‘Reframing Excellence’ at the UHH Diversity Days

1 July 2024

Photo: UHH/Ohme

Once a year, the Diversity Days make diversity at Universität Hamburg visible and address opportunities and challenges surrounding the topic of equity. The four Clusters of Excellence regularly contribute to the programme, this year with a session on ‘Reframing Excellence’.

The Diversity Days have been taking place at Universität Hamburg since 2016. Since 2019, they have included an event organised jointly by the four Clusters of Excellence of the university – Climate, Climatic Change, and Society (CLICCS), CUI: Advanced Imaging of Matter, Quantum Universe, and Understanding Written Artefacts.

While the last four events focussed on support opportunities for international researchers arriving at UHH, this year the Clusters dedicated themselves to the topic of ‘Reframing Excellence: For More Diversity in Academia’. Based on the observation that prevailing notions of ‘academic excellence’ are still too narrow and too centred on few parameters, above all publication metrics, the session raised the question of which dimensions we as research communities should add to our understanding of excellence – and how we can succeed in implementing this broader understanding in scouting, selection, and hiring processes.

The centrepiece of the session was a presentation by Zen Faulkes entitled ‘Improving Research Assessment’. A former biology professor, Faulkes has been the Director of the Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA) since 2023. He has been campaigning for responsible research practices, including in academic publishing, for over 20 years. You can watch the full presentation here: