University of Tampere prepares for a research evaluation

Research evaluation is just around the corner. – It is now time to give research the centre stage says Johanna Hakala, Head of Research Development.

It is now time to talk about research

– The University staff has spent a lot of time on the educational reform and that is totally understandable. But now it’s time to give research the centre stage too, says Johanna Hakala, Head of Research Development at the University of Tampere.

An international evaluation of the research at the University of Tampere will be carried out in 2014. Panels, which consist of international senior scholars, will come to assess the quality and impact of the research conducted at the University of Tampere. The panels will also give feedback and suggestions on what can still be developed in the University’s research activities.

Preparing for the evaluation has already started as the Schools have been asked to write their research strategies this autumn.

Hakala reminds us that the research strategy and the whole evaluation are just a means to an end.

– The aim of the whole undertaking is to improve the quality of research and to identify the right focal points.

Preparing for the research evaluation has started in the research evaluation working group appointed by Rector Kaija Holli and chaired by Vice-Rector Pertti Haapala. The group will outline a preliminary plan for the evaluation procedure by the end of this year.

Not for bureaucratic reasons

Johanna Hakala hopes that the evaluation is not in any way a bureaucratic endeavour which is only done because we must. The intention is not just to give more work to the Schools either.

She thinks the most important thing that can be achieved by the evaluation is the impetus it can give to the University.

– We should look at the research conducted here and see it in an international context. I hope that the evaluation evolves into a process that results in genuine development and that people will find it meaningful, Hakala says.

– You often hear people say that there is no time to talk about research and its future. It’s exactly this talk that we want to get going with the evaluation.

The previous research evaluation at the University of Tampere was conducted in 2004.

International experts

The biggest challenge is to get good panellists. The University is looking for top international names in the different fields of research.

– Being just an excellent researcher is not enough. We are looking for people who have lived in several countries and seen different research communities, led research teams and worked as review panellists also previously, Hakala says.

Basic information on the research will first be collected and sent to the panels. After that the panellists will visit the Schools.

– I believe that our research is of such high quality that the review process is rewarding for the panellists too.

In the evaluation, the research at the University is compared with international research. For example, biomedical research will be compared with biomedical research conducted elsewhere in the world.

There is one challenge that remains to be solved: how will those fields of research be evaluated where most of the results are published in Finnish.

– For such fields we hope to find Finnish panellists who have extensive international experience, Hakala says.

– The recently published international evaluation on research at the University of Helsinki also had some good ideas on the analysis of the publications in these fields.

The panellists are put to work

Before coming to the University of Tampere, Johanna Hakala worked as Research Development Manager at the Tampere University of Technology (TUT) where she also led their research evaluation. The research evaluation was such a successful process at TUT that she is happy to use her experience there as a point of reference in the UTA evaluation.

– The evaluation started a debate on the quality and future direction of research. The panels gave TUT many useful proposals for development, Hakala says.

At TUT, Hakala spoke maybe a bit too much about the importance of the good treatment of the senior scientists who come from the world outside.

– One person understood this so that they are seniors who need sofas for taking naps. Maybe she thought that would be taking the service attitude to the next level.

However, the panellists had the stamina to work throughout the day. The top professors are treated well but they are also expected to work hard. 

Text Tiina Lankinen
Photograph Teemu Launis
Translation Laura Tohka

This story was originally published in Finnish in Aikalainen 14/2012