Information services provider Thomson Reuters, US, and the Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (ISTIC) jointly hosted an International University Research Evaluation Summit and Scientometrics Research Workshop in Beijing on June 25, 2010. The workshop was organised with the objective of promoting international exchange and best practices in research performance evaluation and research excellence.
ISTIC is China's national research institution of scientific and technical information. The summit and workshop, organised by the ISTIC-Thomson Reuters Joint Lab for Scientometrics Research, aimed to encourage greater exchange between China's higher education administrators and academic community and their international counterparts on best practices and issues in the application of quantitative methodology in research performance evaluation, such as those used in global university rankings.
About 350 university administrators, research directors and librarians attended the event. The summit was officially opened by Zheng Guoan, Deputy Secretary-General of the Ministry of Science & Technology of China, and Mike Boswood, CEO of the Healthcare & Science business of Thomson Reuters. Panel of speakers included Wu Yishan, Chief Engineer of ISTIC; Professor Liu Niancai, Dean of Graduate School of Education, Shanghai Jiaotong University; Phil Baty, deputy editor of Times Higher Education; Dr. Jonathan Adams, director of research evaluation, Thomson Reuters; and Professor Jiang Guohua, Senior Scientometrician.
Among the main topics discussed were the history, methodology and influence of the Times Higher Education World University Rankings; scientific evaluation methodologies and empirical research on massive data analysis; scientometrics development in China and its impact on research evaluation and university ranking; and evidence-based assessment of research performance. Dr. Adams also discussed the Thomson Reuters Global Institutional Profiles Project and its significance for research administrators.
The ISTIC-Thomson Reuters Joint Lab for Scientometrics Research also announced the eight research directions that would guide the application criteria for its 2010 joint lab funding scheme. Details would be made known in due course so that interested applicants can apply for the funding.
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