AERES maintains its evaluation schedule for the group B.
The French Evaluation Agency for Research and Higher Education salutes the decision of the French minister of Research and Higher Education to extend the duration of contracts to 5 years. This measure fully matches LRU law policy (French law on the freedoms and responsibilities of universities) and will allow institutions developing their strategies on a longer term.
It also meets the requirement to lighten the pace of evaluations for a scientific community that is more and more consulted for bids and expert reports. Since the implementation details regarding the switch to five years have not yet been precisely set for the current group, the Agency shall maintain its initial schedule for the previous group B for the concerned regions of Aix-Marseille, Amiens, Besançon, Caen, Clermont-Ferrand, Dijon, Limoges, Nantes, Nice, Orléans-Tours, Poitiers, Reims, Rennes, Rouen, as well as for institutions of New Caledonia and French Polynesia.
AERES asks the Conférence des présidents d’université (French Association of University Rectors), the research bodies and the Ministry to precise as fast as possible the span of the 5 upcoming groups so that the next evaluation campaign may occur within conditions that will satisfy all the concerned bodies.
