Italy shakes up research assessment

Next evaluation exercise will allow more research outputs and look at international grants won

Italian evaluation agency Anvur has unveiled major changes for the next iteration of its national assessment of university research, including different rules on what can be submitted and who will do the grading.

Rules for the fourth evaluation exercise (Valutazione della Qualità della Ricerca, VQR), covering work conducted during 2020-24, were published at the end of October. The last VQR assessment was used to assign up to 30 per cent of universities’ “ordinary fund”—their basic budgets—and determine which institutions could bid for lucrative additional grants.