ANECA holds a workshop on the evaluation of six-year service periods for contract teaching staff with regional quality agencies

On July 8, the headquarters of the National Agency for Quality Assessment and Accreditation (ANECA) hosted a workshop organized by the Spanish Network of University Quality Agencies (REACU) dedicated to preparing for the 2026 call for evaluations of the research activity of tenured university faculty. The meeting was attended by representatives from all the regional quality agencies that are part of the network, with the aim of sharing experiences, coordinating procedures, and making progress toward developing a harmonized evaluation model.

The evaluation of research activity, commonly known as “six-year research evaluations,” is one of the longest-running academic evaluation programs in the Spanish university system (more than 35 years) and consists of evaluating research activity in six-year increments to obtain salary recognition, and, where applicable, for academic promotion, in accordance with the rules established for civil servants by Royal Decree 1086/1989, of August 28, and the Order of December 2, 1994.

The entry into force of Organic Law 2/2023, of March 22, on the University System (LOSU) modified the legal framework regarding the evaluation of university faculty. Under this new framework, ANECA is responsible for evaluating the research activity of tenured faculty, while the responsibility for evaluating contract faculty is shared between ANECA and the regional quality agencies. In regions that have their own regional agency, the six-year evaluation periods for contract faculty must be conducted by the corresponding regional agency. ANECA, through the National Commission for the Evaluation of Research Activity (CNEAI), will continue to evaluate the six-year evaluation cycles of contract faculty in the so-called “ANECA Territory,” where there is no designated regional agency.

During the event, ANECA shared with the regional agencies the experience CNEAI has accumulated over more than three decades of evaluating research activity. The meeting provided an opportunity to analyze methodological, organizational, and technical aspects related to the upcoming 2026 call for applications, as well as to make progress on coordination mechanisms that facilitate the application of common criteria and the recognition of results throughout the country.

The joint work carried out by REACU aims to ensure that six-year periods evaluated positively by any of the agencies retain their validity and recognition throughout the professional careers of teaching and research staff, both in cases of mobility between universities or autonomous communities and in cases of subsequent entry into the civil service teaching corps.

This working meeting at ANECA serves as the starting point for building an evaluation system that guarantees common standards of quality and legal certainty for all university faculty employed under contract within the framework of the LOSU.