Advancing Research Assessment Through Knowledge-Based Infrastructure: Lessons from MERIT Project

The MERIT Portal is pioneering digital infrastructure designed to transform professorial recruitment at Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin. The portal embeds Open Science principles and makes narrative-based assessment practices more fair, transparent, and robust. Unlike conventional systems, MERIT not only guides applicants in presenting their academic achievements—emphasizing impact, Open Science, team contributions, and contextualized academic age—but also provides an innovative assessment tool for reviewers. This dual function supports structured, quality-oriented and bias-aware assessments, setting MERIT apart as a platform that advances both applicant presentation and reviewer decision-making. In doing so, the portal helps to institutionalize responsible research assessment aligned with international frameworks such as DORA and CoARA.