Evaluating the Quality of Research and Innovation at Faculty Level

Evaluating the Quality of Research and Innovation at

Faculty LevelMike Murphy,

Director and Dean

Faculty of Engineering

27 September, 2004

Engineering @ DIT: Challenging, Fun & Rewarding

Development of DIT 120 year heritage Ireland’s largest HEI Degree-awarding to PhD Strong quality assurance Responsive to industry Many unique programmes

To provide vocational and technical education and training for the economic, technological, scientific, commercial, industrial, social and

cultural development of the State. To engage in research, consultancy and development work.


Dublin Institute of Technology

Student Body– 9,500 fulltime students in 85 programs

– 1,000 postgraduate students– 7,500 part-time students– 4,000 apprentice students

DIT is organised around 6 Faculties: » Faculty of Applied Arts» Faculty of the Built Environment» Faculty of Business» Faculty of Engineering» Faculty of Science» Faculty of Tourism & Food

120 years of tech ed 25 years as DIT


DIT Research Objectives Foster a culture of research and

scholarship Inform and enliven teaching and

learning in the Institute Contribute to the development of

the nation’s innovation-base Respond to national and EU

priorities Build and reinforce links with and

for industry Train postgraduates for the

knowledge economy


Some Research Numbers

National Indicators: 1.17% of GDP expenditure is on R&D ¹12% pa growth rate in R&D spend from 1997 – 2002

HEI Research Numbers ²:– Best University Research Income/Academic: €106K– DIT Research Income/Academic: €10K

¹ EC/eurostat: Statistics on Science and Technology in Europe (2003) ² 2003 data, The Sunday Times, September 12, 2004


DIT Values & Tradition

Technical and engineering education for >100 years

Ladders of Opportunity for students

Excellent teaching tradition High student contact hours

for staff

Hons Degree4 years

B Eng Tech (3 yrs)Cert / Diploma (2/3 yrs)

Block releasefrom work

Postgrad Degrees


Over 5,000 engineering students:– 2,000 full-time students– 1,000 part-time students – 2,000 apprentice students– 150 post-grad students

250 academic staff


Faculty Research Profile Broad research interests among staff:

– Opto-electronics– Wireless networking– Surface engineering– Medical informatics– Biometrics– Control engineering

Specialised areas to international standards Industry and Research Centres

– Power and Power Quality– Computational Fluid Dynamics– Building Energy Systems– Materials & Materials Testing– Antennas and RF– Engineering Education


Conferences:– 21st Century Engineering Education (DIT 21 October 2004)– Materials and Tribology– Engineering Design and Nano Technology

Books– Steelwork Corrosion Control Book and Seminar – Project Management– Handbook of Advanced Control Engineering

Journals:– International Journal of Engineering Education

Consultancy

Scholarly Activity


Context for Research@DIT

Eureka!New Knowledge (…… I owe it all to Lisbon 2000!)

EU Increase research effort to 3% of EU GDP by 2010

IrishResearch is a core element of the mission of higher ed (Natl Dev

Plan) “… create a world class research, development and innovation

capacity and infrastructure in Ireland …”

DIT DIT Research Goals: (i) advance research and scholarship … whilst

developing the expertise of its staff and students and positively impacting upon … educational programmes; (ii) support Ireland’s requirement for a knowledge-based society by engaging in research and scholarship to produce new knowledge workers.

Faculty

School

More papers, more proposals, more funding Increasing emphasis on research cohesion Balance teaching mission vs. research mission


Evaluating Research in the Faculty of Engineering

Formal review of Engineering research conducted by Directorate of Research & Enterprise – Spring Term 2004– Research defined as applied and basic – Review conducted by two international

(independent) academics with experience in assessment of research in engineering

– Review via documentation, two day visit, interviews with research community

– Report to Director of Research & Enterprise


Reviewers were asked to Consider:

– Research strategically important to Faculty– Areas where Faculty performs well, or could perform well– Current Research that should not be part of Faculty’s strategy – Facilities available for researchers– Pervasiveness of research throughout Faculty– How Faculty can better support teams and individuals– Quality and Relevance of Faculty research in relation to national

and international standards– Relevance of Faculty research to the needs of industry and

society, and compliance with DIT Research Strategy– Faculty research achievements over previous three years– Scope, balance and cohesion of research portfolio– Effectiveness of Faculty’s links with industry– Extent and effectiveness of partnerships with other HEI’s


