TSV is participating in six working groups of CoARA, an international coalition that promotes researcher assessment. In addition, TSV proposes the establishment of the CoARA National Chapter in Finland.

In the spring of 2023, Coalition for Advancing Research Assessment (CoARA) launched the first call to propose working groups and national chapters to be established. The working groups are meant to act as ’communities of practice’, that enable mutual learning and cooperation on selected themes of responsible assessment. Participating members exchange information, learn from each other's experiences, discuss, and develop concrete outputs to promote research assessment and support the implementation of their members' commitments. The duration of the working groups is two years, and all CoARA member organizations can participate in their activities.

TSV's proposed working group dealing with multilingualism and language biases in research assessment is one of the selected working groups. The proposal was prepared together with more than 30 organizations, including the Marie Curie Alumni Association, OPERAS Research Infrastructure, the Coimbra Group and the European Civil Society Platform for Multilingualism. From Finland, Hanken, the Academy of Finland, and the universities of Tampere and Turku were also involved in the working group proposal.

Janne Pölönen, secretary general of TSV, who led the preparation of the proposal, states: "Language priorities and biases in research assessment cause inequality, the consequences of which affect researchers in all fields and citizens in Europe and globally. At first, multilingualism was not on the agenda of the research assessment reform, so it's really great that CoARA takes into account the importance of the issue. The goal of the working group is to increase awareness of the importance of multilingualism and to produce practical instructions and tools for taking language aspects into account in assessments".

Estimated disadvantages for non-native English speakers when conducting different scientific activities. Source: Tatsuya Amano et al., The manifold costs of being a non-native English speaker in science Source: Tatsuya Amano et al., The manifold costs of being a non-native English speaker in science, PLOS Biology. 

TSV is involved in six working groups to be established:

• Multilingualism and Language Biases in Research Assessment
• Reforming Academic Career Assessment
• Towards Open Infrastructures for Responsible Research Assessment
• Recognizing and Rewarding Peer Review
• Early-and-mid-Career Researchers (EMCRs) – Assessment and Research Culture
• Towards Transformations: Transdisciplinarity, Applied/Practice-Based Research, and Impacts

32 working group proposals were received in the first round of the call, of which the CoARA steering group appointed ten to be established.

CoARA defines new practices for research assessment

In July 2022, Science Europe, an organisation representing the European research funders, published The Agreement on Reforming Research Assessment, which defines new practices for research assessment. The agreement was created as a result of international cooperation initiated by the European Commission.

The implementation of the agreement is promoted by the coalition formed by the signatories, Coalition for Advancing Research Assessment (CoARA). Central to the agreement are practices that advance diversity, openness and equality in research and research assessment. Such practices are seen to improve the quality and impact of science and research.

By the end of July 2023, more than 600 organizations had signed the agreement, among which 32 Finnish organizations, including 13 universities, 16 universities of applied sciences, as well as the Finnish Union of Docents, the Academy of Finland, and the Federation of Finnish Learned Societies.

TSV proposes the establishment of the CoARA National Chapter in Finland

In addition to theme-based working groups, CoARA invites proposals for National Chapters to be established, the purpose of which is to support CoARA members in the implementation of the commitments of the agreement on the reform of research assessment at the national level, taking into account the specific characteristics of the country in question and different organisations.

"The national chapter strengthens the interoperability of existing working groups and networks related to responsible assessment. The core idea of ​​the national chapter is to perform concrete things, such as planning and implementing sufficiently responsible assessment training at the national and organizational level", adds Anna-Kaisa Hyrkkänen, coordinator for responsible researcher assessment at TSV. 

The Federation of Finnish Learned Societies as an independent public organization that coordinates Open Science and the assessment of responsible researchers in Finland, proposes a National Chapter on behalf of the Finnish scientific community and acts as the coordinator of the National Chapter. TSV has expressed to CoARA an interest in establishing a National Chapter in Finland by submitting a preliminary application (Expression of Interest). The final application will be submitted in the fall of 2023 together with the organizations participating in the national chapter.

Read CoARA's announcement on the working groups to be established on CoARA's website.

More information:

CoARA Working Groups: Janne Pölönen, janne.polonen(a)tsv.fi

CoARA National Chapter: Anna-Kaisa Hyrkkänen, anna-kaisa.hyrkkanen(a)tsv.fi

Main picture: Unsplash/ Hector J Rivas