The tool is suitable for a variety of assessment situations
For example, the tool can be used in recruitments, assessment of career advancement and qualification, evaluation of funding applications, personal appraisal discussions, rewarding and a researcher's self-assessment.
While the tool was primarily designed for assessing an individual researcher, it is also useful for examining the competence of a research group, project, unit or organisation. It can be used to identify the types of competence that will be needed and the strengths that a person or community already has.
Benefits of the tool for assessors
While the tool provides a common framework for examining a researcher’s work and competence, it does not define a single correct way of assessing a researcher, nor does it replace the assessor’s expertise. The assessor determines the objectives of the assessment and selects and weighs its areas and criteria, accounting for the purpose of the assessment, the researcher's career stage and the special features of their field of study. The criteria and their weightings should be specified in advance and the researchers subject to the assessment should be informed of them to ensure that the grounds of the assessment are transparent. The tool can also be used to structure the discussion between the assessor and the researcher in such as career guidance or personal appraisal discussions.
The tool helps researchers describe their competences
A researcher can use the tool to structure their work and competence, for example when drawing up a CV or narrative CV, preparing for recruitment, or reflecting on their personal competence development. Competence can be described with concrete examples and, where possible, documented evidence. The tool also helps to identify strengths that do not always come up when using traditional assessment methods. Rather than setting new requirements for researchers, it helps to describe their existing competence.
The tool makes visible the diversity of a researcher's activities
The FIN-CAM Tool divides researchers’ work into six areas:
- Research, development and innovation activities
- Education and supervision
- Societal interaction
- Participation in the art and research community
- General researcher skills
- Background information and formal qualifications.
These areas help assessors identify different types of competences and activities. For researchers, they offer perspectives on examining their own work and highlight merits that may not be reflected in a publication list or that cannot meaningfully be measured quantitatively. The assessment may also take into account merits that are not explicitly mentioned in the tool.
The tool is based on qualitative assessment
When assessing an individual researcher, the primary focus is on the content, quality, significance and impact of their work, which may be manifested in different ways depending on the purpose of the assessment, the researcher's tasks or the field of study. The tool does not put research outputs or researcher tasks in a pre-defined order of importance.
Quantitative data, including information on publications or projects, may be used to support qualitative assessment where this is justified by the purpose of the assessment. However, an individual indicator alone does not describe the quality of research or the researcher’s competence.
FIN-CAM is open to everyone
The FIN-CAM tool is available online without logging in or creating a user account. You can scroll through the contents using the menu on the left or the interactive pie chart. The search functionality helps you find content related to a specific theme or assessment need.
The tool allows users to:
- find and browse content used in assessment
- select criteria that are suitable for the assessment situation
- organise and prioritise the selected criteria
- download the criteria as a CSV or Excel file and edit them, for example by adding, deleting or specifying criteria
- share a direct link to the list of selected criteria with the participants in the assessment.
The tool puts responsible assessment principles into practice
The FIN-CAM tool is linked to the Recommendation for the responsible evaluation of a researcher in Finland, the Declaration of Open Science and CoARA and DORA policies. They provide a background for the tool's assessment principles. The FIN-CAM tool offers a structure for applying these principles in practical assessment situations.
- Read the Declaration for Open Science and Research
- CoARA works to renew assessment
- Read the DORA principles
Open, transparent and merit-based recruitment
The tool helps determine in advance what kind of competence and merits are needed in a role and based on what criteria applicants will be assessed. Once the criteria are known before the applicants are assessed, they can be applied consistently, and the applicants can be informed about them openly.
This fulfils the OTM-R principles (Open, Transparent and Merit-based Recruitment of Researchers). They emphasise predefined application and selection criteria, choices based on applicants' merits, and fair treatment of all applicants. The goal is to find the most suitable person for the role.
OTM-R is part of efforts to develop researchers’ working conditions, career paths and recruitment practices. Many Finnish higher education institutions have been awarded the European Commission's HR Excellence in Research recognition, which indicates their commitment to the principles of the European Charter for Researchers. The aim of the development work is to make researchers' careers more attractive and sustainable and to strengthen Europe's position in research and innovation. The tool can also be used in recruitments by an organisation that does not have this recognition.
Learn more about the OTM-R principles
Responsible assessment is part of the vision for higher education and research
The Ministry of Education and Culture's vision for higher education and research 2040 describes the trend in Finnish higher education and research set as the goal. One of its objectives is that Finland will be a pioneer in education, democracy and freedom of science.
In the context of the measures related to this objective, the higher education and research community is encouraged to put the principles of responsible assessment into practice, and higher education institutions are urged to draw on diverse methods of gaining academic merits in their recruitments. The researcher assessment tool can be used to identify researchers' different merits and competences in the assessment.
Ministry of Education and Culture’s Vision for Higher Education and Research 2040 (in Finnish)