Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU) has joined 13 European partners for the launch of ARION- Advancing Research Assesement through integrated Open practices and Narrative, a 36-month Horizon Europe project designed to transform how academic research and careers are evaluated.
Coordinated by OpenAIRE, the initiative aims to translate Responsible Research Assessment (RRA) commitments into daily practice across European universities.
While international agreements like CoARA and DORA promote qualitative and open evaluation, embedding these principles into daily academic workflows remains complex. ARION addresses this gap by developing, testing, and scaling practical solutions across four key focus areas:
- Narrative CVs to allow researchers to contextualize diverse achievements beyond simple publication counts.
- Open Infrastructure-enabled Profiles that make a broader range of research outputs visible.
- Institutional Model Policies integrated into existing governance structures.
- HR Toolkits designed to modernize recruitment and career progression protocols.
VU Amsterdam will act as one of eight primary pilot sites and a Living Lab for testing these new approaches. Over the coming months, the University Library (UB) Amsterdam will map institutional readiness to prepare for local pilot testing, placing the university and its library at the forefront of European research assessment reform.
For more information contact:
Abeer Pervaiz
Research Project Manager
Sander Bosch
Open Science Coordinator