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Panel 16 – systems science
5. Electrical and Information Technology
5.1 Opening remarks regarding the grain for the evaluation
This department is the result of a sophisticated split-and-merge. Essentially,
it aimed at putting aside activities related to software – these moved
to the computer science department – and gathering all other activities
related to telecommunications. This occurred recently and consolidation
has not been achieved yet. Therefore, the panel has decided to assess this
department on a per group basis.
5.2 Research infrastructure and organization
The IET Department is the result of a significant reorganization to
rationalize a number of related activities for both academic and financial
reasons. It is probably too early to assess the ultimate success of this
exercise but the rationale and implementation have been well thought
through and give a coherent structure.
It is not clear from the supplied data as to which entities the 2003 baseline
refers, however the number of academic staff has been maintained in 2007
but the number of ‘other personnel’ has been reduced from 41 in 2003 to
21 in 2007. Much of the research in IET requires extensive experimental
equipment and specialized laboratories and this is generally available in
the Department to a high level. The above reduction in support staff
might jeopardize the maintenance and enhancement of these facilities
and continuing streams of research funding will be necessary in the future
(it is noted that this is not identified as a ‘threat’ by the Department,
although the more generic issue is mentioned in the Faculty submission).
5.3 Research activity and teaching
According to the department website in the academic year 2007–2008,
82 undergraduate courses of which 9 project courses were organized
by the EIT department. With 39 FTEs of staff this seems a course load
which is comparable to international standards. However, the teaching
load seems to vary largely among the various research groups of the
department. We like to stress our appreciation for the project based
courses which are showing an intense interaction with the research work.
It would be a good idea to investigate how research-based education
could be further expanded. Also the involvement of PhD students in the
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