General introduction

This page contains information regarding the institutional evaluation procedures required for Romanian research units or institutions to gain access to public institutional research funds.

As the procedure unfolds, the pages accessible from the menu on the left side of this page will provide access to the document submission platform (for institutions) and the evaluation report submission platform (for the expert evaluators) as well as all necessary details regarding the evaluation process.

• Platformă depunere online pentru certificare 2011 (certificare2011.research.ro)
• Evaluator's corner
• For Institutions
• Evaluation Programme
• Final Reports

Background information

The Romanian system is composed of several main types of research institutions: National Institutes, Universities, Institutes of the Romanian Academy and of the branch academies, other public research institutions, private non-profit research institutions and private for-profit research institutions. Of these categories, all but the last (for-profit institutions) are eligible to receive institutional research funds. However, in order to gain access to the funds, the institutions must first be evaluated and classified. There are 5 classification levels: A+, A, A-, B and C and only the top 3 open access to funding. Moreover, in the case of National Institutes, classification on the bottom levels, B or C, incurs the loss of National Institute status, leading to the reorganization of the institute (merger, takeover, privatization, liquidation, etc.).

The evaluation process

The evaluation process is coordinated by the Advisory Council for Research, Development and Innovation. The Advisory Council has several workgroups tasked with the oversight and coordination of the evaluation process, for each scientific field:

1.      Natural Sciences (mathematics, physics, chemistry, materials science)

2.      Life science (biology, ecology, biotechnology)

3.      Medicine

4.      Computer science and communications

5.      Engineering sciences

6.      Earth sciences

7.      Agriculture and food science

8.      Social sciences and humanities

You may consult the member list of the Advisory Council and its regulation.

For each institution being evaluated the corresponding workgroup proposes and the Advisory Council approves a team of at least 5 expert evaluators, of which more than half must be affiliated to institutions outside of Romania. Each team is accompanied by a representative of the Advisory Council, who assists them during the evaluation process and the visit. After the visit the team of evaluators will grade the institution on 5 criteria, and will elaborate a report containing the main findings and recommended actions. A detailed presentation of the evaluation procedure, in English, is available on the Evaluators’ page accessible from the menu on the left side. This information will also be presented to the experts by the representative of the Advisory Council, upon arrival for the visit, but it is recommended that experts familiarize themselves with the procedure before the date of the visit.

Mandatory versus on-demand evaluations

According to Government Ordinance nr. 57/2002, with the subsequent modifications, institutions that are evaluated fall into two categories: 

• institutions that undergo mandatory periodic evaluations (no fee required)
  • national institutes for research and development (INCD);
  • institutes subordinate to the Romanian Academy or the branch academies;
  • other research centers organised as public institutions;
  • research centers created through international treaties or agreements.

• institutions that may be evaluated on demand (subject to an evaluation fee)
  • research units without legal personality, organised within public or private universities, in accordance with the university Chart;
  • research centers with legal personality, non-profit, including those declared of public utility ("de utilitate publică");
  • research centers or units organised within companies or enterprises, public or private;

A research center without a legal personality may be considered a "research unit" and may be evaluated if it satisfies the following conditions:

• it is organised within an entity with legal personality, according to the statute and regulations which apply to that entity;
• it is created and organised through a decision of the management of the entity with legal personality;
• has a distinct mission, internal regulation and title within the entity with legal personality;
• has its own staff and management;
• its financial accounts are distinct and recorded separately from the other accounts of the entity with legal personality, so that all financial fluxes may be independently traced to and from the research center without a legal personality.

Timeline

For the first wave of institutional evaluations, due to logistical constraints, the evaluations will happen in two phases: within the first phase will be evaluated the national research institutes (INCD) starting in November 2011, while all other mandatory evaluations, as well as the on-demand evaluations will begin in February 2012.

Each classification is accorded for a period of time which may be 5 years for A+ entities, 4 years for A entities, and 2 or 3 years for A- entities. All recipients remain eligible for the corresponding institutional funding mechanisms only for the period of validity of the classification.

Institutional funding mechanisms

Two types of institutional funding mechanisms hinge on the process of evaluation and classification:

• the basic institutional funding, partially supporting the basic infrastructure of the centers (buildings, land, large equipment, staff and consumables); beneficiaries include national institutes (INCD) and other public institutions that are not recipients of other public institutional funding, which have been classified A+, A or A-.
• the complementary institutional funding, rewarding a set of output indicators; beneficiaries include any non-profit public or private research entities, which have been classified A+, A or A-.