IRDE 2027

The 2027 evaluation is built around four value areas that together define the framework for a high-quality and sustainable research environment at Masaryk University. These values express what quality means in practice and can be framed through two questions: What truly matters in research and in the research environment? What should a motivating research environment look like for researchers at all stages of their professional lives?

• Sustainable Research Strategies – long-term direction, sustainability, and alignment between the strategies of individual units, faculties, and the University.

• Research Excellence and Diversity – the quality and development of research, while respecting disciplinary differences and diverse forms of high-quality research outputs.

• Research Impact and Societal Relevance – the significance of research for the academic community, society, public policy, culture, the economy, and other areas.

• Healthy Research Culture and Integrity – an environment that supports integrity, ethics, talent development, collaboration, and responsible research assessment.

These values are reflected in both the structure of the self-evaluation and the work of the evaluation panels.

IRDE 2027 focuses on the expert, formative evaluation of the research activities, research environment, and future direction of the evaluated units. Through independent feedback from international evaluation panels, it aims to support their further development and contribute to a healthy research culture and an environment conducive to high-quality and excellent research and doctoral education.

The evaluation therefore considers not only past performance, but also how the unit reflects on its future direction, which values and priorities it considers important, and how it responds to developments in its discipline. Evaluators are expected to identify key strengths, areas for further development, and opportunities for the future. In doing so, they take into account disciplinary specificities, the notion of quality within the relevant discipline or disciplines, the unit’s strategic context, and evidence of its past performance.

The purpose of the evaluation is not to rank diverse research units and doctoral degree programmes against a single set of indicators or a common league table. Instead, the evaluation framework allows each unit to be assessed within its own disciplinary and institutional context and supports the formulation of recommendations that can inform its further strategic development.

The Internal Evaluation Board of Masaryk University plays an important role in IRDE 2027, particularly in the evaluation of doctoral degree programmes. Key documents for the evaluation of doctoral programmes, including the Self-Evaluation Report and Evaluation Report templates, were approved by the Board.

Representatives of the Internal Evaluation Board participate in on-site visits, giving them direct insight into the evaluation process and into discussions between evaluators, programme guarantors, and other participants. The individual visits are subsequently reflected on at meetings of the Board. Three ambassadors have been appointed to take part in the on-site visits: doc. PharmDr. Kateřina Kubová, Ph.D., doc. PhDr. Jiří Němec, Ph.D., and doc. Mgr. Robert Vysoký, Ph.D.

The results of IRDE provide the Internal Evaluation Board with one of the sources of evidence used to assess the quality and further development of doctoral degree programmes and to inform subsequent internal quality assurance and accreditation processes. The Board also monitors how individual programmes respond to the evaluation findings and how they work with the recommendations of the evaluation panels.

The evaluation coordinator is the main contact person for evaluated units and evaluators at the faculty. They oversee the organisation of the evaluation, monitor deadlines, coordinate the preparation of supporting materials, and organise the on-site visit, with methodological support provided by the MU Rector’s Office.