The National Technical Library in cooperation with the Czech Technical University and Instutute of Chemical Technology in Prague cosponsored the international conference Knowledge, Research and Education on September 8-9, 2011. Research metrics was the topic of this meeting. Organizers sought to draw attention to the often controversial mechanisms for evaluating the results of research and their subsequent impact on its continued financing and institutional support. The conference brought together university dignitaries, senior members of the faculties, library staff and representatives of the publishing industry for the purpose of facilitating discussion of research trends and policies that inform their respective fields of interest shared by all. One of the key lectures was given by the co-Director of CERGE-EI Štěpán Jurajda. He reviewed currend evidence of the productivity of Czech science (by field) based on bibliometric data, pointed to typical mistakes made in recent evaluation exercises and analyses, illustrated these by using examples typically drawn from social sciences, and offered a few tentative bibliometric facts. and Štěpán Jurajda.
Featured in this issue is an article by Jiří Wiedermann, the director of the Institute of Computer Science of the ASCR, on periodical research assessment in the field of Computer Sciences in the Netherlands from 2002-2008. All publicly funded research in the Netherlands is evaluated once every six years. The evaluation system aims at three objectives regarding research and research management: improvement of the quality of research through an assessment carried out in accord with international standards of quality and relevance; improvement of research management and leadership; seeking higher levels of accountability by research organizations and funding organizations, government and the society at large. and Jiří Wiedermann.