PSY | Selected for CoARA Cascade Funding: Institutional Pilot Project at the Faculty of Psychology
Selected out of 130 applications: “CoARAverse in Psychology. Piloting reforms to foster and assess diverse research cultures with a focus on participation, qualitative indicators, and peer-review”.
In order to actively promote the reform of research evaluation within SFU, Nora Ruck, Vice Dean for Research at the Faculty of Psychology, Marion Garaus, Vice Rector for Research at SFU, and Dominik Drexel from Quality Management at SFU submitted an application for funding to the CoARA Cascade Funding Program. ‘CoARAverse in Psychology’ was selected for funding of around €30,000 in the category ‘Institutional Pilot Project’.
European support for research evaluation reform
Coordinated by the European Science Foundation through the CoARA Secretariat, a total of €2.75 million was distributed to more than 50 research organizations in the form of Cascade Funding as part of the Horizon Europe CoARA Boost project. The goal is the promotion of the CoARA’s endeavour to globally reform the evaluation of research, researchers, and research organizations by recognizing diverse forms of output, practices, and activities and maximizing the overall quality and impact of research. In the spirit of CoARA as a lived coalition, the Cascade Funding offers the selected research institutions not only financial resources but also opportunities for exchange on the implementation of the pursued institutional changes through knowledge-sharing events.
Successful selection and project launch
The second call for Cascade Funding received more than 130 applications, which underwent a thorough evaluation process, resulting in a total of 28 projects being selected – including the SFU’s institutional pilot project, which Nora Ruck, Marion Garaus, and Dominik Drexel, supported by two designated student assistants, began implementing at the beginning of September 2025.
Focus on diverse research cultures
A particular concern of the CoARAverse project is to take into account the different research cultures within the faculty. To this end, the focus is on qualitative indicators, peer review, and participation. Members of the Faculty of Psychology are actively involved through the faculty-wide CoARA working group in reforming three assessment tools at both the individual and faculty level:
- The research report, which presents SFU’s annual research output, is being revised with regard to qualitative indicators and the implementation of the research information system (RIS) Pure.
- The faculty’s external research evaluation is being piloted in a reformed version, based on guiding questions (instead of target values) as well as external peer review.
- The development meeting, which is held annually by deans and other leading personnel with faculty researchers, is being further developed to promote sustainable, inclusive and individualized research careers by recognizing research profile-relevant competencies and diverse contributions and activities, including research-related care practices.
After the pilot phase, the CoARAverse approaches to research evaluation will be expanded within SFU, from the Faculty of Psychology to the university level.
Project team and working group
The Institutional Pilot Project was developed and submitted by Ass.-Prof. Dr. Nora Ruck as Vice Dean of Research at the Faculty of Psychology, Univ.-Prof. Mag. Dr. PhD Marion Garaus as Vice Rector of Research, Dominik Drexel, PhD, from Quality Management, and Anoel Alshuth as student assistant in the research office at the Faculty of Psychology.
The members of the CoARAverse working group are Markus Wrbouschek, Alessandra Frigerio, Anna Schor-Tschudnowskaja, Monika Gritsch, Katharina Hametner, Birgit Stetina, Christine Smetaczek, Armin Klaps, Tarek El Sehity, Gregor Wasicky and Alexander Wendt.
Contact:
Faculty of Psychology
Sigmund Freud Private University
research.psychology@sfu.ac.at
Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or European Commission. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them. Funded within the framework of the CoARA Boost Project under grant agreement No 101131826.