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

Panel 7 – ECONOMICS AND MANAGEMENT (LUSEM)
Vitality and Organizational Capacity. Three factors suggest that here too
CIRCLE should be assessed highly. First, and no doubt partly reflecting
the Linnaeus grant obtained in 2007, the Unit’s research income doubled
between 2006 and 2007. Second (and doubtless reflecting its success in
obtaining external funding), the staff “has grown from zero to more than
thirty researchers” in less than four years. Nearly half of the new recruitments
were from outside Lund. Finally, and importantly, the Unit’s
programme of work is well structured in four interrelated but clearly
specified areas.
3.4 Collaboration
The Unit collaborates widely and internationally. It has an international
scientific advisory group (membership is given on the website), and
participated in two Networks of Excellence funded under the EU’s 6th
Framework programme. Its publication list points to many collaborations
with scholars abroad, some of them world leaders in their field.
3.5 Research activity and teaching:
Not applicable (not a teaching unit).
3.6 Future Plans
The Unit’s future plans correspond largely to the 10 year Linnaeus grant
that it obtained in 2007. As explained earlier, the major thrust is towards
integrating research on knowledge creation, entrepreneurship and innovation:
areas that in the past have tended to be studied separately. Moreover,
the intention is to study these interconnections in a comparative context
(geographically, sectorally and institutionally). The self-evaluation sets out
a clear, ambitious, and innovative programme of future work.
3.7 Future potential and possibilities
Given the Unit’s resources and record of scientific productivity, there is good
reason for thinking that these plans will be implemented creatively and
fruitfully. The only caveats to be noted, and these are given in the Unit’s own
SWOT analysis are (a) the limited number of PhD students (particularly
unfortunate given the number of senior researchers) and (b) a possible lack
of long-term funding when the VINNOVA grant expires in 2010.
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