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

Panel 6 – social SCIENCEs
candidates. The interaction between research at the School and society is
impressive. In terms of vitality the department stands out as excellent.
2.4 Collaboration
The staff at the School is involved in a number of local, national and international
projects, many of them multidisciplinary, and the School has a unique
position in Nordic research networks and international collaboration. In
terms of collaboration activities, the department ranks as excellent.
2.5 Research Activity and Teaching
According to the self-evaluation of the School, its vision is to make research
available to students and the public. In this respect the vision seems already
to have been realized to a large extent.
2.6 Evaluation of Future Plans
Existing meta-analyzes of research within the field of social work have
shown that there has been almost no comparative empirical research conducted
so far within social work. The future plans of the School, thus, seem
to be excellent/outstanding in this respect. Several promising research areas
are emphasised in the School’s self-evaluation: e.g. labour market research,
care for the elderly, research on interventions in social work and, above all,
more comparative research in social work. All of these areas stand out as
important both from a theoretical and from a national and international
societal perspective.
2.7 Future Potentials and Possibilities
The staff at the School is heavily involved in cooperation with professionals
in the field. The different demands on social work can be compared to
balancing on a “slack rope”, with demands from professionals in the field
and in society on the one hand, and demands placed on the universities for
“going international” on the other.
Further, the teaching load of staff holding a PhD seems heavy when
looking at the relationship between teachers and students (1200 students
and only 25 full time academic teachers). Against this background, the
quality and productivity of the School’s research is impressive. In a longer
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