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

Part 2 – Conclusions of the review
ultimately to enter the academic profession and there is a strong
probability that PhD completion will sooner or later lead on to a
tenured academic post. This system of late PhD completion not
only militates against the PhD being a route into professional
employment outside the university, but it also creates a cohort of
expectant PhD graduates who take up a succession of short-term
contracts in Lund whilst waiting for a permanent post to turn
up. At the same time, the links with their supervisors or research
group leaders and the responsibility their departments naturally
feel towards them tend to ensure that entry into tenured posts is
predominantly from this group. The system also deters young postdoctoral
researchers from taking the opportunity for international
experience at a time in their careers when they could most benefit
from it, although many take such opportunities during their PhD
studies.
67. Although we recognise the difficulty of compressing the timescale
for study leading to doctoral graduation, we believe that there are
very strong structural reasons for doing so, and also suggest that
this should be done in association with much clearer pathways for
research and academic careers, that also take into account the issues
raised in section F2b. Graduate Schools, some organised at national
level, have proved elsewhere to be an effective means of shortening
the time required for completion of a doctoral thesis, and can also
create collaboration between different research centres and cultures.
c) Professorial promotions
68. Recently introduced legislation permits holders of lecturer posts
to apply for promotion to professor (see Box 1). We were informed
that failure to gain a professorial promotion could be challenged
by appeal to Stockholm, and that such appeals rarely failed. We
understand that a consequence of this is that the University tends to
accept many applications that might elsewhere be deemed premature.
We are concerned about the lack of a competitive system for
professorial appointment, with internationally competitive research
or scholarship as key criteria for promotion, and which creates
a crucial incentive for excellent research, scholarship and grant
winning. The motivation to introduce the current system might
have been laudable, but it seems to us that that the consequences
have been negative for the quality and competitiveness of research.
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