Coalitions and declarations

Södertörn University is a signatory to several international declarations of intent in relation to research, quality assurance and academic freedom. Read more about these below.

Magna Charta Universitatum

The Magna Charta Universitatum (MCU) is an international statement on the role of universities in society. The document sets out universities’ fundamental values, in which autonomy, knowledge dissemination and the vital relationship between education and research are important principles.

The MCU was adopted on the 900th anniversary of the University of Bologna in 1988. Over 900 universities from 88 countries have now signed the document.

The MCU is independent of political organisations and interest groups. The universities that are its signatories have a commitment to supporting, promoting and upholding the fundamental principles of the MCU.

Coalition for Advancing Research Assessment

The Coalition for Advancing Research Assessment (CoARA) is a European initiative that involves over 350 organisations from more than 40 countries.

Its aim is to work cooperatively on improving the assessment of research quality and to address overly simplistic and misleading quantitative assessments. The coalition is based on exchanging knowledge and experience.

The university is represented in all five areas in CoARA National Chapter Sweden.

WG1 Research applications
WG2 Researchers, PhD education
WG3 Bibliometrics
WG4 Open science
WG5 Collaboration valorization

The Declaration on Research Assessment

The Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA) aims to further and promote best practice in the assessment of scientific research.

The declaration originated in San Francisco in 2012, during the annual meeting of the American Society for Cell Biology, and has become a global initiative that encompasses every scholarly discipline. DORA’s mission is “to advance practical and robust approaches to research assessment globally and across all scholarly disciplines”.

Scholars at Risk

Scholars at Risk is a worldwide network of over 400 higher education institutions. Its aims are to protect and support researchers and to defend academic freedom. Södertörn University has hosted a number of researchers at risk through the network.

HR Excellence in Research

The European Commission has granted Södertörn University the HR Excellence in Research award for its work on improving conditions for research careers, demonstrating the university’s adherence to the European Charter and Code on creating a sustainable and attractive research environment.

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Page last updated: 2026-10-28