Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin - RMZ

Principal Investigator: Dr. Stephan Gauch

Researcher: Jacqueline Sachse, Nikita Sorgatz, Lilly Bucksteeg, Amy Michelle Quinn, Beatrice Yefimov

Many governments are showing a political commitment to research impact in their respective environments by investing in research evaluation initiatives at different scales. Often the initiatives are characterised by pragmatism, with little attention to underlying value judgements. This creates an urgent need for comparative work with a strong theoretical and empirical basis to study the effects of national evaluation initiatives around impact and societal value. The project will address this need through a multi-country and multi-method study of research evaluation initiatives in Germany, Australia, the United Kingdom, Poland and South Africa. Bringing together an international and interdisciplinary team, the project seeks to (1) produce a comprehensive cross-national and cross-disciplinary overview of research systems with regard to scientific and societal value;  (2) investigate what is considered worthwhile research within and between countries; (3) compare the effects of different research evaluation initiatives around impact on research practice in different countries; (4) develop an integrated conceptual framework of scientific and societal value to improve science policy and science practice; and (5) advance stakeholders' understanding of the effects of research impact assessment for better future evaluation.

Joint project with:

Kate Williams, The University of Melbourne (Co-Lead)

Marta Wróblewska, SWPS University

Nelius Boshoff, Stellenbosch University

+++ Job posting for a student assistant +++

We are looking to hire a student assistant starting July 01, 2026 (40 hours per month, remuneration €15.08 per hour, limited to 24 months).

Application deadline: May 11th, 2026

https://hu.berlin/multisocval-shk-2026

We offer:

• Flexible working hours
• Flexible home office / remote working options
• Insight into international and interdisciplinary project work with partners from Australia, Poland and South Africa
• Opportunity to write a thesis on project topics or using project data
• Opportunity to contribute your own research interests

Your tasks:

• Support in the qualitative discourse and content analysis of parliamentary debates, policy documents and expert discourses on societal impact
• Support in conducting and analyzing qualitative interviews (developing interview guide, recruiting participants, coding with MaxQDA)

Applications preferably by e-mail in one PDF file to stephan.gauch@hu-berlin.de.

Official job posting: https://hu.berlin/multisocval-shk-2026

++++++

supported by