EXERCISE OF EVALUATION OF ITALIAN RESEARCH FOR THE YEARS 2001-2003    (VTR)

For some time now and in many countries, strategies, procedures and instruments to evaluate research are object of public interest, and their application is normal practice. The Ministerial Order n° 2206 on December 16th, 2003 regulated the first Exercise of Evaluation of Italian Research for the years 2001-2003 (2001-2003 VTR). The Exercise was entrusted to the Italian National Committee for Research Evaluation (CIVR), and was aimed at evaluating the scientific performance of 77 universities (both State and non State), 12 State research institutions and 13 other research institutions (these latter partecipated willingly).

The 2001-2003 VTR has directly involved the 102 participating Structures. In fact, they were asked to autonomously select a pre-set number of research products outputted during 2001-2003. Structures were also asked to submit the above products on-line (considering the specificity of each of them) to one of the 20 Area Panels, which were the 14 standard scientific Areas of the Italian National University Council (CUN), together with 6 Special Areas, indicated by the CIVR.

The relative Panel of Area 03 to Sciences Chemistries has inserted the University of Siena - Area of Chemistry - among the medium structures, having had introduced 15 products (the range was between 10 and 24 products). The result has been medium good, having obtained a value of rating of the 0.81 (maximum value 1) that it places the Senese Athenaeum to 10° the place on national plan and attributing the excellence to 33% of the scientific products analyzes to you.

VAI PROJECT 

The VAI Project (Evaluation of the University Institutional Activities: Didactics and Research) has been promoted by the University of Siena within the evaluation activities of the quality of the university services. It has been the first case in Italy of integrated evaluation of didactics and research, of application of Campus One methodology to all courses of the sienese University and of quantitative and qualitative evaluation of all the research structures. 

Within the three years of the project performance (2002-2004),  3 phases have been defined. As a result of a self-evaluation report prepared by each scientific structure, an Audit Team - composed of experts exterior to the University - has carried out an inspection to the centre of the structure, in order to verify what declared in the report. As a result of that, the Audit Team has written up a relation expressing a qualitative judgment of comparison with similar structures in the EU Countries.

According to the Audit Team evaluation, the Department of Chemistry of Siena has been inserted in the Category A (Top Category), both for the research activity, judged of optimal scientific level, and for the impact on the branch to national and international level.