Project Supervisor – Alibekova Gulnaz Zhanatovna – PhD, Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Economics of the Committee of Science of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan
ORCID Profile: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3498-7926
Scopus Profile: https://www.scopus.com/authid/detail.uri?authorId=57190415127
WoS Profile: https://www.webofscience.com/wos/author/record/430653
The project aims to develop a balanced approach to evaluating scientific research and develop mechanisms for its implementation, as well as recommendations on the policy of science development and its evaluation in Kazakhstan.
Project objectives:
Stage 1, 2023 – Research and systematise the existing theoretical and methodological approaches to assessing the effectiveness of scientific research. Explore modern models for evaluating scientific research in various fields of knowledge. Summarise foreign experience in evaluating scientific activity.
Stage 2, 2024 – Retrospective analysis and assessment of the development of science in Kazakhstan: problems, trends, track effect. To study the factors of formation and development of a scientific career in the Republic of Kazakhstan. To investigate the perception of the criteria for evaluating scientific activity by researchers.
Stage 3, 2025 – Identify the problems and prospects of the existing scientific research evaluation system. Develop a balanced approach to evaluating scientific research, including an adaptive methodology for evaluating scientific research and activity. Development of policy recommendations for developing and evaluating scientific research in Kazakhstan. Development of the concept of proactive evaluation of scientific personnel.
Expected results:
Stage 1, 2023 – Researched and systematised the existing theoretical, methodological and practical approaches, as well as modern models for evaluating the effectiveness of scientific research in various fields of knowledge; generalised foreign experience in evaluating scientific activity.
Stage 2, 2024 – A systematic assessment of the problems, trends and prospects for the development of science in Kazakhstan is given. The perception of the criteria for evaluating scientific activity and the factors of formation and development of a scientific career in the Republic of Kazakhstan by conducting sociological research have been studied. The effect of the rut in the choice of a scientific career was assessed.
Stage 3, 2025 – The problems and prospects of the existing system for evaluating scientific research are identified. A comprehensive, balanced approach has been developed for evaluating scientific research and policy recommendations for developing and evaluating scientific research in Kazakhstan. The concept of proactive evaluation of scientific personnel has been created.
Significance of the project:
The research outcomes will contribute to international initiatives like DORA (2013), the Leiden Manifesto (2015), and the Metric Tide (2015), to the growing global debate on the challenges of using scientometric indicators to assess scientific research. The Tools to Advance Research Assessment (TARA) project is an international project aimed at developing new policies and methods for assessing research careers. DORA administers the TARA project in collaboration with the Center for Science and Technology Research at Leiden University in the Netherlands and the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago. The developments from this application will complement and expand DORA’s geographic reach to include Kazakhstan and eventually Central Asia countries.
Results for 2023:
The concept of effectiveness, and in particular, the effectiveness of scientific research, is investigated. The problems of evaluating the effectiveness of scientific research and development are identified. Two concepts of efficiency assessment—resource-based and cost-based—are singled out. Objective (quantitative) and subjective (expert) approaches to assessing the effectiveness of scientific research are defined. The problems of measuring efficiency in research activities, particularly in basic and applied sciences, have been analyzed.
The models for assessing scientific research in Kazakhstan and foreign countries have been studied. A multi-stage mechanism for evaluating scientific research projects and their results was analyzed. It was found that in Kazakhstan and other developing countries, a technocratic style of management and regulation of scientific research is characterized by centralized determination of science development priorities, risk assessment, planning, and monitoring of execution and results. Problems were identified, and recommendations were made for improving the State Scientific and Technical Expertise (SSTE) and the National Scientific Council (NSC) evaluation systems. The ‘Impact Pathways’ approach was proposed to assess humanities research. The analysis also includes a summary of international practices in evaluating the effectiveness of scientific research (USA, EU countries, Australia, Canada, UK, Russia, China, Belarus).
Two articles have been published in proceedings at international scientific and practical conferences.
Results for 2024:
A retrospective analysis of science funding in Kazakhstan from 2005 to 2023 was conducted, as well as an analysis of the development of the country’s scientific potential based on the publication activity of researchers in citation indexes such as Scopus, Web of Science, InСites, and SciVal for the period of 2011–2023. An assessment of the evolution of approaches to evaluating scientific qualifications based on publications in academic journals was also carried out. A chronology of Kazakhstan’s state science policy was developed.
To identify expert opinions on the issues and trends in the development of science in Kazakhstan, expert interviews were conducted with 20 stakeholders involved in scientific projects. A survey of 224 respondents studied the perception of the criteria for evaluating scientific activity by research staff. A survey of researchers, completed by 288 respondents, studied the factors influencing the formation and development of scientific careers in the Republic of Kazakhstan.
Four papers were published in the proceedings of international scientific and practical conferences, and two articles were published in national journals recommended by the Committee for Quality Assurance in the Sphere of Science and Higher Education of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan (CQASHE MSHE RK).