THE NORWEGIAN UNIVERSITY OF LIFE SCIENCES (UMB), ÅS

The Norwegian University of Life Sciences, established in 2005 has its roots in an

agricultural college established in 1859, which became the Agricultural University of Norway in 1898. The University focuses specifically on biology, food, the environment, land and natural resource management. In the next few years there are plans for the Norwegian School of Veterinary Sciences to be merged with UMB to create a new University.

Two separate research groups, based in different departments, were evaluated as part of this review.

4.8.1 Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences

4.8.1.1 Geology research group

KEY METRICS (Geology Research Group)

No. of Professors 1

No. of Associate Professors 3

No. of Professor II

No. of Emeritus Professors 2

No. of Doctoral students: current 1 No. of PhD students graduated 2007-2009 1 No. of MSc Students graduated 2007-2009 5 No. of Postdoctoral Research Fellows 1 No. of Non-tenured Researchers

No. of Technical/Admin. Staff members 1

Research Groups GRADE

1. Geology 2

The Geology group is the smallest of 9 research groups in the Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences which is the largest department at UMB. The Department has a wide range of teaching and research interests, including the use and conservation of nature, the environment and climate change, food production and food safety and bioproduction. The main research activities of the Geology group are focused on paleoclimate and

paleoenvironmental studies and geological resources.

The Head of Department is employed on a 4-year contract which can be renewed twice and is supported by a Board. There is a separate Departmental scientific committee which deals with research.

Financial support to research groups from the Department and University is extremely limited and is based on the number of permanent staff. Research activities are, therefore, dependent on grants from external sources. There does not appear to be a high level of support for the Geology group from either the Department or the University.

The gender balance within the Geology group is very good with 50% of the tenured positions held by women. The postdoctoral research fellow and PhD student are both female. There has been some volatility in group membership, with new appointments in 2007 and 2010 and movement of one professor to another group. During the evaluation period there were, on average, only 3.3 full-time equivalent academic staff in the group.

In the Earth Sciences Review of 1998 the Department was praised for its teaching programme in hydrogeology, considered to be the most comprehensive in Norway at that time. In the 1999 national strategic plan for Earth Sciences the Department was advised to focus its research activities in geology on national georesources and to strengthen collaborations in Quaternary geology and paleoclimate studies with the Universities of Oslo and Bergen, respectively. A recommendation was made that hydrogeology should be integrated into hydrology and research activities sustained in collaboration with the University of Oslo. The Geology group have attempted to follow these recommendations in their strategic planning, but they do not appear to have been particularly strongly supported by the Department.

The Department has well equipped laboratories for soil physics, environmental chemistry, geochemistry and microbial analysis, and has its own electron microscope. It also runs a field site for studies of water and solute transport in the unsaturated zone at Gardermoen airport, in collaboration with the University of Oslo and Bioforsk. The Geology group has a range of geophysical instrumentation for near-surface characterisation, including electrical resistivity and ground penetrating radar; these are, however, in need of upgrading.

The Geology group appears to have a wide range of international research connections, including the USA, Canada, Russia, Germany, Netherlands, UK, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Iceland and Italy. Nationally they collaborate with the universities of Oslo, Bergen and Tromsø, UNIS, the Norwegian Geotechnical Institute (NGI), the Norwegian Geological Survey (NGU) and the Norwegian Polar Institute.

ASSESSMENT& GRADING

The Geology group clearly lacks critical mass. They lack the strong leadership required to develop a coherent strategic plan which will better align their existing strengths (in

hydrogeology, paleoclimate studies and Quaternary geology, and mineral resources) with the rest of the Department.

The academic staff have very high teaching loads which reduces the amount of time they have for research. Their publication records are rather variable, but include outputs in some high-profile journals; given the small size of the group and the number of recent

appointments, the analysis of metrics is not particularly useful. The Evaluation Committee has taken this into consideration in their evaluation.

OVERALLGRADE:2 RECOMMENDATIONS

In order to flourish, this group urgently needs to align its strategy more closely with that of the rest of the Department; a greater level of support from the Department is needed. There are some obvious areas which could be developed, including studies of contaminant transport in soils and groundwater in collaboration with the environmental chemistry and hydrology groups in the Department. The concept of using crushed rock as a soil fertilizer has potential and could be used to establish stronger links with the soil science group and plant biologists.

