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

Panel 15 – LTH | product development
and become a high-level player at the national and international level. It is
housed in a modern and well-equipped Ingvar Kamprad Design Centre.
The lab facilities are extensive and in several respects unique.
The interdisciplinary nature of the research field is reflected in the very
extensive cooperation network of the Department: national research
schools and projects, international projects (14 EU projects), organization
of national and international conferences.
The academic staffs has grown from 17 in 2003 to 28 in 2007, clearly demonstrating
the vitality of the Department. In 2007, DDS was one of the
biggest Department’s of the LTH in terms of number of academic staff,
doctoral students in 2007 (46), and having one of the best gender ratios
at 43%. The high average age of the Professors (57 for the overall department
and 59 for Division Packaging Logistics and Machine Design) is
of concern especially for the two divisions with` only 3 professors. The
number of PhD students is at the low side and has remained stationary
over the last five years.
The publication output of DDS has steadily increasing. Articles in
refereed journals increased from 19 in 2003 to 43 in 2007, which, with
more than 1.5 publications per academic per year, is close to excellent.
Conference papers remain constant at a high level of 35 per year. Several
books have been published, mainly in English.
1.3 Research Infrastructure Very good (4)
In 2002, the Department moved into the Ingvar Kamprad Design
Centre, a new building and an attractive place to work in. The Department
has well-equipped laboratory facilities, some of them with unique
infrastructure making them unique and world-class. The main labs are:
Aerosol Lab, Virtual Reality Lab, Thermal Environment Lab, Usability
Lab, Workshops and halls, Video Conferencing Facility. Apart from
the availability of computer facilities for students there is no mention of
special computing facilities to support research, or facilities (i.e. robotics
lab, or packaging testing lab) to support the two Divisions; Packaging
Logistics and Machine Design. Having to maintain, develop and update
such extensive research infrastructure is a heavy burden for a Department.
The self-evaluation document does not say much about the financial
arrangements in place for depreciation and equipment renewal.
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