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Ten scientific sectors on the national podium, an exceptional improvement in the impact on the territory and widespread growth in almost all research areas. These are the most significant results achieved by the University of Calabria in the latest Research Quality Assessment (VQR) exercise.
The analysis, published by the National Agency for the Evaluation of the University and Research System (ANVUR) on 132 Italian institutions, was officially presented today during a press conference held in the Press Room of the «B. Andreatta.” The data presented provide a snapshot of significant growth for the University of Calabria. UniCal consolidates its positive trend by recording an improvement – across all areas – in the quality of scientific publications; it also records clear progress in skills enhancement activities.
Specifically, the Quality of research products indicator shows growth driven both by permanent staff (the indicator rises from 0.939 to 0.968) and by recruitment policies (growing from 0.959 to 0.965), for an overall aggregate figure in progress from 0.93 to 0.967. A “slight and physiological” decline was recorded only in the Products of research doctors, which went from 1.01 to 0.987, although remaining at very high absolute values and in line with the national average. The most marked leap forward instead concerns the valorisation of skills and the Third Mission, where the case study indicator went from an initial 0.81 to an excellent 0.96, marking an exceptional increase. The VQR therefore rewarded UniCal’s ability to transform knowledge into usefulness for the socio-economic fabric: out of nine case studies presented by the University, six obtained the “excellent” rating, confirming the University’s role as a solid driver of territorial development.
The detailed analysis highlights the strong multidisciplinary vocation of the university, which records a qualified presence in 16 of the 17 areas defined by the National University Council, leaving only the area of Agricultural and Veterinary Sciences uncovered. The University boasts four departments with performances above the national average: Civil Engineering (DINCi), Mechanical, Energy and Management Engineering (DIMEG), Computer Engineering, Modelling, Electronics and Systems (DIMES) and Mathematics and Computer Science (DeMaCS). Compared to the previous cycle, 12 out of 16 areas show a stable or growing quality indicator. Furthermore, 29 scientific-disciplinary sectors achieved a relative quality higher than or equal to the national average. National excellence: 10 sectors on the podium. A particularly important result is represented by the positioning of 10 sectors or scientific-disciplinary groups in the first three positions of the absolute rankings at national level, distinguished by research products judged largely excellent. In first place at a national level were the sectors of Construction Science of the DINCi, Chemical Fundamentals of Technologies of the Department of Environmental Engineering (DIAm) and Industrial Engineering Design and Methods of DIMEG. The performance of the Information Processing Systems sector is also particularly significant, to which 39 researchers belong (34 DIMES and other colleagues distributed between DiCES, DISPeS, DINCi and DIMEG) and which ranks second overall in Italy, and first place in the ranking that considers research groups with large numbers.
Second national place also went to DIMEG’s Mechanical Industrial Plants, DIMEG’s Mechanical Design and Construction of Machines (which also achieved national primacy in the reference dimensional quartile ranking), Mineral Georesources and Mineralogical-Petrographic Applications for the Environment and Cultural Heritage, which includes researchers from DiBEST and DiSU, and Sociology of Political Phenomena, made up of researchers from DISPeS and DiCES. Instead, Biochemistry, which includes researchers from DiBEST and DFSSN (which also obtained first place in Italy in its own size category), and the Archives, Bibliography and Librarianship sector of DiCES took third place on the podium.
«The analysis conducted by Anvur – concluded the Rector Gianluigi Greco – constitutes the main tool for public evaluation of research in Italy. It is a monitoring of unquestionable authority and absolute national importance, fundamental for measuring the scientific value of academic activities and guiding future growth policies. This last evaluation tells us about a transversal growth of UniCal, the result of a collective effort that has seen most of the areas improve their performance in an overall and widespread advancement. Today we wanted to celebrate this milestone by directly involving some representatives of the scientific-disciplinary sectors who have achieved the most visible results: their success is not the fruit of isolated exploits, but the culmination of a daily commitment fueled by an authentic passion for research and knowledge. It is precisely these values, the silent dedication, the sacrifice and the enthusiasm of our researchers that make the difference; behind the excellent data – he concludes – there are first of all people who firmly believe in the future of our territory and of the new generations”.
Occhiuto, Calabrian universities leverage for development
«I read with great satisfaction the data released by the National Agency for the Evaluation of the University and Research System (Anvur). Ten scientific-disciplinary sectors of the University of Calabria on the national podium, the consolidated leadership of the Magna Graecia University in the biomedical and health sciences, the qualified participation of the Mediterranean University in the territory’s research activities. These are results that tell the story of the serious and daily work of hundreds of researchers from our universities, in Cosenza, Catanzaro and Reggio Calabria.” This is what Roberto Occhiuto, president of the Calabria Region, says. «What AlmaLaurea data has been telling us for some time now is confirmed – says Occhiuto -: our university centers are excellences that train skills, generate value and return concrete opportunities to the territory. University and research remain a strategic lever for the development of Calabria. My congratulations to rector Greco, rector Cuda and rector Zimbalatti, and to all the Calabrian university communities – he concludes – who make goals like these possible”.