CoARA Boost CF2 - ARISE - Insights from A Focus Group on Core Research Values

This document presents insights from the first focus group conducted within the Horizon Europe CoARA Boost project Advancing Research Assessment in Serbia: A Pilot Project for the Institute of Economic Sciences (ARISE). The focus group aimed to identify and prioritise core research values that should guide the future development of research assessment at the Institute of Economic Sciences (IES). The discussion engaged researchers from different career stages and departments, ensuring a broad and inclusive institutional perspective. Using a structured qualitative approach, the focus group explored understandings of research quality, limitations of existing assessment practices, under-recognised forms of contribution, the societal role of research, teamwork and collaboration, mentoring, and the importance of departmental development and strategic orientation. The focus group findings reveal a significant gap between values recognised in research practice and those formally captured by existing assessment systems. These insights provided an empirical basis for the co-creation and design of the ARISE Research Assessment Model, supporting a shift towards a more contextualised, qualitative, and development-oriented approach to research assessment aligned with CoARA committments.