4. EVALUATION OF THE FACULTY OF SCIENCE AND FORESTRY
4.1 Department of Applied Physics
A SCIENTIFIC QUALITY OF RESEARCH
Research in the Department is organized in 3 areas:
1) Computational Physics at the Department deals with real-world inverse problems in medical imaging, non-destructive testing and environmental applications. Key expertise lies in numerical methods, Bayesian analysis of inverse problems, including non-stationary cases, model uncertainties and model reduction in large inverse problems. The professors in this area are widely recognized in the field; the results and publications are of high international standard.
2) Environmental Physics addresses aerosol physics and chemistry and phenomena related to aerosol physics in the atmosphere as well as health effects of aerosols. This effort at UEF is fairly small; the two full professors work for UEF only 50% and 20% of their time, respectively. However, the team participates in leading research efforts in the field.
3) Research in Medical Physics is interdisciplinary, aiming at better diagnosis and therapy; the focus is in biomechanics, biomaterials, biosignals, and medical imaging. The professors are among the leaders in the field worldwide.
The high standard of research has been recognized by participation in two Centres of Excellence of the Academy of Finland (in Aerosol Physics and in Inverse Problems) and by one ERC starting grant. Four Academy of Finland Research Fellows (two in Computational and one in both Medical and Environmental Physics) and 6 Academy of Finland Post-doctoral projects (two in each research area) have been granted during the evaluation period. Also many plenary talks and keynote talks are given by the members of the Department.
The Department has produced 454 peer-reviewed papers in 2010–2012, out of which 103 were level-3 publications (JUFO). The 20 most important publications listed by the Department are highly interesting and relevant in their respective fields. The group of environmental physics has published two Nature papers as supportive contributors and one Nature Chemistry paper as a main contributor during 2010–2012. Several professors are highly cited (Hynynen, 12137 citations;
Jurvelin, 7556; Laaksonen, 6681; 5 researchers have an h index in the range 30–60).
B RESEARCH ACTIVITIES VS STRATEGY
Research at the Department of Applied Physics addresses grand challenges of the modern society such as climate change and health.
4.1 DEPARTMENT OF APPLIED PHYSICS
A SCIENTIFIC QUALITY OF RESEARCH
Research in the Department is organized in 3 areas:
1) Computational Physics at the Department deals with real-world inverse problems in medical imaging, non-destructive testing and environmental applications. Key expertise lies in numerical methods, Bayesian analysis of inverse problems, including non-stationary cases, model uncertainties and model reduction in large inverse problems. The professors in this area are widely recognized in the field; the results and publications are of high international standard.
2) Environmental Physics addresses aerosol physics and chemistry and phenomena related to aerosol physics in the atmosphere as well as health effects of aerosols. This effort at UEF is fairly small; the two full professors work for UEF only 50% and 20% of their time, respectively. However, the team participates in leading research efforts in the field.
3) Research in Medical Physics is interdisciplinary, aiming at better diagnosis and therapy; the focus is in biomechanics, biomaterials, biosignals, and medical imaging. The professors are among the leaders in the field worldwide.
The high standard of research has been recognized by participation in two Centres of Excellence of the Academy of Finland (in Aerosol Physics and in Inverse Problems) and by one ERC starting grant. Four Academy of Finland Research Fellows (two in Computational and one in both Medical and Environmental Physics) and 6 Academy of Finland Post-doctoral projects (two in each research area) have been granted during the evaluation period. Also many plenary talks and keynote talks are given by the members of the Department.
The Department has produced 454 peer-reviewed papers in 2010–2012, out of which 103 were level-3 publications (JUFO). The 20 most important publications listed by the Department are highly interesting and relevant in their respective fields. The group of environmental physics has published two Nature papers as supportive contributors and one Nature Chemistry paper as a main contributor during 2010–2012. Several professors are highly cited (Hynynen, 12137 citations;
Jurvelin, 7556; Laaksonen, 6681; 5 researchers have an h index in the range 30–60).
B RESEARCH ACTIVITIES VS STRATEGY
Research at the Department of Applied Physics addresses grand challenges of the modern society such as climate change and health.
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The research is closely networked with the research in UEF, e.g., the professors are coordinators or partners in seven (out of 13) Spearhead Projects, strategically funded by the UEF.
The strategy of the Department has been very carefully and clearly stated in the Department’s strategy document: it is in line with that of the University.
C INTERNATIONAL AND NATIONAL RESEARCH COLLABORATION AND RESEARCHER MOBILITY
There is strong international and national research collaboration as indicated by the large number of joint projects and publications. There is close collaboration with the Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI) and Kuopio University Hospital (KUH) as well as with several other UEF units. The Department would probably benefit from measures that would increase the international mobility of researchers.
Recommendation:
i. Each student, at the latest during the doctoral studies, should be sent, well-prepared and with well-planned tasks, to a collaborating laboratory for about 5–10 months. Ways of even greater collaboration with the aerosol group in the Department of Environmental Science should be sought.
D OPERATIONAL CONDITIONS
The Department includes research in Computational (two professors), Environmental (three professors) and Medical Physics (six professors). The senior-to-student ratio is quite high: in 2012, professors accounted for 8.4 person years, senior researchers 13.2, post-docs 15.8, and graduate students 50 person years. The teaching load for professors is 72 hours per year (two lecture courses), that for senior staff is about 70 hours; for early-stage researchers it is 5% of work time (80 hours per year). University lecturers are full-time teachers.
