Building the future of research assessment: CoARA WG SAGA workshop explores struggles and enablers for reform

Last week, EU-LIFE and IDIBAPS co-organised a hands-on workshop in Barcelona titled “Reforming Research Assessment in Our Institutions: Struggles and Dreams.” The event took place within the framework of the CoARA Working Group SAGA and brought together professionals actively engaged in institutional research assessment. 

“We designed the workshop as a truly participatory space — a place to exchange experiences, identify enablers and struggles, and collectively shape a shared vision for the future of research assessment,” said Iris Uribesalgo, EU-LIFE CoARA Team Leader. “It was inspiring to see over 30 participants from the Barcelona research community and members of the CoARA SAGA Working Group engage so openly in these discussions.”

After a welcome by Paula Samsó (IDIBAPS) and Iris Uribesalgo (EU-LIFE), participants heard from Jess Rohmann and Deborah Jachan (BIH-QUEST, Charité) about the group’s ongoing work and outputs. Marta Agostinho, Executive Director of EU-LIFE, opened the plenary with reflections on the importance of institutional reform, inviting participants to imagine a “perfect scenario” for research assessment: its impact on the scientific community, how institutions would look, and the role that administration and governance would play.

In World Café–style breakout discussions, participants explored what is working in their institutions and what remains challenging. Positive examples included committed leadership, supported teams and well-structured internal processes. At the same time, participants discussed barriers such as limited resources in terms of people, time, funding, infrastructure and processes. The session concluded with a wrap-up highlighting common themes and concrete next steps. The CoARA WG SAGA is currently preparing a report to capture the key insights and reflections from the workshop. In addition, the gathered input will feed into the implementation guide currently under development by the group.

The workshop followed a focused working session the previous day, when members of the CoARA WG SAGA core writing team (Jess Rohmann, Deborah Jachan, Paula Samsó, Henri van Luenen, and Iris Uribesalgo) met to advance what is expected to be the group’s main outcome, an implementation guide for driving change in biomedical research assessment. The guide aims to support administration and governance roles in implementing research assessment reforms.

EU-LIFE is a strong advocate for research assessment reform, a signatory of the Agreement on Reforming Research Assessment and an active member of CoARA. The alliance works to promote evaluation systems that recognise diverse contributions, foster responsible research practices and align institutional evaluation with the broader needs of science and society. Through its policy work and participation in CoARA Working Groups such as SAGA, EU-LIFE continues to champion a fairer and more forward-looking culture of assessment across Europe. 

Learn more about EU-LIFE’s work on research assessment reform here.