sciences contributions to educational innovation could be used.