Research Observatory

The Academic Senate and the Board of Administrators (with resolutions of 14 and 30 March 2018) established the Research Observatory to promote the maintenance and continuous improvement of recognized levels of research quality at the University.

The competences and composition of the Observatory are governed by the Regulations of the Research Observatory of the University of Florence.

The Observatory collects and analyzes, according to parameters recognized by the national and international scientific community and on the basis of evaluation models used in the most qualified scientific environments, the information relating to the results obtained by the University of Florence in the various research areas.

It examines the results of national research evaluation exercises, comparing those of the University with the national reality; proposes criteria and methodologies for the qualitative and quantitative evaluation of the products and research activities carried out at the University, taking into account the specificities of the different areas; analyzes the results of research at the level of Departments, groups and scientific-disciplinary sectors; analyzes the results of PhD courses; formulates proposals on the criteria for evaluating research for the allocation of resources.

The Observatory processes the information present in institutional archives and external databases and produces acts and documents, to disseminate the results of the analyses and offer the University government and research structures useful knowledge elements to improve research development strategies and the quality of results.

The Observatory collaborates with the Quality Assurance Committee and the Evaluation Unit, respecting each other's competences, to promote the culture of self-assessment and continuous improvement. 

The Observatory is composed of 10 members, chosen from among the professors and researchers of the University with a high scientific profile and experience in research evaluation, representative of the various research areas present in the University and chosen from the disciplinary groupings identified by the European Research Council (ERC) sectors.