Defence Science & Technology and the role of the Royal Military Academy (RMA) John VANTOMME, Prof Dr ir Civil and Materials Engineering Dept, RMA Commission for Scientific Research, RMA Colloquium RHID - 07 March 2013
The Royal Military Academy (RMA) is a key player for the Research & Technology branch in the Belgian Defence Department The RMA • is a corporate university of the Ministry of Defence • Is governed by Belgian federal law • is a university • delivers Bachelor and Masters degree to future Officers of the Belgian Army; • adheres to Bologna declaration: stresses link between education and research. 2
Academic research = imperative task for RMA Academic research • = R&D undertaken in the higher education sector • represents 1/5th of the total R&D effort (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) • its importance has increased during the last decennia: – increase of student population and academic work- force – professionalization of the academic profession – importance of quantitative research output in academic career – « publish or perish » in a knowledge economy 3
Academic research = imperative task for RMA RMA academics are confronted with trends in academic research • the student population in RMA is kept constant but academic workforce tends to be reduced – difficulty to respect the academic model with equilibrium between teaching and research – insufficient time to get aligned with the duty to publish results • professionalization is not an unknown word for the RMA academics because of the professional link with the Defence Department. This is reflected in the identification of the research topics 4
Academic research = imperative task for RMA Criteria for identification of research topics – available research work-power in the department; – significance for the Defence department • to provide support in the continuous education of staff officers • to provide support in the upgrading of weapons systems • to give advice about new or prospective technologies and new insight about human performance. – significance for civil society • research has become more accountable to society; • research units have to prove themselves in an academic and more and more international context – Focus on dual research use research 5
Academic research Focus on dual use research: an example Signal and Image Centre (SIC) Centre of Excellence for education and research in the acquisition, processing, transfer and decision technologies in order to serve both the Defense and the Society. Image Processing Radar Signal Processing Near Field Electromagnetics Terahertz RCS and IR Signatures Artificial intelligence Electromagnetics (LEMA) Hypersprectal Imaging Audio Signal Processing Optical Fibers Radio Networks Geodesy and Global Navigation Satellite Systems 6
Academic research Multidisciplinary research: an example Life Sciences Vital Signs and Performance (VIPER) The VIPER multidisciplinary research unit bridges engineering and life sciences to investigate Human Factors from an integrative perspective Performance research: - Performance is a multidimensional construct, encompassing physiological and psychological modalities; - Research for refining measurement methods and better understanding of performance measurements 7 - synergy between physiology, engineering and psychology
Academic research Thematic research poles: an example Department of Weapon Systems & Ballistics Laboratory for Applied Chemistry Laboratory for Materials Engineering Laboratory for the Analysis of Effects of Explosions 8
Academic research Basic research, exploration: an example Laboratory for Plasma Physics (LPP) conducts experimental and theoretical research on plasma physics and fusion energy in the framework of the Association EURATOM-Belgian State for thermonuclear fusion. ITER is a joint international research and development project to demonstrate the scientific and technical feasibility of fusion power 9
Academic research Funding Academic research is largely government-funded, through • general university funds; • research grants via projects funded by government organizations In complement: • contracts with business partners 10
Academic research General university funds • grants directly given to higher education institutions and then allocated by them to research in a rather autonomous way • management has become competitive and based on evaluation of research groups • there is no such system in RMA • yet, there are advantages: – university funding for high ranked projects but without funding by the governmental funding organization – additional funding for selected project with limited funding by the funding organism 11
Academic research Grants for projects • direct research grants given to particular academic research projects by the funding organism, such as: – Scientific and Technological Research for Defence; – European administration (framework programs); – Federal community funds (FWO-Vl and FNRS); – An industrial partner • client selects the type of research to support • competitive process • very important for the RMA academics: the necessary oxygen and work-power for the research units; 70 master degree holders and doctoral students • observation: internationalization 12
Academic research Grants for projects Difficulties to overcome • the Defence Dept (to which RMA belongs) as part of the Belgian state does not have access to government funding programs; • researchers have to be selected via SELOR in a normal and well established procedure, but which closes the RMA for the international student community. 13
Academic research Grants for projects: RMA-patrimony RMA patrimony: RMA is able to adopt a legal personality different from that of the Belgian State. This allows • funding that otherwise would be impossible to use by RMA as working entity of Defence department • presence of RMA on the international academic level • participation of researchers from all over the world International collaboration is reflected in • the growth of internationally co-authored scientific papers; • the worldwide competition for internationally available funding • opportunities for other Defence laboratories by providing the academic entry to research projects and funding • support of exploration of potentially worthwhile technologies for the future VITAL TOOL for keeping RMA and Defence 14 at an international academic level
research = project driven Unmanned Vehicle Centre (UVC) research laboratory specialized in the design, development and control of unmanned systems, ground vehicles (UGV) and aerial vehicles (UAV). Development of a set of integrated components to assist search and rescue teams EU funded project: global toolbox that covers the main Mine Action activities; survey, disposal, Mine Risk Education. EU funded project: integration of robots carrying chemical detection sensors in rescue services. Telecontrol and autonomous navigation capabilities for vehicles 15
Academic research Grants for projects: research = project driven • Advantages – innovation is guaranteed • Drawbacks – how to assure continuity in research capacity in critical domains – difficulty to assure a sufficient critical mass • RMA pleads for the creation of a statutory level for research directors and laboratory engineers: – a boost for research management – allows to reply in shorter delays to short term questions and needs of staff officers – as a side effect, offers better support for the education 16
Academic research necessity of research in RMA ? • Are research activities necessary in RMA? • The trend towards professionalization leads to the questioning of the need for research in higher education • Research in RMA is in majority client- driven: RMA performs research for the Defence department !! • And not to forget: the modern student wants to be challenged by the teacher; research gives him the tools !! 17
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