Research evaluation was discussed at a national round table
Current trends and challenges in research assessment, as well as opportunities to participate in reforming its evaluation, were the topics of discussion at the National Round Table on Science Policy on December 9, 2025, at the Science Park of Comenius University in Bratislava. The event was organized by the Biomedical Research Center of the Slovak Academy of Sciences (BMC SAS) as one of the key activities of the partners of the international network Alliance4Life (A4L), which aims to contribute to the advancement of life sciences in Central and Eastern Europe. The round table participants supported the importance of qualitative research evaluation with responsible use of metrics and agreed to conduct a survey of the forms and levels of evaluation in institutions conducting research in Slovakia.
"Research evaluation reform is not just about changing the way we look at the use of metrics—it is an opportunity to create a healthier research environment that values quality, openness, and diversity," said Silvia Pastoreková, Director General of BMC SAS, who led the event.
The round table was attended by representatives of the Slovak and Czech Ministries of Education, the Slovak Academy of Sciences, universities, KInIT, VAIA, APVV, and the A4L_BRIDGE project consortium. The main topic was the comprehensive evaluation of science and research, as well as opportunities and examples of good practice offered in this area by the global Coalition for Advancing Research Assessment (CoARA).
CoARA brings together organizations committed to reforming methods and processes for evaluating research, researchers, and research organizations. It has more than 800 signatories worldwide, but only a few in Slovakia so far (SAS, BMC SAS, UK, MŠŠVaM, KInIT, VŠMU, SAAVŠ). The basic principles of the reform are quality over quantity, recognition of diverse scientific outputs, and a move away from evaluation based predominantly on quantitative data and rankings.
At the meeting, Martin Venhart, President of the Slovak Academy of Sciences, pointed out that such performance evaluation globally reduces the quality of science: "Average science will bring more points in performance evaluation. We have to break away from this. Although on average we are not far behind our neighboring countries in terms of the number of publications, we are lagging far behind when it comes to top scientific performance."
The meeting participants supported the plan to conduct a survey aimed at understanding how institutions are evaluated by external authorities, how organizations internally evaluate research teams and individual researchers, and how they would like this to change. The survey will be conducted in early 2026.
The information should be used as a basis for Slovakia's national platform within the CoARA initiative to formulate an action plan for implementing progressive changes in research evaluation and harmonizing evaluation principles at various levels. The round table will be followed by further activities, including a CoARA platform meeting next year, at which the survey results will be evaluated.
Contact person: Ela Rybárová, PR Manager, BMC SAS, tel.: +421 911 744 756
Source and photo: BMC SAS