Evaluations and assessments take place when hiring new academic staff members, during career advancement and discussions of salary raise for academic staff members, in consultation with external reviewers (for example in assessment committees for new hiring), and in dialogues between academic staff members and their leader, for example during annual employee development interviews (MUS).
The policy defined here applies when reviewing performance of assistant, associate and full professors:
- For assistant professors this takes place in relation to hiring, at employee development interviews (MUS), and in relation to evaluation for associate professorship.
- For associate professors this takes place at employee development interviews (MUS), and during career advancement to full professor.
- For full professors this takes place at employee development interviews (MUS).
It is important to emphasise that evaluation is based on performance over several years and that faculty members are not expected to perform at the highest level simultaneously within all the tasks listed below. This document also serves as a basis for discussing which tasks individual faculty member could focus on. Due consideration must be given to the career stage (academic age) and the personal circumstances of the candidate (for example parental leave, commitments to family members requiring care, and other services to the community). Also, the guidelines have to be applied in light of international standards for the discipline in question.
Irrespective of the career stage, assistant, associate and full professors are expected to take responsibility for and contribute to the development of the department and the university, as well as continue their personal development as researchers and lecturers.
The policy covers three categories: Research, Academic teaching, and Academic citizenship. Depending on the career stage, performance expectations vary in each of these evaluation categories. However, performance within each category is expected.
Examples of tasks within each category
- Developing state-of-the-art methodologies and concepts
- Publishing articles with substantial personal contribution in peer-reviewed journals and contributions at conferences
- Establishing and maintaining international reputation: Invitations to speak at international conferences (keynote/plenary lectures), prizes, awards, research professorships, grants
- Demonstrating academic development potential
- Raising external funds in competitive processes
- Performing interdisciplinary collaborative research: overseeing/participating in coordinated research projects
- Supporting young scientists (for example successful supervision of doctoral students and postdocs, career counselling of graduates)
- Demonstrating technical innovation capacity: Patent applications, patents granted and commercialisation of patents, initiation of technology transfer projects/spin-offs
- Engaging in R&D with industry and business, consortia building and establishment of external partnerships
- Providing research-based service to public authorities
- Devising and conducting all types of teaching (lectures, seminars, practical courses, etc.) at all levels (BSc, MSc, PhD and further education)
- Supervising student projects at all levels (BSc, MSc, PhD and further education)
- Taking responsibility for the quality of one’s own teaching, including developing one’s own pedagogic and didactic skills
- Developing teaching content and teaching concepts/formats
- Maintaining a teaching portfolio
- Maintaining and developing study programmes
- Engaging in dialogue with advisory boards and external experts within education
- Maintaining focus on career perspectives in curriculum
- Teaching following the Principles of Teaching Related Tasks
- Advancing equity and supporting diversity among students
- Communicating research to the public
- Participating in university committees or boards (chairing and other functions)
- Engaging actively in university management and administration, including department, section and research group
- Contributing practically and academically to the strategy of the department
- Recruiting national and international students
- Exploring relevant partnerships, for example industry partners
- Chairing or being involved in (inter)national committees or boards
- Serving as reviewer for national and/or international scientific journals
- Serving as member of editorial/advisory boards of peer-reviewed scientific journals
- Serving as member of scientific academies or on academic consulting/research funding boards
- Engaging with high-profile expert committees or with relevant professional organisations/associations
- Engaging in equity and diversity issues in academia and among colleagues
- Contributing to policy making/membership of policy advisory bodies
Possible indicators
- Publication standing (peer reviewed, national, international, sole/lead author)
- H-index (or other indices as appropriate to discipline)
- Supervision of PhD students and younger researchers
- Invitations to review
- Invited keynotes
- External funding
- Patents issued
- Awards and prizes for research
- Translation and adoption of research
- Development of practices and approaches in the society, industries and in the public sector through research projects
- Student evaluations
- Student grades
- Originality and sustainability of curriculum redesign
- Educational outcomes
- Awards and prizes for teaching
- Graduate employment placements
- PhD student progression
- Contracts with public authorities
- Public partnerships and media appearances
- Contributions to vision and to development of the research group, the department and the university
- Contributions to learning and career development of self and others
- Provision of feedback to colleagues
- Leadership of projects and research group
- Membership of committees
- Mentoring
- Efforts advancing equity and diversity
Indicative performance levels for assistant, associate and full professors
Research
- Internationally competitive research
- Strong research outcome during or as a result of the PhD project
- Postdoc or similar experience
- A strong research potential
Academic teaching
- Experience with teaching and demonstrated teaching potential
Academic citizenship
- Some experience with outreach activities
Research
- Internationally recognised research
- Well-established academic skills and excellent performance (approaching or progressing towards international standards within the discipline)
- Proven ability to establish a personal research profile, for example by building an independent research group (primarily in experimental research)
- Substantial publication of research
- Proven ability to form and develop professional networks
- Engaging with external partners and stakeholders
Academic teaching
- Ample experience with various teaching and supervision formats, as well as high quality teaching performance documented by, for example, student evaluations
- Proven ability to develop and implement new pedagogic or didactic techniques
- Engaging with internal and external stakeholders to develop curricula
Academic citizenship
- Experience with outreach and dissemination to the public
- Motivation for and ability to take leadership in scientific, educational and departmental development
- A proven commitment to the social and professional life of the department and/or research group
- Undertaking services to the academic community
Research
- Outstanding performance of international standing (meeting or surpassing international standards within the discipline)
- Experience in building and developing research agendas and communities feeding into the overall strategic development of the department
- A sustained and sizable research output in international outlets – research quality is crucial, and some publications should be published in prestigious field journals or conference proceedings
- A solid track record of successful leadership of research projects or groups
- Successful completion of externally funded projects
- Presence in international networks and research associations
Academic teaching
- Outstanding teaching performance
- Ample experience with and good results of teaching at all levels, including PhD supervision
- Experience with mentoring of university teachers
- Leadership in study programme management and/or development
Academic citizenship
- Proven ability to innovate outreach and research dissemination and help others at the department to excel in such activities
- Performing leadership in university administration
- Memberships of committees of expert panels
- Leadership in developing and maintaining industrial and societal partnerships
- Leadership in services to the academic community