Internationalisation is a strategic issue for research 3 institutions and, at the same time, is highly relevant for the meaning and the objectives of the European Research Area (ERA). Although internationalisation is becoming a key issue on the science policy agenda, there is still little empirical evidence as to the level of internationalisation of research institutions, and the development of evaluation tools deserves special attention. Following a recommendation of the former ESF Member Organisation Forum on Ex-Post Evaluation of Funding Schemes and Research Programmes, the Forum on Indicators of Internationalisation was established in 2010 in order to design a common set of indicators to support strategic thinking of research institutions. The aim was to develop a set of indicators that closely match the needs of the member organisations (MOs), be they funding agencies (FAs) or research performing organisations (RPOs). Experts in science policy, indicator design and bibliometrics were invited by ESF to contribute to the work in all phases of the project. The forum allowed a participatory process with close interaction between twenty participating MOs from eleven countries, three experts and ESF scientific officers. The forum developed a conceptual framework for the description and the analysis of internationalisation processes of research institutions, showing the rationales for internationalisation and the main processes where an internationalisation strategy can be implemented. Within this framework, two comprehensive sets of indicators have been selected based on MOs' criteria and on data availability. Seventeen indicators have been proposed (eight for FAs, nine for RPOs). The MOs have provided examples of data for these indicators, confirming their feasibility. At the same time, the descriptions of the indicators have been specified in more detail. Depending on the experience of MOs in collecting and analysing such data, the proposed indicators have different status: seven indicators are mature indicators. They require the development of guidelines for data collection in order to test their quality and to address the issue of comparability. Seven other indicators in development have a sound conceptual basis but traditional data collection is necessary to confirm feasibility and comparativeness of the measures. Three blue sky indicators, which are relevant to describe specific aspects of internationalisation, still have to be conceptually developed in order to find a relevant measure connected to the unobserved reality. This study shows that it is possible to assess the internationalisation of a funding agency or of a research performer through its different activities. It also suggests that future work would be valuable, aimed at producing common indicators of internationalisation of research institutions in Europe. Apart from the development required for the production of indicators, it would be useful to continue to debate the meaning of internationalisation and to further explore the way internationalisation of research and of research institutions is presently assessed in practice.
Indicators of Internationalisation for Research Institutions: a new approach A report by the ESF Member Organisation Forum on Evaluation: Indicators of Internationalisation
Emanuela Reale;
2012
Abstract
Internationalisation is a strategic issue for research 3 institutions and, at the same time, is highly relevant for the meaning and the objectives of the European Research Area (ERA). Although internationalisation is becoming a key issue on the science policy agenda, there is still little empirical evidence as to the level of internationalisation of research institutions, and the development of evaluation tools deserves special attention. Following a recommendation of the former ESF Member Organisation Forum on Ex-Post Evaluation of Funding Schemes and Research Programmes, the Forum on Indicators of Internationalisation was established in 2010 in order to design a common set of indicators to support strategic thinking of research institutions. The aim was to develop a set of indicators that closely match the needs of the member organisations (MOs), be they funding agencies (FAs) or research performing organisations (RPOs). Experts in science policy, indicator design and bibliometrics were invited by ESF to contribute to the work in all phases of the project. The forum allowed a participatory process with close interaction between twenty participating MOs from eleven countries, three experts and ESF scientific officers. The forum developed a conceptual framework for the description and the analysis of internationalisation processes of research institutions, showing the rationales for internationalisation and the main processes where an internationalisation strategy can be implemented. Within this framework, two comprehensive sets of indicators have been selected based on MOs' criteria and on data availability. Seventeen indicators have been proposed (eight for FAs, nine for RPOs). The MOs have provided examples of data for these indicators, confirming their feasibility. At the same time, the descriptions of the indicators have been specified in more detail. Depending on the experience of MOs in collecting and analysing such data, the proposed indicators have different status: seven indicators are mature indicators. They require the development of guidelines for data collection in order to test their quality and to address the issue of comparability. Seven other indicators in development have a sound conceptual basis but traditional data collection is necessary to confirm feasibility and comparativeness of the measures. Three blue sky indicators, which are relevant to describe specific aspects of internationalisation, still have to be conceptually developed in order to find a relevant measure connected to the unobserved reality. This study shows that it is possible to assess the internationalisation of a funding agency or of a research performer through its different activities. It also suggests that future work would be valuable, aimed at producing common indicators of internationalisation of research institutions in Europe. Apart from the development required for the production of indicators, it would be useful to continue to debate the meaning of internationalisation and to further explore the way internationalisation of research and of research institutions is presently assessed in practice.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
