Rinze Benedictus is a part-time PhD candidate in the Science and Evaluation Studies research group led by dr. Sarah de Rijcke. He who also works as staff advisor at the UMC Utrecht and is involved in the Science in Transition initiative. In his research he describes and analyzes institutional policy-making processes that shape research evaluation practices. In these often black boxed processes, different notions of scientific quality, combined with intra-institutional considerations, informed by (inter)national debate about rewards and incentives in science, come together and then give rise to evaluation practices. Unpacking these processes will be of relevance to science policy as it shows how institutions can maintain ‘local order’ and shape research in the face of complex signals.