1. Context
In November 2022, the Czech Academy of Sciences (CAS) signed an agreement with the Coalition for Advancing Research Assessment (CoARA). CoARA’s vision is that the assessment of research, researchers and research organisations recognises the diverse outputs, practices and activities that maximise the quality and impact of research. This requires basing assessment primarily on qualitative judgement, for which peer review is central, supported by the responsible use of quantitative indicators.
In July 2024, CAS published its CoARA Action Plan 2024–2027. As the responsible umbrella organization, it applied the action plan to the latest round of periodic 5-year evaluations (for the 2020–2024 period) across all CAS institutes, including the Institute of Thermomechanics of the CAS. The Report on the Evaluation of the Research and Professional Activities of the CAS Institutes for the Period 2020–2024, conducted during 2025, was published in April 2026 and details the principles of evaluation on pages 27–28.
Currently, CAS is assessing the impact of its CoARA Action Plan to reflect changes, gather feedback, and share experiences and good practices. This step is expected to be completed by December 2027.
2. Reflection of the CAS CoARA Action Plan in the Institute’s Evaluation Process
Based on the experience gained during the institute evaluation mentioned above and as part of the continuous reflection, the methodology of mandatory researcher evaluations (“atestace”) for researchers in positions V3 (Postdoctoral Researcher), V4 (Associated Scientist), V5 (Scientist), and V6 (Senior Scientist) was updated in May 2026.
The updates reinforce qualitative peer-review assessment supported by the responsible use of quantitative metrics, while introducing several key novelties aligned with CoARA principles:
- Focus on qualitative assessment of core outputs: In the evaluation form, researchers highlight up to three core scientific achievements (each of which can be supported by several outputs, including journal papers with IF, WoS/Scopus-indexed proceedings papers, or books and book chapters registered in the ASEP database). Direct review of these selected outputs by committee members serves as a qualitative check alongside quantitative metrics. For journal papers, this helps to properly interpret bibliometric indicators, allowing the Institute to recognize high-quality research even if published in less prominent journals, while avoiding judging quality based only on journal prestige. Across all eligible output types, this direct review assesses intrinsic scientific quality as well as institutional and societal impact.
- Contextual evaluation and recognition of non-linear career paths: Researchers can provide additional narrative context relevant to their evaluation (Section VII of the form), such as career breaks (e.g., maternity/parental leave or long-term illness) or institutional contributions (e.g., consolidating and expanding the Institute’s research base). In line with CoARA principles, this ensures a fair, contextualized evaluation that respects career interruptions and moves away from purely rigid productivity metrics.
- Recognition of diverse roles via CRediT taxonomy: For research outputs, researchers can explicitly specify their contribution using the CRediT (Contributor Roles Taxonomy) framework. Integrating CRediT supports CoARA principles by formally acknowledging a broad range of scientific contributions—such as data curation, software development, methodology design, or formal analysis—rather than focusing solely on traditional author order.
- Recognition of broader scientific and professional activities: Beyond scientific publications and grant projects, researchers can report a wide range of professional contributions, including awards, research stays, teaching and student supervision, contract research, institutional management, patents, and public outreach.
3. Reference Guidance for Researcher Competencies
The internal evaluation methodology includes reference competency guidance outlining typical activities across all researcher qualification grades, serving as a reference tool for researchers. It structures researcher competencies into core scientific domains (including publication activity and research outputs, preparation of and participation in research projects, and position and activity within the scientific community) and complementary activity areas:
- Teaching (encompassing lecturing and student supervision)
- Societal Contribution (encompassing public outreach, knowledge transfer, commercialization, and policy contributions)
- Service to the Institute and the Czech Academy of Sciences (encompassing service on boards, committees, or advisory bodies)
The complementary activity areas represent broader contributions that researchers are encouraged to engage in according to their individual career profiles and institutional needs. By explicitly incorporating these broader competencies alongside traditional research outputs, the mandatory evaluation framework adopts a holistic approach to performance assessment, fully recognizing each researcher’s diverse contributions to the Institute’s mission.
4. Implementation and Next Steps
The updated evaluation process applies to all individual researcher evaluations starting in June 2026, including the ongoing institution-wide 5-year mandatory evaluation for the 2021–2026 period.
Upon completion of this evaluation cycle, the Institute will assess the practical implementation of the updated methodology and integrate any relevant outcomes from the CAS-level CoARA reflection exercise scheduled for completion in December 2027 (as outlined in Section 1).