Last May, UNIL signed the CoARA commitments (Coalition for Advancing Research Assessment), which set out 10 principles to guide the reform of research assessment in as concerted a manner as possible, while respecting the autonomy of the signatories. It has thus joined forces with over 500 public and private organizations worldwide, aiming to reform the evaluation of research, researchers and research organizations in order to better recognize the diversity of results, practices and activities that optimize the quality and impact of research.

COARA is the continuation of a process initiated by the DORA initiative 10 years ago now (of which UNIL has been a signatory since 2018), and reactivated by the Leiden Manifesto in 2015 and the Paris Appeal in 2022.

The issues at stake in this cultural revolution were also the subject of a keynote presentation at the HES-SO Open Science Days on May 8, by Prof. Chérifa Boukacem-Zeghmouri. A recent publication of the “Center of science futures” entitled “The Future of Research Evaluation” also recommends a list of measures to concretely support this reform.