Karelia University of Applied Sciences has joined the Coalition for Advancing Research Assessment (CoARA) by signing the CoARA Agreement in 2023. In May 2024, Karelia’s CoARA implementation plan was approved, and will be implemented in 2024–2027 as part of the development of Karelia’s quality and impact work. The plan includes the development of the qualitative evaluation of research (RDI activities) and the researcher (RDI personnel) and an external evaluation related to these objectives, which is planned for 2027.
The persons responsible for the plan and its implementation are Director of Research and Development Anne Ilvonen and Director of Human Resources and Sustainability Jaana Tolkki. In autumn 2024, a working group of Karelia’s operators will be assembled to implement the plan. Furthermore, collaboration is conducted through the national CoARA network, managed by the Federation of Finnish Learned Societies. This involves partnerships with universities of applied sciences (RDI management network and HR network), as well as international cooperation within the network of INVEST partners, coordinated by the University of Milano Bicocca (TIER project). The objective of these collaborative efforts is to facilitate co-creation and the exchange of best practices.
CoARA is an international development goal
The Coalition for Advancing Research Assessment (CoARA) is a collective of organisations committed to reforming the methods and processes by which research, researchers, and research organisations are evaluated. More than 600 organisations wordlwide, including many key research funders, are committed to CoARA. The agreement defines the common principles of research evaluation, such as compliance with ethically responsible practices. The measures will emphasise the qualitative assessment of research, which can be supported by appropriate quantitative indicators. The starting point for the development work has been the renewal of research and the assessment of researchers’ competence, which is mainly based on statistically measurable indicators and the merits of science universities.
The CoARA work is a continuation of the open science and research practices that have been developed for a long time. Karelia is committed to implementing an open operating culture that includes the aim of promoting the findability, availability and use of information both within and outside the higher education community. Signing the CoARA agreement is one step towards more open, responsible and effective RDI activities. The involvement of universities of applied sciences in the reform of practices is very important, as RDI work in universities of applied sciences differs in many ways from the activities of traditional science universities. The development work will improve the chances of universities of applied sciences to succeed in national and international funding applications. At the same time, it will improve the opportunities for researchers working in the UAS sector to move more flexibly between different research organisations. This will also increase the attractiveness of universities of applied sciences among experts engaged in research work.
What is being developed in the CoARA work?
The CoARA agreement defines the common principles of research evaluation, such as adherence to ethically responsible practices. The measures emphasise the qualitative assessment of the research and the researcher. CoARA also aims to strengthen the societal value of research and to recognise the diverse roles and competences of research work. This means better visibility and impact for the RDI work of universities of applied sciences, as the aim is to highlight the significance and impact of applied research and various socially influential RDI projects in a new way.
Karelia’s CoARA implementation plan focuses on describing and evaluating the RDI processes and their possible renewal needs to improve quality and effectiveness, as well as renewing the processes in stages. In addition, Karelia assesses the recruitment and competence development measures of RDI actors and their possible renewal needs.
In the longer term, the CoARA work carried out in universities of applied sciences can also be used to promote common goals of developing the research career paths of universities of applied sciences as well as master’s and doctoral education as part of the joint European research activities of higher education institutions.
Karelia’s CoARA plan is available on Karelia’s website. The CoARA plans of different organisations can be found in the open data repository Zenodo, compiled by the EU CoARA Secretariat.
Author:
Anne Ilvonen, Director of Research and Development, Karelia University of Applied Sciences