15 years of Research Assessment Exercises at the University of Antwerp: how evolution in the research landscape leads to change in the assessment practice

Abstract

At the UAntwerpen, new international insights and evolutions with regard to responsible research assessment are processed into the system of the research assessment exercises. In practice however, the assessment system does not seem to work optimal and is showing symptoms of fatigue, such as an inflation of scores given, a traditional mindset of evaluees and evaluators when it comes to indicators, a procedure which is stress-sensitive and assessment reports with predictable outcomes. It is worth considering organising the assessment system in a different way in order to guarantee useful results for everyone involved. A ‘flipped’ system is proposed, in which the unit is assessed ex-ante on the basis of its strategic action plan.