Research evaluation at the National Research Council of Italy: A survey of decision-makers

This paper investigates the evaluation of R&D at the National Research Council of Italy (CNR) on the basis of the results of interviews with the Presidents of National Advisory Committees and the Directors of the Mission-Oriented Projects. The results show that the evaluation process is based, to the extent to which it is performed, almost exclusively on scientific criteria, that there is a lack of standardised methodologies and only modest attention is paid to the evaluation of the social and economic impact of research activities. At the same time Presidents and Directors appear to be conscious of the Italian backwardness in this field and of the need to increase research evaluation in order to move towards a more efficient and effective use of resources. Copyright , Beech Tree Publishing.