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Evaluating the Quality of
Research and Innovation at
Faculty Level
Mike Murphy,
Director and Dean
Faculty of Engineering
27 September, 2004
Engineering @ DIT: Challenging, Fun & Rewarding
Development of DIT
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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.
Engineering @ DIT: Challenging, Fun & Rewarding
Dublin Institute of
Technology
n Student Body
– 9,500 fulltime students in 85 programs
– 1,000 postgraduate students
– 7,500 part-time students
– 4,000 apprentice students
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DIT is organised around 6 Faculties:
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Faculty of Applied Arts
Faculty of the Built Environment
Faculty of Business
Faculty of Engineering
Faculty of Science
Faculty of Tourism & Food
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120 years of tech ed
n 25 years as DIT
Engineering @ DIT: Challenging, Fun & Rewarding
DIT Research Objectives
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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
Engineering @ DIT: Challenging, Fun & Rewarding
Some Research Numbers
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National Indicators:
1.17% of GDP expenditure is on R&D ¹
12% pa growth rate in R&D spend from 1997 – 2002
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HEI Research Numbers ²:
– Best University Research Income/Academic:
– DIT Research Income/Academic:
€106K
€10K
¹ EC/eurostat: Statistics on Science and Technology in Europe (2003)
² 2003 data, The Sunday Times, September 12, 2004
Engineering @ DIT: Challenging, Fun & Rewarding
DIT Values & Tradition
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Technical and engineering
education for >100 years
Ladders of Opportunity for
students
Excellent teaching tradition
High student contact hours
for staff
Postgrad Degrees
Hons Degree
4 years
B Eng Tech (3 yrs)
Cert / Diploma (2/3 yrs)
Block release
from work
Engineering @ DIT: Challenging, Fun & Rewarding
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Over 5,000 engineering students:
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2,000 full-time students
1,000 part-time students
2,000 apprentice students
150 post-grad students
250 academic staff
Engineering @ DIT: Challenging, Fun & Rewarding
Faculty Research Profile
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Broad research interests among staff:
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Opto-electronics
Wireless networking
Surface engineering
Medical informatics
Biometrics
Control engineering
– Power and Power Quality
– Computational Fluid Dynamics
– Building Energy Systems
– Materials & Materials Testing
– Antennas and RF
– Engineering Education
Specialised areas to international standards
Industry and Research Centres
Engineering @ DIT: Challenging, Fun & Rewarding
Scholarly Activity
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Conferences:
– 21st Century Engineering Education (DIT 21 October 2004)
– Materials and Tribology
– Engineering Design and Nano Technology
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Books
– Steelwork Corrosion Control Book and Seminar
– Project Management
– Handbook of Advanced Control Engineering
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Journals:
– International Journal of Engineering Education
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Consultancy
Engineering @ DIT: Challenging, Fun & Rewarding
Context for Research@DIT
 Increase research effort to 3% of EU GDP by 2010
EU
Irish
DIT
Faculty
School
Research 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 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.
 More papers, more proposals, more funding
 Increasing emphasis on research cohesion
 Balance teaching mission vs. research mission
Eureka!
New Knowledge (…… I owe it all to Lisbon 2000!)
Engineering @ DIT: Challenging, Fun & Rewarding
Evaluating Research in the
Faculty of Engineering
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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
Engineering @ DIT: Challenging, Fun & Rewarding
Reviewers were asked to
Consider:
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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
Engineering @ DIT: Challenging, Fun & Rewarding
Evaluating Research in the
Faculty – Key Metrics
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External funding obtained
Postgrad research degrees completed
and underway
Refereed journal publications
Postdoctoral appointments
Refereed conference papers
Post-Grad & Research
Research funding, Postgrad
Student Numbers, Papers
Engineering @ DIT: Challenging, Fun & Rewarding
Definition of Research
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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
Engineering @ DIT: Challenging, Fun & Rewarding
Research Review –
Key Outputs
2001 UK-RAE Grade 4
DIT Fac of Eng
Publications
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Research Funding
€375K
€30K
PhD Students
1 pa
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Engineering @ DIT: Challenging, Fun & Rewarding
Results of Research
Evaluation – Key Findings
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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
Engineering @ DIT: Challenging, Fun & Rewarding
Results of Research
Evaluation – Findings (2)
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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
Engineering @ DIT: Challenging, Fun & Rewarding
Review Recommendations (1)
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It is important … that any progress in scholarly
activities must not be at the expense of
undergraduate education
Create an environment in which scholarly work is
encouraged, facilitated and rewarded
Continue to engage all staff in dialogue as DIT and
Faculty continue to increase research ethos
Research active staff must be given adequate
support in terms of infrastructure and facilities
Research goals and objectives must be ambitious but
achieveable
Engineering @ DIT: Challenging, Fun & Rewarding
Review Recommendations (2)
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Research time allocation must be addressed
structurally
Metrics at school, faculty and Institute level must be
clear and aligned
Increase the number of research students
Appoint a research coordinator and postgrad
coordinator
Academic staff recruitment policies should be
changed
Thought should be given to how Research centres
should align to schools
Engineering @ DIT: Challenging, Fun & Rewarding
What’s Easy; What’s Hard
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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
Engineering @ DIT: Challenging, Fun & Rewarding
Next Steps
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Work through recommendations
– Which are implementable at School/Faculty level?
– Which are Institutional?
– Which are national?
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Begin to measure everything
Decide on one true KPI
– Research funding per academic staff member?
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Begin the (difficult) process of resource
allocation
Engineering @ DIT: Challenging, Fun & Rewarding
Key Thoughts
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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?
Engineering @ DIT: Challenging, Fun & Rewarding
Our Mission Statement
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].
Engineering @ DIT: Challenging, Fun & Rewarding
National Context for Research
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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)”.
Engineering @ DIT: Challenging, Fun & Rewarding
National Context for Research
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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.”