RSA CE&C 2015-2021

5 Table of contents Research self-assessment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 1.1. Mission of the Department of Chemical Engineering and Chemistry. . . . . . . . . 9 1.2. Science and education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 1.3. Organization of research groups. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12 1.4. Positioning. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 1.5. Organization of the department . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14 1.6. Infrastructure. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 1.7. Financial resources. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16 2. Strategic aims . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 2.1. Main strategic aims for the review period. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19 2.2. Response to the recommendations of the previous assessment. . . . . . . . . . 21 3. Strategy during the review period . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23 4. Major developments during the review period . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 5. Evidence and accomplishments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 5.1. Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31 5.2. Research quality. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31 5.3. Relevance to society . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .35 5.4. Teaching-research nexus. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 5.5. PhD policy and training and human resource policy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 6. Strategy for the next six years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .41 6.1. SWOT analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 6.2. Strategy for the coming years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .42 7. Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .51 Appendices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .55 Appendix A: Additional tables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 Appendix B: Case studies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 B.1. Artificial cells. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 B.2. Light-responsive liquid-crystal polymers for soft robotics. . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 B.3. Engineering reactors and devices for hydrogen production. . . . . . . . . . . .69 B.4. The story of Vertoro: biomass valorization from idea to value. . . . . . . . . . . 72