Open MERIT: Responsible research assessment, done right.

Open MERIT is a tool for quality- and impact-oriented research applications and assessments. It is based on a foundation of extensive literature review, stakeholder engagement, and iteration. 

Since autumn 2017, the Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin has expanded its approach to academic assessment for professorial appointments by introducing new criteria aimed at capturing a broader spectrum of scientific performance, such as scientific contribution (impact narrative), self-selection of key publications, including description of personal contribution, engagement in Open Science and contribution to Team Science, including relevant collaborations and networks.

These criteria enable applicants to showcase their diverse academic achievements beyond conventional metrics. In addition, the concept of academic age was introduced to help committees contextualize career progression and productivity. 

As part of the Wellcome Trust-funded MERIT Study (2019–2023), the usability and fairness of these new quality-oriented criteria were systematically evaluated. The outcome: Open MERIT – a set of digital tools designed to translate quality and impact-oriented research assessment into organisational practice and to enhance quality-oriented assessment,  transparency, comparability, and reduce bias in academic hiring, promotion, project assessment as well as funding decisions.

On the basis of the MERIT Portal for Appointments at Charité (https://merit-portal.charite.de/) and the implementation of responsible research & innovation (RRI) and open sciences (OS) criteria and corresponding assessment aids for reviewers for the major (intramural) research funding lines at Charité and BIH since 2018 (Working Paper "Structured project templates with integrated responsible research & innovation (RRI) and open sciences (OS) criteria and corresponding assessment aids for reviewers for (intramural) research funding lines at Charité and BIH"), the MERIT Team created the MERIT Application Builder, which allows researchers to create their own 'sandbox' applications for different research environments, using quality-oriented critera. 

The MERIT Application Builder is a standalone tool that researchers can use at no cost.