Through the players of the QA system, the University coordinates activities related to the quality of research by defining guidelines and operational indications, as well as by promoting education initiatives dedicated to the dissemination of the culture of quality and providing tools for monitoring research results.
The University coordinates the Quality Assurance activities of the Departments by making available and monitoring reference data, including those related to the University's publications.
As of 2 April 2019, the Rector's Contact Person for Quality of Research Assessment, who is also a member of the 4impact@PoliTo Study Centre since 2020 and of the PQA since 2022, has joined the governance team.
In the University, the role of coordination and rationalisation between the Departments and other units for Research, Technology Transfer and Services to the Territory is carried out by the University Committee for Research, Technology Transfer and Services to the Territory (in Italian Comitato di Ateneo per la Ricerca, Trasferimento tecnologico e Servizi al territorio, CARTT), which includes the President of the PQA, as Vice-Rector for Quality.
The University has initiated important strategic planning and related monitoring processes with the University Strategic Plan and the Departmental Strategic Plans, in order to also respond to the requirements of ANVUR with the SUA-RD and SUA – Third Mission (a completion Activity no longer required by ANVUR as of 2016).
In the area of Research, as well as for the Third Mission and Teaching, the process phases include a number of policies that the University has implemented over the years and which are summarised here.
- Planning (PLAN) by the University and the Departments, which define their Strategic Plan in accordance with the University's strategic guidelines;
- Implementation (DO) of the strategy by the Departments;
- Self-Evaluation and Monitoring (CHECK) carried out by the individual Departments, to identify strengths and weaknesses and actions to be implemented (ACT) with a view to continuous improvement. The monitoring of strategic actions is also carried out through the analysis of 24 departmental improvement indicators of the University Strategic Plan;
- Evaluation of the indicators and progress of the University Strategic Plan and the performance of each Department, carried out periodically by the Evaluation Board. The specific activity of assessing the quality of research output is carried out by ANVUR through the VQR process;
- External accreditations carried out by ANVUR during periodic accreditation.
In the action planning phase, both at University level but also at the individual Departments’ level, KPIs are to be identified, as useful both in the monitoring phase but also in the final or periodic self-assessment and evaluation of individual actions (as defined, for example, in the Action Plan).