ANECA participates in international workshop on Narrative CVs

On September, 18, ANECA took part in the workshop Everything we (think we) know about Narrative CVs, held at the University of Cambridge and supported by the UKRI Metascience Fund. The event brought together funding organisations, evaluation agencies, research centres and universities to reflect on the challenges and outcomes of introducing narrative CVs into research assessment processes.

Discussions addressed key issues such as the diversity of formats — from more structured approaches to more open ones —, potential challenges related to biases in language use, and the importance of providing clear and inclusive guidance both for applicants and for evaluators. Participants also underlined the need to advance training and continuous evaluation of these tools to ensure that narrative CVs achieve their objectives of recognising diverse contributions, supporting equality and inclusion, and fostering a more qualitative research assessment culture.

Within the broader reform of research assessment and academic career evaluation, it was stressed that the methodological change implied by the introduction of the narrative CV must be accompanied by institutional support, communication, training, resources and other tools that can ensure the reform is sustainable and long-lasting.

ANECA’s contribution focused on the agency’s own experience, where narrative elements have already been incorporated into national evaluation frameworks. Participation in this event highlights the value of international collaboration, linking policymaking with research on evaluation reform.

The conclusions of the workshop will directly inform ANECA’s work within the CoARA Boost project (PEI3AC), which will explore the way in which innovative evaluation approaches affect decisions of reviewers and strengthen Spain’s role in building responsible research assessment in Europe.