The basic funding from the University, about 40% of the budget, is low but quite typical for Finnish universities. Thus, much effort must be expended in grant applications and management. External funding has been obtained to a large extent from the Academy of Finland; other funding has been obtained from TEKES and the European Union. In particular, structural funding from the EU has been of great importance in building the research and teaching infrastructure. There is also funding from commercial companies.
Recommendation:
ii. A plan for continual replacement and improvement of infrastructure, especially in aerosol science, should be developed.
E IMPACT OF RESEARCH
The Department has had an important impact on Finnish research and educating skilled experts; the impact internationally comes mainly from high-quality
publications. Some patents and patent applications have resulted from the work;
start-up companies have also been established on the basis of the Department’s work. The research or teaching activities are featured 2–5 times/year in local newspapers, some videos appear on YouTube, and social media such as Facebook is in use. For example, the Aerosol Physics group contributes to current debate on climate change. Several professors/senior researchers are members in expert panels of their research fields.
F STRATEGIC VISION
The Department has formulated a new research strategy for 2013–2017. This was very clearly stated and included quantitative aims or targets. This was very helpful.
Clear strategic goals were defined for the number of publications and their proportion in different JUFO classes as well for success in getting Centre-of-Excellence (CoE), FiDiPro, Academy-Professor, and other competitive funding. It is obviously difficult to set such targets at a level that is neither unobtainable nor too low. Here, although the ambition levels regarding these indicators is high, several goals have already been reached or even exceeded (currently participation in two CoEs, 26% proportion of papers in class-3 journals, 14 invention disclosures in 2012 etc.).
The strategic thinking and its implementation in the Department is deep and to the point. For example, in Medical Physics the thinking is based on expected impact – and this is done in a modern, forward-looking way by considering the research continuum from basic science to applied research to instrumentation and clinical research as well as epidemiology. The goal of being able to predict diseases or other medical conditions based on physical measurements may lead the Department to very high-impact results. Similarly, the strategic vision in aerosol science is excellent, and the continuing close collaboration with the Finnish Meteorological Institute and the aerosol group in Helsinki will ensure continuing research outputs at a world-leading level.
OVERALL COMMENTS
The Department has well-defined aims and a very clear strategy to achieve the goals; the strategy is implemented professionally and effectively. The results and impact are excellent.
The University should pay attention to the inefficient use of resources as a result of the division of physics into two Departments on two campuses. Ideally, physics education should be conducted on one campus, at least at bachelor level. However, the innovative use of distance learning technology may allow students to be based remotely, with provision of adequate local teaching support. One way to accomplish better efficiency would be the combination of the Department of Physics and Mathematics with the Department of Applied Physics. Another way would be to combine the teaching between the two Departments.
publications. Some patents and patent applications have resulted from the work;
start-up companies have also been established on the basis of the Department’s work. The research or teaching activities are featured 2–5 times/year in local newspapers, some videos appear on YouTube, and social media such as Facebook is in use. For example, the Aerosol Physics group contributes to current debate on climate change. Several professors/senior researchers are members in expert panels of their research fields.
F STRATEGIC VISION
The Department has formulated a new research strategy for 2013–2017. This was very clearly stated and included quantitative aims or targets. This was very helpful.
Clear strategic goals were defined for the number of publications and their proportion in different JUFO classes as well for success in getting Centre-of-Excellence (CoE), FiDiPro, Academy-Professor, and other competitive funding. It is obviously difficult to set such targets at a level that is neither unobtainable nor too low. Here, although the ambition levels regarding these indicators is high, several goals have already been reached or even exceeded (currently participation in two CoEs, 26% proportion of papers in class-3 journals, 14 invention disclosures in 2012 etc.).
The strategic thinking and its implementation in the Department is deep and to the point. For example, in Medical Physics the thinking is based on expected impact – and this is done in a modern, forward-looking way by considering the research continuum from basic science to applied research to instrumentation and clinical research as well as epidemiology. The goal of being able to predict diseases or other medical conditions based on physical measurements may lead the Department to very high-impact results. Similarly, the strategic vision in aerosol science is excellent, and the continuing close collaboration with the Finnish Meteorological Institute and the aerosol group in Helsinki will ensure continuing research outputs at a world-leading level.
OVERALL COMMENTS
The Department has well-defined aims and a very clear strategy to achieve the goals; the strategy is implemented professionally and effectively. The results and impact are excellent.
The University should pay attention to the inefficient use of resources as a result of the division of physics into two Departments on two campuses. Ideally, physics education should be conducted on one campus, at least at bachelor level. However, the innovative use of distance learning technology may allow students to be based remotely, with provision of adequate local teaching support. One way to accomplish better efficiency would be the combination of the Department of Physics and Mathematics with the Department of Applied Physics. Another way would be to combine the teaching between the two Departments.
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The Department relies on a relatively small number of students who continue after the first one or two years. Also, international master’s programmes have not been very successful, as evidenced by low number of graduates. The Department should exploit its high international reputation in research in the three areas of physics to attract more international students to their programmes.
Intra-Department and inter-Department collaboration should be encouraged to strengthen the excellent activities of the groups in the Department.
NUMERIC EVALUATION
CRITERIA NUMERIC
EVALUATION SCALE 1-6
Scientific quality of research 6
International and national research collaboration and
researcher mobility 4
Operational conditions 5
Impact of research 5
OVERALL ASSESSMENT (not the average of the scores
above) 5