Evaluation and Assessment of Artistic Research

The meeting is dedicated to the evaluation and assessment of artistic research, with a particular focus on both institutional models and the quality and impact of the results produced. Participants include representatives from international organisations such as MusiQuE and EQ-Arts, which are active in quality assurance systems for higher arts education in Europe. Speakers include Jacques Moreau, who has experience leading institutions of higher music education; Linda Messas, Deputy Director of the AEC and Director of MusiQuE; John Butler, artist and CEO of EQ-Arts; and Anna Scott, classical pianist and artistic researcher specialising in performance and recording practices in classical music from the late 19th to the early 20th century.

The discussion addresses the main frameworks used for evaluating artistic research, highlighting the importance of approaches based on peer review, self-assessment, and peer evaluation, as well as tools that support continuous improvement, such as “critical friends.” In this context, MusiQuE adopts an evaluation system structured around four dimensions–research activity profile, internal organisation, quality of results, and impact–with a strong emphasis on methodological consistency, process transparency, and traceability between objectives and results.

EQ-Arts shares a similar approach, oriented toward a culture of quality centred on continuous improvement and on the responsibility of institutions to ensure consistent standards at the European and national levels. Overall, there is a need to recognise artistic research as a distinct field that is nonetheless comparable to other research sectors, equipped with its own rigorous methods and evaluation criteria. The discussion also highlights the role of institutional collaborations, such as those with museums and galleries, as a strategic resource for the development of research, and emphasises the importance of clearly defining priority research areas within institutions to ensure coherence between research, teaching, and student training.

On a methodological level, the open and transdisciplinary nature of artistic research emerges. Unlike scientific models aimed at reducing uncertainty, artistic research is based on situated and context-sensitive practices, in which uncertainty is an integral part of the process. It is also likened to certain fields within the humanities, such as anthropology, in which the researcher is an integral part of the process and interaction with the context influences the results, helping to overcome the dichotomy between artistic and scientific research. This leads to the need to avoid a rigid separation between theoretical and practical components, in favour of a constant integration between artistic production and critical reflection. 

The Working Group has defined artistic research as an inherently interdisciplinary field that spans various areas of knowledge and practice, from the humanities to the contemporary arts and emerging technologies, and therefore requires flexible methodological approaches that are not exclusively textual. Research outcomes may take diverse forms, ranging from performance to visual arts to architecture, but must nonetheless ensure the autonomy of the research process, sound argumentation, methodological consistency, and the ability to generate impact and disseminate results.