Research Assessment
Source: https://www.openscience.uzh.ch/en/research-evaluation.html Parent: https://www.grc.uzh.ch/en/counseling/postdocs-overview.html
Taking Open Science practices and values into account in human resources (HR) processes is a prerequisite to become an open research organization.
This will have consequences for how the scientific community evaluates research content and performance as well as for academic career development.
The Agreement on Reforming Research Assessment (CoARA)
UZH has signed the Agreement on Reforming Research Assessment in 2022. The agreement sets a shared direction for changes in assessment practices for research, researchers and research performing organisations, with the overarching goal to maximise the quality and impact of research. The agreement has been prepared in a collaborative process by a team composed of representatives from the European University Association (EUA), Science Europe, and the European Commission alongside Dr Karen Stroobants.
Implementation: The CoARA Action Plan at UZH
In June 2025, the CoARA action plan was ratified by the University Board. The action plan outlines the current measures and future steps for successful implementation, naming the responsible central and decentralized units at UZH for each measure. Measures are divided into three levels:
- Evaluation of research projects
- Evaluation of individual researchers
- Evaluation of research units
Download
Budmiger, Luzia & Müller, Lisa. 2025. CoARA Action Plan: University of Zurich. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15703600
News on the CoARA Action plan of UZH
San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA)
UZH has signed the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA) in 2014 and promotes a comprehensive view on evaluating researchers without using journal-based metrics, such as Journal Impact Factors. This is also reflected in the Guidelines on Selection Procedures for hiring and promoting researchers.
Guidelines on Selection Procedures
Grid containing content elements
Hiring at UZH
How are researchers evaluated in the hiring process.
Rankings
How is UZH ranked compared to other universities.
Responsible use of metrics
More about Responsible use of metrics
What metrics are used to evaluate researchers.