The political sciences and public administration with the highest grade A+, 8 disciplines with a grade A – these are selected results of the evaluation of the University of Silesia carried out by the Science Evaluation Committee. The commitee assessed researchers’ achievements over a five-year period (2017–2021).
- Category A+ was granted to: political sciences and public administration.
- Category A was granted to: literary studies, culture and religion studies, arts studies, law, chemical sciences, physical sciences, film and theatre, and music..
- Category B+ was granted to: philosophy, history, linguistics, biomedical engineering, materials engineering, social and economic geography and spatial management, communication and media studies, education, psychology, informatyka, mathematics, biological sciences, earth and related environmental sciences, theology.
- Category B was granted to: sociology, fine arts and art conservation.
Evaluation is an assessment of scientific activity carried out among the disciplines practiced at the university. For the first time, the subjects of evaluation were not faculties, but scientific disciplines. In the case of the University of Silesia, 25 disciplines were taken into account, in the field of humanities, engineering and technical sciences, social sciences, natural sciences, theology, and art. Individual disciplines are assigned the following scientific categories: A+, A, B+, B or C. The university is entitled to undergo evaluation in a specific scientific or artistic discipline, if the number of employees of the discipline is more than 11. Although formally the process concerns disciplines, the individual performance of employees is taken into account as well. In a letter to employees of the University of Silesia, the Rector Prof. Ryszard Koziołek notes:
I congratulate and thank each and every one of you individually, because this evaluation rewarded the disciplines in which every single researcher achieved high evaluation results.
The evaluation was carried out taking into account three criteria the importance of which varies depending on the field:
- level of conducted scientific or artistic activity (publications);
- financial results of scientific research and development works (grants, research services, commercialisation);
- impact of scientific activity on the functioning of society and the economy.
The importance of the first criterion was pointed out by the Vice-Rector for Research and Finance, Prof. Michał Daszykowski:
In recent years, more and more disciplines have been publishing internationally, and proudly publish research results in prestigious journals and publishing houses. This trend is clearly visible in the results of the first criterion for the disciplines evaluated at the University of Silesia. It is worth noting that regardless of the discipline, it has the greatest impact on the final assessment. The biggest challenges are the second and third criteria, as long as the evaluation principles remain at least similar to the current ones.
The aim of evaluation is to define the position of Polish science on the national and international arena in individual scientific and artistic disciplines. The given category determines the position of a given unit in the higher education system in Poland, the amount of funds transferred from the state budget, the possibility of conducting general-academic studies, the right to run doctoral schools and award academic degrees and titles (the right to doctorate and award habilitation is granted to disciplines with categories B+ and higher). In the case of disciplines, the results of which were very close to the higher catgeory, their representatives will be able to appeal against the minister’s decision.
The evaluation process is carried out in accordance with the Regulation of the Minister of Science and Higher Education of 22 February 2019 on the evaluation of the quality of scientific activity (Journal of Laws of 2019, item 392, as amended).
