Institution Profile: INSERM

• In 2018, INSERM signed up to DORA.
• In 2021, an external evaluation of INSERM reported that the philosophy of DORA has started to permeate through INSERM, with all evaluations (including hiring, promotion, and tenure decisions) extending beyond traditional academic criteria/metrics to cover DORA criteria and a wider range of metrics.
• The evaluation report also states: “There are opportunities to take part in activities beyond traditional academic roles, such as outreach activities. Researchers are encouraged to document all their activities, including outreach, but during evaluation there is still a strong dependence on traditional metrics except for researchers in the new grade “classe exceptionnelle”.
• The report also recommended that teaching and service activities be documented in promotion criteria. It is not clear if these recomendations have been adopted.
• In spite of these efforts, the report recognizes: “external agencies (e.g. funders) still evaluate applicants based on traditional metrics… [and] there is still pressure to use metrics because of funding agency practices.” (Page 18).