Areas of strength: Work Integrated Learning and Production Technology

A complete academic environment:

• has a critical mass of teachers and researchers who work together on various study and research core areas.
• has national and international exchange activities, active participation in research networks, and offers seminars, doctoral studies, and high-quality research within specific core areas.
• has a stable supply of competence that ensures the continuation of the environment even if core people leave their position
• has secured financial backing, meaning that the environment has several sources of funding and can live on despite unavoidable variations in the external funding.
• has a well-established co-production with both industry and higher education institutions.
• addresses social challenges in both educational programmes, courses for employees, and research.
• promotes gender equality in career paths, gender equality in the distribution of resources, and develops the design and content of teaching and research for increased equality, equal terms, and a sustainable society.

Both environments have drawn up joint strategies and overarching impact goals that form part of the university’s objectives and strategic roadmap.

The Vice-Chancellor has decided the following targets and strategies for the complete academic environment as a whole.

Target 1

The environments maintain an internationally recognised, nationally leading and regionally driving position

Joint strategies:

• The environments are to contribute to a more sustainable world through collaborative research and societally relevant education.
• The environments operate regionally, nationally and internationally to find solutions that can be transferred to corresponding global challenges.
• The internationalisation work of the environments is characterised by frequently acting as an international host and by partnerships that create greater diversity and quality.
• Based on their areas of expertise, the environments are to build a long-term external funding strategy to develop recruitment, networking, training and research projects.

Target 2

The environment is clearly integrated vertically and horizontally

Joint strategies:

• The environments’ researchers, teachers and students have clear training and career paths in the environments’ education, research and lifelong learning initiatives.
• The environments’ researchers, teachers and students are to work together to increase collaboration across disciplinary and societal boundaries, with sustainability clearly integrated.
• The environments’ activities are organised so as to support sustainable and flexible learning environments.

Target 3

The environments are characterised by a Work Integrated Learning profile

Joint strategies:

• The environments’ education and research is collaborative within the framework of the work-integrated learning profile.
• Work-integrated learning is established as a knowledge approach and pedagogical method throughout by means of work-integrated learning accredited training programmes.
• The environments create structured meeting places for dialogue and reflection on different forms of knowledge to build good relations with a wide range of societal actors to achieve collaborative learning.