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

Panel 17 – LTH | Building
production and methodologies. The department claims that the internal
collaboration within the department is successful. However, it seems that
the collaboration has more the sign of inter-departmental relations. This
may weaken the management as resources have to be dedicated to quite
diverse subjects.
The department was forced to reconstruct the Engineering Acoustic unit
in 2005 due to a former employee’s malpractice. The department has suffered
economically and many management resources have been allocated
to solve the problems. The problems are now under control and the future
plans seem promising, but the negative effects will still be noticeable in
the next couple of years.
There has been a decreasing trend in research funding. The total funding
has decreased from 27M SEK in 2003 to 22M SEK in 2007. The loss in
revenue is due to a dramatic drop in commissioned research from 9M
SEK in 2003 to 3M SEK in 2007. The EU-funding is very low. There are
signs that the negative trend will change in the near future. The Department
has announced 5–7 doctoral students and 2 guest lectures financed
by external funding.
6.2 Research infrastructure
The department has a well-equipped Acoustic Laboratory and a quite
traditional laboratory for mechanical testing equipped with standard test
machines. Furthermore the department has access to High Performance
Computing hardware resources through LUNARC, and the department
plays a very active role in LUNARC.
6.3 Research quality
International comparability and innovative power: The department
deals with quite a diversity of subjects. This has not prevented individual
researchers or small groups of researchers from reaching a high international
level, but as a whole the department has been too diversified to gain
an international role. The department has a long tradition of developing
Finite Element Programs for educational purposes, but further development
has been difficult to finance through funding. Reinventing this
field might lead to an international role.
493