Dear colleagues,
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There is currently a great deal of work taking place across the Faculty as a whole. The departments and NCMM are drawing up presentations on their subject areas for the course evaluation of medicine and health sciences, EVALMEDHELSE 2022-2024. This is the second of two evaluations carried out within life sciences. Biosciences initiated a similar process in 2022 and the process is expected to be completed in 2023.
The main objective of the Research Council of Norway (RCN) is to “evaluate the quality and framework conditions for life science research in Norway, as well as the relevance of the research in relation to key aspects of society”. The previous evaluation of biology, medicine and health courses was conducted in 2010/2011.
Course evaluations constitute the most important source of information for RCN and the authorities
The Research Council’s priorities and advice are based on accumulated knowledge of Norwegian research environments. National evaluations such as this are some of the most important sources of such knowledge. A solid and up-to-date knowledge platform on Norwegian research and higher education from an international perspective will help those providing advice to the authorities on how research should be further developed. We must assume that the authorities will use the knowledge platform when determining the objectives and frameworks for research and higher education.
The commission from RCN specifically means that we need to present the research conducted by our units and research communities over the last ten years, as well as the underlying research strategies that we intend to pursue going forward. The Research Council seeks to examine both the capacity for and quality of research at a national level.
The institutes are responsible for presenting their research
In its Management Forum on 5 September, the Faculty allocated responsibility for the evaluation to the institutes and NCMM. The self-assessment forms for the units that are being evaluated must be submitted by 31 January 2024. The information provided will be evaluated by international panels of experts, organised by research subject or topic.
One of the most important additional tasks is to ensure that personal profiles and research information are updated in both Norwegian and English on our web page. Clearer and relevant information about the research is also important for disseminating the research and this will act as a backdrop during the evaluation.
We will be evaluated in light of our own objectives and strategies
The research presented will be evaluated in light of the objectives and strategies set out by the University of Oslo and the Faculty. In this way, RCN will have the opportunity to gain a better overview of how public funds are used to facilitate high-quality research and how the research we conduct contributes to society.
The outcome of the evaluation will have an impact on our funding
The evaluation will result in recommendations for the institutions, the Research Council and ministries and will have a major impact on our funding opportunities for at least the next ten years.
The Rector is engaged in active debate with the authorities, please refer to this article in Khrono: University of Oslo Rector: The government is weakening me as a leader. It would be a great help if the Faculty achieved good results in the course evaluation. So let’s make sure that we invest additional efforts in this process.
At the Office of the Dean, we would like to thank all of our researchers, heads of research, publishers and everyone else who is contributing to the important work on both the EVALMEDHELSE preparations and the dissemination of research in general
Yours sincerely, Jan