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

Panel 11 – medicine | health sciences
different research groups represents the distribution of the staff of the
department; the actual size of the research groups is often significantly
larger when their extensive collaboration is considered. The low proportion
of professors (3 out of 13) funded from the university budget is of
particular concern, especially when the current budget deficit of about 50
MSEK at the medical faculty may reduce the prospect of stengthening
the professoriat in the near future.
The department has also experienced significant financial contraction from
the total revenue of 174 MSEK in 2003 to 136 MSEK in 2007 including
income decline in both teaching and research. The proportion of external
funding was about one third of the total income, which is lower than average
(about 50 %) in the medical faculty. The supplementary income form
the Vårdal Institute was about 30 MSEK during the assessment period.
(The overall yearly funding from the Vårdal Institute for Lund University
Medical Faculty has been about 23 MSEK). Nevertheless in 2007 there
were on average about 4 articles in refereed journals per year/FTE number
of academic staff, showing a strong record of productivity.
The Department of Health Sciences is a place where dynamic research
is taking place across many diverse but often neglected areas, but which
are of vital concern to a healthy society. Some of the areas are relatively
new to science. Work of the department includes studies across the life
span, from perinatal science to the palliative care of the very old. Major
research topics include family support for children, interventions for drug
dependence, mental health (including occupational patterns), physical
rehabilitation, exercise and activities for public health, health of older
people, aetiology of dementia, and environmental studies into sustaining
older people in their own homes and neighbourhoods.
The quality of the research is mostly very good. Given the great diversity
in the research areas the evaluations reflect quality in the international
context rather than between the different research areas. Amongst the
ten established research areas the Panel has identified several areas with
very strong potential for the future (if the department deals successfully
with staff age and career stage profiles and retirement policies). This is a
considerable achievement when many of the divisions are relatively new
to university level work, coming out of hospital-based healthcare practice.
The department has had to invest heavily in developing the research
culture in these allied health subjects while at the same time building
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