evaluation

Evaluation is the assessment of the scientific activity conducted within disciplines carried out at a university. The goal of the evaluation is to determine the position of Polish science in the national and international stage with regards to specific scientific and artistic disciplines. The category assigned influences the position of a given unit within the higher education system in Poland, the public funding amount provided, the possibility to run general academic studies, the authorisation to operate doctoral schools and to confer academic degrees and titles (the authorisation to grant doctorates and to confer post-doc titles is given to disciplines with a B+ category and higher).

For the first time, scientific disciplines were the subject of the evaluation instead of faculties. In the case of the University of Silesia, 25 disciplines within humanities, engineering and technology, social, exact, natural sciences, theology, and art were considered. Scientific categories are awarded to individual disciplines: A+, A, B+, B or C. The university may undergo evaluation with regards to the specific scientific or artistic discipline if the number of employees within the discipline is equal or greater than 12. Although disciplines are the subject of the evaluation process, the assessment takes into consideration the individual achievements of employees.

The evaluation was carried out on the basis of the three following criteria weighted differently depending on the discipline:

scientific or artistic level of the activity (publications);
financial results of research and development works (grants, research services, commercialisation);
social and economic impact.

The evaluation concerned the achievements of scientists over the last five years (2017-2021).

Number of disciplines by category

3	disciplines with A+ category: political science and public administration, literary studies, music
9	disciplines with A category: culture and religion studies, arts studies, law, chemical sciences, physical sciences, earth and related environmental sciences, film and theatre, and theology
13	disciplines with B+ category: philosophy, history, linguistics, biomedical engineering, materials engineering, social and economic geography and spatial management, communication and media studies, sociology, psychology, computer science, mathematics, biological sciences, fine arts and art conservation