has published its action plan for advancing research assessment as part of its commitment to CoARA – the Coalition for Advancing Research Assessment.
Professor Kevin Ryan, Vice President Research and Innovation welcomed the publication of UL's action plan which took place during Research Week 2025.
“Advancing research assessment aligns with the principles of UL’s Research Strategy, Wisdom for Action 2022-2027. These include embracing a spirit of openness and discovery together with our commitments as a leader for equality, diversity and inclusion.
“The action plan reflects the breadth of activities currently underway at UL which seek to foster a research culture which is inclusive, which supports open science and continues UL’s research mission to deliver impact for our world,” Professor Ryan said.
The plan was developed by a working group chaired by Professor Christina Morin, Assistant Dean, Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences.
“UL has made many strides in the advancement of research assessment including incorporating CoARA principles into its President’s Research Excellence and Impact Awards and our Research Impact Programmes, delivery of the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences Disciplinary Norms Guidance, the delivery of the Workload Allocation Model, and further expanding the opportunities for visibility of our research community and their research output via UL’s . This is just the starting point of UL’s journey of advancing research assessment,” Professor Morin said.
UL was one of the first Irish institutions to sign up to CoARA. The coalition is a collective of organisations committed to reforming the methods and processes by which research, researchers, and research organisations are evaluated.
The commitments detailed in the CoARA agreement complement the recommendations of Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA), to which UL is also a signatory, making it one of 16 organisations in Ireland, and over 23,000 institutions worldwide, that have signed up to DORA.
“My thanks to Professor Morin for her leadership in this space, particularly in the areas of championing disciplinary norms for Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences and the inclusion of arts practice research outputs. And also, my thanks to the working group who have delivered our first action plan in this space and are commitment to continuing to support its implementation,” Professor Ryan added.
The UL CoARA Working Group members are: Professor Christina Morin, Assistant Dean Research, Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, CoARA Chair; Professor Eoin Reeves, Department of Economics; Keith McKeague, HR Business Partner, Associate Professor Niamh NicGabhann Coleman, School of History and Geography; Associate Professor Róisín Cahalan, School of Allied Health; Professor Ronan Courtney, Assistant Dean Research, Faculty of Science and Engineering; Christine Brennan, Research Strategy and Policy Manager; Ashling Hayes, Head, Research Services, Glucksman ; Charlotte Long, HR Research Manager, Human Resources; Eileen O’Connor, Research Metrics and Reporting Officer, Research Support Services.
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