Research at Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment highly rated
In late November 2022, a committee of eminent experts visited the Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment to form an opinion on our research (2016-2021). The committee's findings are downright positive. The research conducted by the departments Architecture, Architectural Engineering &Technology (AE+T) and Management in the Built Environment (MBE) is evaluated as ‘very good’, that of Urbanism even ‘excellent’. With this substantive advice, the departments will work on a plan in the coming period on how they want to further develop their research practice.
Overall conclusion
The committee appreciated the growing number of publications in peer-reviewed journals and the open and positive academic culture. The committee has also made many recommendations, focusing on developing, aligning, formalising and communicating the research strategy. The committee recommends that faculty use relevant indicators to monitor the implementation of the research strategy to better substantiate future decisions.
Specific recommendations per department
Regarding departments, the committee recommends the AE+T department reduce the number of strategic goals. The committee is impressed by the Delft Approach to Urbanism but suggests that the department further substantiate this approach with, for example, an international benchmark. According to the committee, Architecture would do well to explicitly involve all research staff in developing the research strategy. Finally, for MBE, the focus is on expressing its 'unique selling proposition'. More generally, the committee notes that the faculty could improve the onboarding and supervision of PhD students. Finally, the committee recommends that the faculty draw up a knowledge transfer strategy, especially with a view to the MBE and Architecture departments.
How to proceed?
The recommendations have been adopted by the Executive Board. Departments are now considering those recommendations and will discuss how to proceed in the spring meeting with the TU Delft Executive Board.
Background information: why a research visit and how does it work?
Once every six years, research quality, relevance and viability in public institutions in the Netherlands are evaluated. The goals and strategy a department has set itself are leading in this process. On behalf of the Executive Board, experts from home and abroad are asked to participate in the committee to assess the research of the Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment in the period from 2016-2021.The committee conducted in November 2022 interviews with stakeholders, PhDs and post-docs, UD, UHDs and tenure trackers and finally with the management of each department individually. The committee was specifically asked to evaluate research quality, societal relevance and the viability of their research in the perspective of Open Science, academic culture, HR policies and PhD training.