Currently an extensive exercise is underway to formulate the 4th Medium-term Goals and Plans for national university corporations and inter-university research institute corporations in Japan. This exercise involves the process of identifying appropriate assessment indicators that can be incorporated within new goals and plans. The Research Evaluation Subcommittee of the Science Council of Japan, however, has recently drafted a tentative proposal that raises fresh questions about the use of metrics, especially for determining procedures for resource allocation. These concerns about metrics, assessments and goal setting have understandably seen an increased interest in the various issues linked to research evaluation.
The Humanities and Social Sciences Research Promotion Forum and the various meetings organized by Japan Inter-institutional Network for Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts (JINSHA), which have been held since 2014, have taken the lead in incubating discussions on research evaluation issues in the social sciences and humanities (SSH) research. The “Responsible Research Assessment (RRA)” is one of the key ideas that the network had taken up. RRA is a comprehensive concept that requires all stakeholders to review the assessment exercises, though not limited to SSH. In 2021, the JINSHA meetings will focus on this RRA to deepen its understanding and provide a forum for continuous discussions on evaluation.
As the first event, this webinar aims to discuss the role of RRA in the formulation of goal setting for universities and research institutions. In particular, we will focus on debating how and when metrics can be made relevant for everyday research activities and guiding management outcomes. This much needed conversation around metrics and goal setting will be initiated by two talks that will be delivered by overseas speakers and will be followed with detailed comments by local speakers.

Date

February 5, 2021 (Friday) 16:00～18:00 JST (7:00-9:00 GST/18:00-20:00 AEDT)

Venue

Zoom webinar (up to 300 people)

Eligibility

Researchers, research administrators/managers and staff of universities and  research institutions, relevant staff of government and funding agencies

Tentative Program

Speakers

• James Wilsdon（Digital Science Professor of Research Policy. Director, Research on Research Institute (RoRI), University of the Sheffield）
  – The lead author of ‘The Metric Tide’ (2015)¹, ‘Next-generation metrics’ (2017)² and a co-author of ‘RoRI Working Paper’ (2020)³. The RoRI Working Paper was cited in one of the presentations at a recent government committee meeting as it lists out the latest development on responsible research assessment and is regarded as one of the most comprehensive report on the topic.

• Justin Zobel （Pro Vice-Chancellor, Graduate & International Research, Chancellery (Research and Enterprise) and Redmond Barry Distinguished Professor, School of Computing & Information Systems, the University of Melbourne）
  – Justin was tasked with establishing the working group that ultimately recommended signing DORA and now chairs our advisory group on the responsible use of research metrics.

• Yukiko Gotoh（Professor, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences/Principal Investigator, International Research Center for Neurointelligence (IRCN), the University of Tokyo）
  – Advisory Board Member of DORA

• Keiichi Oshiumi（Assistant Professor, National Institute for the Humanities (NIHU)）
  – Experience in institutional research in Research Institute for Humanity and Nature (RIHN) and in research administration in University of the Ryukyus. Doing research and practice on research evaluation, especially in Social Science and Humanities.
  
  

¹ ‘The Metric Tide’ (https://re.ukri.org/sector-guidance/publications/metric-tide/)

² ‘Next-generation metrics: responsible metrics and evaluation for open science’ (https://www.researchgate.net/publication/315385216_Next-generation_metrics_responsible_metrics_and_evaluation_for_open_science)

³ ‘The changing role of funders in responsible research assessment: progress, obstacles and the way ahead’（https://rori.figshare.com/articles/report/The_changing_role_of_funders_in_responsible_research_assessment_progress_obstacles_and_the_way_ahead/13227914）

Registration

Please submit the registration form.

*Zoom webinar with simultaneous translation between Japanese and English.
Although you can ask questions on the day of the event, we kindly ask you to write on the registration form above in advance for convenience of interpreters. 

Organizer

Kyoto University Research Administration Office (KURA)
Japan Inter-Institutional Network for Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts (JINSHA)
(Osaka University, University of Tsukuba, University of the Ryukyus, Kyoto University, Waseda University, Hokkaido University, Yokohama National University, Chuo University, Hiroshima University)

Contact

Humanities and Social Sciences Group,
Kyoto University Research Administration Office (KURA) 
Sasaki
Tel: 075-753-5162 (16-5162)
E-Mail: jinsha<@>kura.kyoto-u.ac.jp  *please replace <@> with @.