A grey model for evaluating research performance of university researchers in China

Research performance is an important subject for evaluating university researchers and projects they take. In China, many universities set an objective to establish research universities, in which research is one of the most important tasks of faculty members. Therefore, research performance becomes a key criterion for evaluating a faculty member. However, there is no suitable evaluation methodology to assess the performance of faculty members in order to conduct them to pursue research excellence. This paper suggests evaluating research performance of university faculty members from the aspects of research funding, academic publications, industrial applications, teaching by research, and academic ethics. A grey evaluation model is used to measure the research performance based on these aspects. It uses a multi-level indicator system to present the major performance areas. A grey coefficient is provided to comprehensively evaluate the research performance of a faculty member in university, so that it can be used as a reference for his/her future promotion. It also can be used to assess his /her capabilities for granting new research projects in the future.