The Agency has already carried out more than 8,000 accreditations. According to the data, which you can consult on the website, we know that more than 90% of the research accreditations issued correspond to people resident in Catalonia, with an average age of 43, that 44% correspond to women, and that almost 60% are successful in gaining accreditation.
However, beyond these descriptive data, is there any further information available? What is the scientific profile of people who pass research accreditations?
Indeed, at AQU Catalunya, apart from resolving the calls for applications, our aim is to generate knowledge in order to provide information for applicants and other agents in the university system involved in the management of teaching staff. The report Associate professor profiles (2017-2019) provides an indicative and generic overview of the merits presented by applicants who achieved research accreditation between 2017 and 2019 for each of the areas in which the Research Assessment Commission (CAR) undertakes assessment. The main objective of the study is to present a guiding profile, a kind of "identikit picture" that will provide those who want to apply for research accreditation with additional information on the merits of other researchers who have already obtained theirs. However, in no case does it replace the assessment criteria applied by the CAR.
In order to carry out this study, an algorithm was developed to automatically dump the data from the CVs into a database and, in addition, a manual review was carried out in cases where it was not possible to apply automatic extraction. This has ensured the quality of the information extracted from the CVs submitted by applicants. The data from 1,429 CVs have been dumped from the period analysed, representing 97.8% of the total. The data presented here are the result of the average of the indicators obtained by applicants who received a favourable assessment. It should be noted that while the report provides quantitative data, the criteria combine a quantitative and qualitative perspective, and emphasise the fact that the quality of scientific contributions prevails over purely quantitative indicators.
In this context, it is important to point out that the task entrusted to the CAR is to accredit whether applicants meet a minimum threshold of quality and experience in research activities that, among other functions, allows them to apply for competitions in the universities of the Catalan Higher Education System. Thus, only research is assessed, mainly publications, projects and thesis supervision; other relevant dimensions such as teaching activity or management activity are outside the scope of these accreditations.
Among those who pass the assessment, common elements can be observed in relation to research background:
Publications and transfer of research results
This item has the highest weighting (more than 70%), so it is essential to accredit publications of proven quality resulting from the applicant's research (articles, books, book chapters, etc.). The determining elements in the assessment of publications are the peer review process and presence in relevant positions in selective citation indexes, or in other specialised bibliographic databases of international standing.
The graph below shows an example from the field of Humanities.
Projects
Applicants must have led or participated in research projects approved in public and competitive calls. Assessment is also made of applicants' ability to mobilise resources, their level of leadership and the initiative they have shown in generating new projects. In the field of Life Sciences and in the field of Medical and Health Sciences, proof of having been PI on a competitive research project is required. The weighting of this dimension varies between 10% and 15% depending on the field.
Two graphs from the fields of Social Sciences and Medical and Health Sciences are shown below as examples.
Theses
In this dimension, credit is given for the applicant's ability to form a research group or nucleus and for having supervised/currently supervising doctoral theses. The weighting of this dimension varies between 5 and 12%, depending on the field.
The following graph shows an example from the field of Engineering and Architecture.
It should be noted that the files in the subfield of Architecture and the special areas of Nursing and Physiotherapy have a specific section in the assessment criteria, where the necessary thresholds are established.
In conclusion, the study presented provides representative information on the research career of the accredited persons and offers potential candidates an indicative view of the merits required, complementing what is established in the assessment criteria. In this regard, special mention should be made of the study Profiles of tenure-track lecturers (2013-2017), published in 2019 with the same pedagogical focus.
At AQU Catalunya, we are committed to continuing to generate knowledge on the quality of teaching staff based on the results of accreditations, with the drawing up of new reports, such as the one on the profile of teaching staff who achieve advanced research accreditation (full professors) and other thematic analyses.