Research assessment
As part of the Research Review of Computer Science over 2015-2020, the review committee chaired by Prof. Jos Baeten of Centrum Wiskunde en Informatica, assessed the Research Schools SIKS*, IPA*, and ASCI, on research quality, relevance to society, and viability. During the evaluation of these criteria, the committee was asked to incorporate four specific aspects: Open science, PhD policy and training, academic culture, and human resources policy. The findings, conclusions, and recommendations are described in the report “Research Review CompSci 2015-2020“.
Research schools in general
The committee acknowledged the value of the contribution of research schools to PhD education in the field of Computer Science, for offering specialized courses and enabling students to establish a network throughout The Netherlands.
In conclusion, the committee praised the efforts of the research schools for following up on the recommendations of the previous research committee, and collaborating on more frequent basis, resulting in cooperation in the ICT.Open Conference. The committee encourages elaborate collaboration, specifically for areas that are represented in more than one research school to come to an integrated course offering.
Recommendations specifically for ASCI
The committee recommends lowering some requirements, to limit the loss and increase the number of PhD graduations. The career prospects of ASCI’s PhD candidates are excellent. Among ASCI’s alumni, about half work in industry and half in academia, both in the Netherlands and abroad. The committee supports the plans for annual PhD prizes and fostering collaboration within ASCI to help community building.
*Institute for Programming research and Algorithmics (IPA); *Netherlands Research School for Information and Knowledge Systems (SIKS).