We invite you to a series of three online meetings from October 21st to November 4th (Wednesdays), the purpose of which will be to exchange conclusions and experiences on the results of the first evaluation according to the new rules. Participation in the meetings is free of charge.

In October, the Ministry of Science and Higher Education announced the premiere of a new tool for measuring the academic achievements of universities and institutes. The Academic Achievement Evaluation System (SEDN) is software which purpose is to present the condition of Polish science in a disciplinary perspective. Previously, the evaluation of scientific activities was based on the analysis of the achievements of individual scientific units.

Theoretically, the transition of universities to a new way of presenting scientific achievements requires only a different methodology for collecting and processing data on scientific publications. In practice, this change requires the involvement of the entire academic community, starting with researchers.

Each system change causes major changes at the level of functioning of the organization and their employees. In this case, an additional complication is that the change takes place not at the beginning of a new evaluation period, but during it. Thus, the results of the first evaluation according to the new rules raise enormous uncertainty in the academic community.

Although we are in a transition period, it is worth sharing our conclusions and first experiences now. That is why we invite you to three meetings organized under the auspices of the Polish Rectors Foundation in cooperation with our partner ProScience under the slogan #scientificevaluation2.0. The media patronage over the entire series of meetings was taken by the “Forum Akademickie” magazine.

What are the consequences of the new system of evaluating scientific achievements and how it affects the activities of researchers and university managers? The meetings will be moderated by prof. Łukasz Sułkowski, Head of the Department of Higher Education Institutions Management at the Jagiellonian University.

1st webinar – October 21, 2020, 1:30 pm – 3pm

Do the new rules for the evaluation of scientific activities actually require a new publishing strategy for the scientist?

According to many scientists, the new evaluation conversion factor is complicated and requires even greater focus on obtaining points for the publication, and the change of the system of evaluation of scientific achievements has consequences related to the scientific work cycle, which are not entirely clear. Others argue that the introduced system changes do not make a significant difference at the level of functioning of individual researchers and were introduced in order to gradually modify the system in the direction of departing from the so-called “focus on scoring”. Researchers also point out that the new rules affect different disciplines to a different extent.

What is the most rational course of action? How to count your publications scores to plan your own publishing strategy? Or maybe the new rules do not require any changes in the activities of researchers, but only in the way of managing universities?

 2nd webinar – October 28, 2020, 1:30 pm – 3 pm

Cooperation or competition – how will the new system of evaluation of scientific activities affect the organizational climate of the university?

The new system of evaluation of scientific achievements requires the mobilization of the entire research community. At the same time, collective responsibility for the position of a given discipline that has been introduced creates many possibilities for conflicts. The situation of scientists who published and will publish in high-ranking journals will be directly influenced by the effects of the work of other scientists. On the other hand, there will be increased demands on academics who publish less.

Whether and how to take advantage of the systemic change to positively influence the organizational culture of a university? Whether and how to use evaluation results to introduce a climate of positive competition between scientists? Are universities ready to adapt the way of managing employees to organizational changes resulting from the new principles of evaluating scientific achievements?

3rd webinar – November 4, 2020, 1:30 pm – 3 pm

The rules of the game at universities – how will they change under the influence of the new system of evaluation of scientific activities?

The Ministry of Science and Higher Education introduced new rules for the evaluation of scientific achievements in order to re-organize the image of Polish science – through the prism of disciplines, not scientific units. So far, universities have relied on an organizational structure that was consistent with the previous rules for calculating points. Does the new system undermine the traditional way of organizing Polish universities? How to arrange new processes and roles (including heads of disciplines) in the university structure to adapt to the new ministerial requirements? How to approach the topic strategically and where to start? How to arrange processes and roles in the organization to meet SEDN requirements?

We invite you to sign up for a series of three meetings by completing the application form on the website www.pcgacademia.pl/wydarzenia.