San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA) signed by Utrecht University

Rector magnificus Henk Kummeling ondertekent namens de Universiteit Utrecht de San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA)
Rector Magnificus Henk Kummeling signs the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA) on behalf of Utrecht University

On Monday September 23, Rector Magificus Henk Kummeling signed the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA) on behalf of Utrecht University. At the start of the Academic Year 2019/2020 the President of the Executive Board, Anton Pijpers announced this step.

Open Science

During the signing ceremony Frank Miedema, chair of the Open Science Programme of Utrecht University, illustrated Open Science in practice. A consortium that will conduct research into the exposome will  receive an amount of 17.4 million euros Gravitation Award. Principal project applicant and UU-Professor Roel Vermeulen indicated that the consortium will conduct the exposome-research on the basis of Open Science principles as much as possible. During the course of the project other researchers and stakeholders must be able to access the data and technologies being developed, so that they can use this for their own research. The aim of Exposome-NL is that all products resulting from the project are public and accessible. Both for researchers and society.

Broader approach

Signing the DORA declaration is part of a broader approach to stimulate Open Science and find new ways to reward and incentivize university staff.

DORA is aimed at assessing research and researchers by shifting the focus from bibliometric indicators (such as publications and citations) to a more holistic, qualitative approach. Utrecht University endorses the principles of the DORA declaration and will adapt its own procedures accordingly.