Evaluation of Medicine and Health Sciences (EVALMEDHELSE)

The main objective of the peer review is to assess the quality of Norwegian medical and health research, the framework conditions for the research and the relevance of the research to key areas of society. The evaluation will result in recommendations to the institutions, the Research Council and the ministries.

The Research Council evaluates Norwegian academic communities in order to create a solid and up-to-date knowledge base on Norwegian research and higher education in an international perspective. Such knowledge is useful for the institutions participating in the evaluation, for those of us who advise the authorities on how research should be developed further, and for the authorities that set goals and frameworks for research and higher education.

The Research Council evaluates Norwegian medicine and health research as the second evaluation of two in the life sciences. In 2022–2023, evaluation of life sciences was conducted.

This is happening now

The professional evaluation of medicine and health sciences is now in the third and final phase of the evaluation. The eight evaluation committees that will evaluate the 68 registered administrative units will start their work in mid-April 2024.

The members of the evaluation committees are international experts who possess broad scientific expertise, both professional competence and other qualifications such as experience in management, strategy and evaluation work and knowledge exchange.

A total of 31 men (60 %) and 21 women (40 %) from nine countries have been recruited to the evaluation committees. The committee members have been recruited on the basis of proposals from the research groups as well as the Research Council's own expert databases. All committee members are appointed by the Research Council.

The 68 administrative units are divided into eight sector-specific committees, four committees for administrative units belonging to the higher education sector, one committee for administrative units from the institute sector and three committees for the health trusts.  

Here you will find an overview of the members of the eight evaluation committees.

Digital interview meetings are planned between the registered administrative units and the evaluation committees in the autumn of 2024.

The chairs of the eight evaluation committees will prepare a national report for medical and health research. The report will be completed on 1 March 2025. No evaluation reports will be published until 2025.

The 68 administrative units have collectively registered 317 research groups with EVALMEDHELSE. The research groups are evaluated by 84 international experts divided into 18 expert panels.

The evaluation reports for the research groups will be included as data material for their associated administrative unit. Of the 84 recruited experts, 42 are men (50 %) and 42 women (50 %) are from 16 countries. The referees have been recruited on the basis of 1) proposals/input from the research groups themselves, 2) good experience with referees who have previously participated in an application processing panel/s in the Research Council, and 3) searches in relevant databases or similar.

The names of the expert panels will not be published until the evaluation reports for the administrative units are published (spring 2025).

From 15 March 2024 to 1 March 2025, the evaluation secretariat in Technopolis is responsible for the implementation of EVALMEDHEALTH.

How the evaluation works

The Research Council is initiating work on drawing up an evaluation protocol that describes roles, processes and responsibilities in the evaluation work. The protocol provides a framework for the formulation of evaluation mandates for each individual institution by specifying overall evaluation dimensions and common evaluation criteria. Autumn 2021 / spring 2022.

The goal of phase 1 is to formulate evaluation mandates for the individual institution. The institutions take the evaluation protocol as their starting point and adapt the mandate to the institution's own strategies and characteristics. Period: Spring 2023.

In phase 2, the institutions and the Research Council are working to collect data for the evaluation. The data are retrieved partly from national databases and partly locally. The Research Council will ensure analyses of the data basis that will be used to assess common mandatory evaluation criteria, while the institutions will collect other data that will be used as a basis for assessing their own strategies. Period: Spring-autumn 2023.

In phase 3, the evaluation committees will assess the data collected. The committees will prepare a report for each of the institutions that will be evaluated based on the evaluation mandate for each individual institution. In addition, the committee will write a summary assessment of the research. Period: 2024.

Follow-up of the evaluation

Each institution will be responsible for following up the recommendations that apply to its own institution. The Research Council will use the evaluation's assessments and recommendations in the development of funding instruments and in advising the ministries.

Experience with follow-up of the previous evaluation (pdf in Norwegian).