ongoing
MultiSocValWider societal value of research and consequences of its assessment: A multi-country and multi-method study
principal investigator / project leader
Ph.D. / Assistant Professor
applied linguist and philosopher
Full bio project value: PLN 6,923,291 (EUR 1,597,400)
SWPS University’s budget: PLN 932 (EUR 215,100)
funding source: Volkswagen Stiftung
discipline: linguistics
location: Warsaw
duration: 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028
This international and interdisciplinary project employs mixed-methods approach to examine national research evaluation initiatives and their effects on academic practice, aiming to develop a robust conceptual framework for understanding and assessing the societal value of research.
Funding source: Volkswagen Stiftung, granting scheme: Collaborative Research Project, grant no.: 9C738.
The project is aligned with the following UN Sustainable Development Goals no. 4 — Quality Education, 8 — Decent Work and Economic Growth, 9 — Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure, and 10 – Reduced Inequalities.
Project objectives
Governments worldwide are increasingly demonstrating a political commitment to research impact by investing in diverse evaluation initiatives across various scales. These efforts, however, are often characterized by a narrow pragmatism that overlooks the conceptualization of "markers" of research value and lacks a critical perspective on the broader role of research in society.
Consequently, there is an urgent need for comparative studies grounded in robust theoretical and empirical frameworks. Such research is essential to analyze the policy contexts and the tangible effects of national evaluation initiatives concerning research impact and its societal value.
The research team from SWPS University provides the consortium with expertise in social impact evaluation systems and qualitative research methods, specifically in data coding and interviewing.
To what end and in what manner do politicians invoke science in their public statements? What purpose does science serve in politics, and how is the value of science constructed within political discourse? Furthermore, does this influence how the value of science is conceptualized within academic discourse? We will address these questions by examining political discourse and research evaluation systems across four countries: Poland, Germany, South Africa, and Australia.
Wróblewska, Marta
Principal Investigator
Role in the Faculty
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Role in the Department
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Specialization
applied linguist and philosopher
First and last name
Marta Wróblewska
Academic degree or title
Ph.D. / Assistant Professor
Email
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Role in the Institute
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Institute
Institute of Humanities
Role in the Research Center
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Ph.D. / Assistant Professor Marta Wróblewskaapplied linguist and philosopher
Methodology
The project will deliver a multi-country and multi-method study. Methods will include:
- Desk research
- Large datasets analysis
- Interviews
- Bibliometrics
Consorcium members
The consorcium includes the following institutions:
- Humbold University of Berlin, Germany — project leader
- SWPS Unviersity, Poland
- Stellenbosch University, Germany
- The Unviersity of Melbourne, Australia
Practical application of results
Thanks to the international and interdisciplinary team, the project will:
- Produce a comprehensive, cross-national, and cross-disciplinary overview of research value and its relationship to science policy.
- Investigate how "valuable research" is defined and identify the resulting tensions within and between different national contexts.
- Compare the effects of various impact-based research evaluation initiatives on scholarly activity and academic status across countries.
- Develop an integrated conceptual framework of research value designed to improve both science policy and practice.
- Advance stakeholder understanding of the consequences of research impact assessment to inform and enhance future evaluation models.