It does not seem appropriate to attempt to build more expertise in the sustainable use of mineral resources. This research theme is being picked up by the Norwegian Geological Survey (NGU) and groups at other Norwegian universities with greater critical mass.

There appear to be opportunities for greater collaboration with colleagues in the Geomatics Section of the Department of Mathematical Sciences and Technology who have expertise in satellite-based remote sensing. The Evaluation Committee questions the logic of having two separate, small geoscience groups in the University.

4.8.2 Department of Mathematical Sciences and Technology

The Department, established in 2003, is organised into six sections mostly reflecting the nature of the undergraduate and Masters teaching programmes.

The Department is led by a Professor, supported by a Board elected from various groups of employees. There is a departmental committee for research led by a professor who is the appointed research leader of the department. A strategic plan for research exists for the period 2010-2013; this emphasises the need for state-of-the-art equipment, improved national and international collaboration and an increase in publications. Each section has a Section Head, with a largely administrative role, and a research coordinator.

4.8.2.1 Geosciences research group

No. of Associate Professors 1 4

No. of Professor II 1 4

No. of Emeritus Professors

No. of Doctoral students: current 4 5

No. of PhD students graduated 2007-2009 2 No. of MSc Students graduated 2007-2009 6

No. of Postdoctoral Research Fellows 1 1

No. of Non-tenured Researchers

No. of Technical/Admin. Staff members

Research Groups GRADE

1. Geosciences 2/3

The research group in Geosciences is part of the Section of Geomatics within the Department.

The Section has 9 permanent and 5 fixed-term fulltime positions and 4 Professor II positions;

the staff have a wide range of expertise in geodesy, surveying, photogrammetry, satellite-based remote sensing, GIS and cartography. In the past decade there has been an increasing focus on monitoring changes in the Earth’s surface and understanding the processes involved.

Geomatics research is an integral part of the Environmental and Climate Change component of the University research strategy.

The Geosciences research group, comprising 4 permanent academic staff and one Professor II, has a wide range of research interests in glaciology, geodynamics, ocean tide loading at

high latitudes, and remote sensing. There are three major research themes: the gravity field and its geophysical implications, ice sheet and glacier evolution and remote sensing for land surface mapping. The three professorships have all been relatively recent promotions, although two of them are approaching retirement. One of the professors is female.

The research environment is not strong, with declining student numbers and a lack of financial resources from the University for equipment and fieldwork. The last major investment in infrastructure (3.5 million NOK) was in 2004 for a gravimetry laboratory.

However, the Geomatics section has a good record of obtaining PhD fellowships which contributes to the dynamics of the research group. In addition the group has a good level of engagement in European research programmes, including International Polar Year projects which are now coming to an end.

Glaciology research is conducted in collaboration with the Norwegian Polar Institute, the Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Administration, the Norwegian Meteorological Institute, the Norwegian Institute for Air Research, UNIS and Oslo University, and research groups in Canada and France. In the field of satellite remote sensing the group has

collaborated with a number of national partners including the Norwegian Defence Research Establishment and the Norwegian Military Geographic Service. Gravimetric research is conducted in collaboration with a number of European universities and the Nordic mapping authorities.

The group was not previously evaluated as part of the 1998Review of Earth Sciences.

ASSESSMENT& GRADING

Overall this is a worthy group who have carved out a niche for themselves in rather

unpromising surroundings. Unfortunately, there appears to be very little interaction with the people working on landscape development and ice sheet dynamics in the Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences. This seems to be an opportunity for the future.

Their publication rates are slightly above average and increasing; however citations are low.

OVERALLGRADE:2/3 RECOMMENDATIONS

Improved collaboration with the geoscientists working in the Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences would be beneficial. The University should take the opportunity provided by the planned merger with Veterinary Sciences to reorganise geoscience-related research into a single unit.

Future retirements should be seen as an opportunity to refocus their strategy into areas of strength and greatest opportunity for research funding.