Excellent results for the University of Trento based on the research quality assessment (VQR) conducted by the national Agency for the evaluation of universities and research institutes - ANVUR: UniTrento ranks first for the quality of scientific outputs in its category (universities have been placed in one of four groups based on the number of publications). The news has just been released by ANVUR, which announced the results of the latest VQR during a press conference in Rome. The assessment covered the publications and third mission case studies – projects that have had a significant impact on society – in the five-year period 2015-2019. The survey examined 134 research institutions, including 98 state and non-state universities. Anvur provided the average score (R) of each institution.
This is an important assessment because, besides providing a picture of Italian research, the results of the VQR will be used by the Ministry of University and research, from 2022, to allocate 80% of the Ordinary Financing Fund (FFO) that is distributed based on merit, and to identify the departments of Italian state universities that will be able to compete to obtain extraordinary funding to support a five-year research and development project.
The results achieved by the University of Trento. UniTrento participated with 666 accredited professors and researchers who submitted 1,808 research outputs and 7 third mission study cases.
State universities were divided into four quartiles based on the number of submitted outputs. With regard to the outputs submitted by permanent and new researchers, the University of Trento was grouped together with 14 other universities Napoli Parthenope, Venezia Cà Foscari, Ferrara, Bergamo, Marche, Piemonte orientale, Brescia, Chieti e Pescara, Insubria, l’Aquila, Foggia, Salento, Sassari, Basilicata.
The University of Trento ranked first in its quartile for the quality of research outputs by both permanent researchers and new researchers or researchers who have achieved a career advancement.
This news was welcomed by Rector Flavio Deflorian: "Our University continues to grow, this time thanks to our young researchers, the new ones and those who have had career advancements, who have contributed to further increase the quality of scientific outputs with their publications. This confirms the effectiveness of the recruitment policies adopted in recent years by the various departments of the University. We look forward to further analysis in the coming weeks when more data will be available".
For the other profiles (PhDs and third mission), in the general ranking the University of Trento is respectively in the eighth place for profile C (PhD) and twentieth for profile D (third mission).
The VQR evaluation work started in November 2020 and ended in February 2022. The data are available in the press release and in the materials published by Anvur on its website and attached.