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ALLEA Welcomes Council Conclusions on Research Assessment and Open Science

ALLEA welcomes the adoption of the Conclusions on Research Assessment and Implementation of Open Science by the Council of the European Union on 10 June. See ALLEA’s full response here.

The Conclusions are in agreement with points that ALLEA has made over the years, in particular on the necessity of appropriately implementing and rewarding open science practices and the development of research assessment criteria that follow principles of excellence, research integrity and trustworthy science.

At the same time, ALLEA continues to stress that it matters how we open knowledge, as the push for Open Access publishing has also paved the way for various unethical publishing practices. The inappropriate use of journal- and publication-based metrics in funding, hiring and promotion decisions has been one of the obstacles in the transition to a more open science, and furthermore fails to recognize and reward the diverse set of competencies, activities, and outputs needed for our research ecosystem to flourish.

ALLEA therefore welcomes the principles set out in the Conclusion for designing novel approaches to research assessment, with particular weight on recognizing (1) the critical role for peer review in research assessment and (2) the importance of integrity and ethics in developing criteria focused on quality and impact. 

ALLEA underscores that the described reforms are urgently needed and require concerted efforts from the international academic community, supported by infrastructures for exchanging best practices as well as the necessary financial resources to implement these. 

Read ALLEA’s full response

ALLEA contributes to European Commission’s consultation on the European Research Area

ALLEA submitted a response to the European Commission’s public consultation on the future of the European Research Area (ERA). This initiative seeks to relaunch and revitalize the ERA and make it better able to address major challenges such as the green and digital transitions, or the COVID-19 crisis.

In its position, ALLEA supports continuous ambition “to broaden the ERA’s outreach and connectivity by promoting open science and research mobility within and beyond its borders, as well as access to research facilities and collections”.

“As innovation is not restricted to technological and economic growth but also concerns social and cultural adaption, it is critical to broaden the remit of the ERA and that Union programmes consider societal values, including fairness/equality, resilience/sustainability, diversity, openness, transparency and trustworthiness,” the contribution states.

The statement points out that “the core of the EU network remains mainly composed of EU-15 participants, with only a restricted number of institutions acting as hubs. Systematic efforts and specific mechanisms are required to encourage researchers across the career cycle and participants from EU-13 and Associated countries to actively shape the EU-wide networks across the ERA.”

The consultation was closed on 3 August and all stakeholder contributions are available here.

Read ALLEA’s contribution.

ALLEA urges European Parliament to protect Horizon Europe from budget cuts

ALLEA released a statement today in reaction to the European Council deal for the the next Multiannual Financial Framework (2021-2027) and on the EU plan to tackle the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the statement, this proposal represents “a severe and long-term threat to Europe’s capacities as a world leader in science, research and innovation“. ALLEA welcomes the ambition of Members of the European Parliament to seek and secure a larger budget for Horizon Europe and other key research and innovation funding measures:

“In times when fundamental and applied research, evidence-based policy making, and scientific collaboration across boundaries and disciplines are more important than ever to tackle the challenges ahead posed by the pandemic and beyond, governments need to prioritise and increase R&I funding both on national and EU level. 

ALLEA is particularly concerned about the agreement’s implications for the next EU R&I funding programme whose budget has been cut multiple times throughout the Council summit on 17-20 July. Horizon Europe’s budget is now decreased by more than 15% as compared to the latest European Commission’s proposal (May 2020), and is one third lower than the €120 billion figure proposed by the European Parliament, supported widely across the European scientific community including ALLEA and its academies.”

Read the full statement.