ReseaRch Quality assuRance foR the futuRe a ... - Lund University

Part 1 – background
9. All panels had a plenary one-day meeting to discuss their collective
conclusions during the period April–May 2008, and most produced
interim assessments prior to or during a group visit to Lund of
Panel chairs and vice-chairs (see annex 2) during the week 9–13
June 2008. The early part of the week involved meetings with staff
and researchers. Plenary meetings identified cross-cutting issues,
including cross-discipline developments, and agreed the structure
of a final report. There was iteration with staff at all levels to explore
specific issues. The week ended with a feedback session for senior
staff of the University. Reports were collated and revised during
June–July 2008.
D. APPROACH TO EVALUATION OF RESEARCH EXCELLENCE
10. Lund University encompasses an extremely wide range of research
activity that is subdivided into a large number of administrative
units that vary greatly in size. Cognate groups have been categorized
together in 17 units of assessment, each one of which has been
assessed by a suitably skilled panel so as to produce an assessment
of the spectrum of research quality across them. Although in some
cases it has proved possible to reach a summative conclusion about
the quality of research in the panel area as a whole, it is the assessment
of the spectrum of research quality in the assessed unit that is
the fundamental output of the review.
11. It is also important to stress that there is little basis for making direct
comparisons between disciplines or discipline areas. The nature
of the research process, the nature of the research community, and
the nature of publication in areas such as Chemistry or History are
so different that a ranking based on a direct comparison would be
meaningless. The criteria that have been employed in assessment, as
set out in Annex 3, are of the performance of each assessed area in
relation to international and national standards of excellence in that
area.
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