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

Panel 6 – social SCIENCEs
8.6 Future potentials and possibilities
We would recommend that the areas the scholars work in are ‘international’
and therefore they need to be fully part of the research communities
where these developments are taking place.
9. Lund University Centre
for Sustainability Studies
9.1 Introduction
LUCSUS (Lund University Centre for Sustainability Studies) was
founded in 2000 and has recently become a cross-faculty centre (January
2005). It has grown rapidly, although it has only a small core of full
academic staff (1 professor and 3 associate professors). This expansion of
LUCSUS was based primarily on outside or contract research funding.
LUCSUS is a classic example of university strategies to establish network-
or umbrella-type centres on themes of a contemporary relevance,
but which fall outside of the ‘standard’ academic division of labour. The
centre is also responsible for teaching a master’s program (LUMES)
9.2 Overall Assessment
The success of LUCSUS is clear from its rapid expansion over the past
few years, mainly on the strength of its success in obtaining external
grant income. Its research activities are impressive and its international
networking is excellent. As is often the case with centres that depend
largely on external grant income for securing research (and, in particular,
salaries), the research efforts is largely set and framed by the funding
agencies and their objectives, needs, and requirements. This is visible in
the research output of the Centre, which shows a high level of diversity,
a tendency to focus on applied research, and difficulty to identify and
develop cutting-edge or blue sky research. While extremely important,
the research at LUCSUS is comparable to that found in other centres
dedicated to sustainability or environmental management research. The
institutional structure and organization of such organizations make it
difficult to become truly excellent on the international terrain.
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