What actually characterises excellent research? Until now, the answer to this question has often been: numbers, numbers, numbers. Whether publication figures, third-party funding or citation frequency – many of the indicators in research evaluation processes are still quantitative. Recently, the call for a shift of emphasis in research evaluation towards qualitative criteria has become louder and louder in order to recognise the full breadth of scientific excellence.

A concrete example where quantitative methods reach their limits is the evaluation of interdisciplinary research. Traditional indicators such as the impact factor of journals, citation rates and H-index are often tailored to specific disciplines. By giving more weight to qualitative assessment methods, the scientific community can achieve a fairer and more comprehensive assessment of interdisciplinary research. This not only fosters the recognition and support of innovative research approaches, but also strengthens scientific excellence by recognising and promoting diverse perspectives and methods.

To push for a culture change in research assessment and to develop and establish new principles of research assessment, CoARA, the Coalition for the Reform of Research Assessment in Europe, was founded in 2022. The aim of CoARA is to promote a more comprehensive and fairer assessment of research that goes beyond traditional metrics such as the impact factor of scientific journals or project funding obtained. The German national chapter of CoARA was founded in March 2024 on the initiative of the German Research Foundation (DFG).

On 16 May, German U15 officially signed the Agreement on Reforming Research Assessment of the Coalition for Advancing Research Assessment (CoARA) and joined the German National Chapter of the Coalition. After participating as a guest institution in the constituent meeting of the national group in spring, U15 was officially involved in a meeting as a signatory and member of the National Chapter for the first time on 22 May. During the meeting, the CoARA office presented the CoARA Boost funding line, which is intended to support the transformation of research assessment at institutions through start-up funding.

The aim of the National Chapter is to promote networking and a trustful exchange of experiences between institutions and associations at national level on the topics of research assessment and research culture. At the same time, the associated members of the group receive reports from the various CoARA working groups with German participation.

The Agreement on Reforming Research Assessment signed by U15 not only suggests a common direction for changes in the assessment practices of research and researchers, but also contains some overarching principles for a change in research culture and encourages the creation of exchange mechanisms between organisations that are willing to work together to implement the changes. An important medium of exchange are the so-called National Chapters, the German branch of which U15 has now joined.

We will follow the discussion process on the reform at both European and national level both constructively and critically and report to our members on the activities.