19. 4. 2010: Debate on the Methodology of Research Results Assessment

A debate on the methodology of research result assessment took place on Monday 19 April 2010. The debate was organised by the initiative I Can’t Take It Any Longer. The panel discussion featured Dr. Tereza Stöckelová (Institute of Sociology of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic), Prof. Ivan Wilhelm (Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, Charles University, governmental Commissioner for European Research) and Prof. Zdeněk Němeček (dean, Faculty of Mathematics and Physics). Comments by the audience kept returning to the basic terminological issues of contemporary science policy (science – research – development – innovations), criteria of quality and excellent science and the issue of which roles performed by academic institutions are worth public support. The debate also centred on the comments submitted by the Czech Rectors’ Conference on the 2010 Methodology proposal and the absolutely insufficient manner in which these comments have been settled by the Council for Research, Development and Innovations. A boycott by academic institutions of the Register of Information on Results (RIV), which serves as the basis for the assessment calculations using the Methodology, was discussed as a potential reaction to the current methodology and the course in which the methodology for the upcoming years was prepared.