Evaluating Research in the Faculty – Key Metrics

External funding obtained Postgrad research degrees completed

and underway Refereed journal publications Postdoctoral appointments Refereed conference papers

CustomerPost-Grad & Research

Research funding, Postgrad Student Numbers, Papers


Definition of Research The Institute adapts the OECD definition of research and

experimental development as its definition of research and scholarship:– Any creative work undertaken on a systematic basis in

order to increase the stock of knowledge, including knowledge transfer, or to develop new materials useful for teaching and learning, or to add to the stock of creative works and includes applied and basic research, consultancy and experimental development.

– These activities are characterised by originality, have investigation as a primary objective, have the potential to produce results that add to humanity’s knowledge (theoretical or practical) and are open to public scrutiny via peer review.

– Research is undertaken by academic staff and students


Research Review –Key Outputs

2001 UK-RAE Grade 4 DIT Fac of Eng

Publications 4 1

Research Funding €375K €30K

PhD Students 1 pa na


Results of Research Evaluation – Key Findings

Schools have pockets of research excellence which equate well to similar institutions in Ireland and UK, e.g., UK-RAE Grade 4

Much support was evident from academic staff to promote and further develop a research ethos

Development of a true research ethos requires full integration of all academic and technician activities


Results of Research Evaluation – Findings (2)

High quality and quantity of output, although uneven within and across Schools

The lack of agreed KPI research metrics at Institute level was causing uncertainty

Growing numbers of PhD students and younger staff with PhD’s was positive

Effective and efficient interface to industry via collaborative projects was evident


Review Recommendations (1)

1. It is important … that any progress in scholarly activities must not be at the expense of undergraduate education

2. Create an environment in which scholarly work is encouraged, facilitated and rewarded

3. Continue to engage all staff in dialogue as DIT and Faculty continue to increase research ethos

4. Research active staff must be given adequate support in terms of infrastructure and facilities

5. Research goals and objectives must be ambitious but achieveable


Review Recommendations (2)

6. Research time allocation must be addressed structurally

7. Metrics at school, faculty and Institute level must be clear and aligned

8. Increase the number of research students9. Appoint a research coordinator and postgrad

coordinator10. Academic staff recruitment policies should be

changed11. Thought should be given to how Research centres

should align to schools


What’s Easy; What’s Hard DIT history and culture: teaching

philosophy For Schools: students vs research Mandated contact hours per academic Tenure Rule of Thirds + carrots and sticks Research-only posts and progression Faculty balanced scorecard


Next Steps Work through recommendations

– Which are implementable at School/Faculty level?– Which are Institutional?– Which are national?

Begin to measure everything Decide on one true KPI

– Research funding per academic staff member? Begin the (difficult) process of resource

allocation


Key Thoughts Research review: will it be a stick to beat you,

or an opportunity to learn? Reach agreement on the Terms of Reference. Whose definition of research will be used? Choosing the independent reviewers is

important. How will the report be disseminated

internally?


The Faculty of Engineering is committed to excellence in the provision of accessible, multi-level education and training [what we do] so as to benefit our students and staff, enterprise and society [why we do it].

The Faculty achieves this through a student-centered ethos within a culture of lifelong learning supported by the highest standards in teaching, scholarship & research [our values].

Our Mission Statement


National Context for Research

OECD Review of Higher Education in Ireland, September 2004– Review was set in context of the Government’s strategic

objective of “placing its higher education system in the top rank of OECD in terms of both quality and levels of participation and by the priority to create a world class research, development and innovation capacity and infrastructure in Ireland as part of the wider EU objective for becoming the world’s most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy and society, as agreed in Lisbon (2000)”.


National Context for Research

Enterprise Strategy Group, “Ahead of the Curve – Ireland’s Place in the Global Economy,” July 2004– “We believe that enterprise in Ireland, while having

highly developed manufacturing ability, lacks capability in two essential areas: international sales and marketing and the application of technology to develop high value products and services.”

Documents

Evaluating the Quality of Research and Innovation at Faculty Level