Evaluation completed: What does it say about the quality of research at AU?

You’re being asked to evaluate the quality of your research – but first you need to define what quality is in your field.

This was more or less the message to AU’s faculties in connection with the launch in 2024 by the senior management team of a comprehensive process ultimately intended to strengthen the strategic development of the university’s academic environments.

The formal requirement was for each department and school to arrange both a self-evaluation and an external review by an international panel. The process has been overseen by the faculties and the individual departments and schools, which have otherwise been free to decide which themes and data points should serve as quality parameters in the various academic contexts.

More demanding, but also more rewarding

According to Rector Brian Bech Nielsen, this slightly more bottom-up approach was chosen deliberately to ensure focus on concrete learning and forward-looking action:

“We’re already being measured and evaluated in all sorts of ways. This is all as it should be and only natural for a university receiving public funding. But when it comes to the kind of qualitative strategic development that can really challenge one’s conventional thinking, there’s a limit to how far you can get with bibliometrics and other such generic data,” says the rector and continues:

“This also means that an evaluation of this type is more demanding. Instead of having the parameters handed to them on a plate, our faculties, departments and schools have had to work hard to identify the right goals and measurement methods. It has called for strategic reflection at a very fundamental level. Fortunately, it seems that the process has been both rewarding and meaningful, and levels of engagement have been high. Our board has acknowledged this, and I would like to do the same on behalf of the senior management team.”

So what have we learned?

Even though the departments and schools have been evaluated based on their own academic criteria, a number of recurring themes have been identified across the university.

Publication, research collaboration and funding data confirm that AU generally delivers research of a high quality and with great societal impact – also in the form of innovation and collaboration with external parties. At the same time, the evaluations indicate a potential for further strengthening our interdisciplinary research, and that there may be a need to support cross-disciplinary collaboration at a strategic level.

Another conclusion is that the growing international focus of our research must be balanced with the domestic need for knowledge: Although research is often published in international journals, it is important to always bear in mind that the university must also deliver knowledge to Danish citizens, authorities and companies.

The evaluation also shows that although departments and schools are making targeted efforts when it comes to recruitment, the working environment and career development, there is still a need for managers to focus on gender balance, short-term appointments and support for early-career researchers.

About the research evaluation

• The faculties, departments and schools are responsible for the strategic follow-up on the evaluations.
• The plan is for similar evaluations to be carried out every six years in the future.
• The process is inspired by the European Agreement on Reforming Research Assessment from 2022, to which Aarhus University is a signatory.
• The individual evaluation reports are shared internally at the departments and schools but are not publicly available; among other things, to signal that the evaluation is not about comparing, competing or conducting management checks. A comprehensive summary has been prepared and submitted to the AU Board, which also includes summaries of the faculty reports.

Read the summary and more about the evaluation process (English version is in the works)