2006 the Research Council and the Research Council for Environment, Agricultural Sciences and Spatial Planning "Formas" was granting scientific grants to 20 so called Linnaeus grant and eight research schools. One of the environments was LUDC which since then is allocated a grant of 10 millions Swedish crowns per year. After the evaluation the grant will continous unchanged.
The international expert panel has among others studied the scientific result, which value the grant has given, as well as evaluated aspects of equality, academic leadership, international and national collaboration and potential for the future.
Remarkably productive
When LUDC was created in 2006 by the Linnaeus Award it was composed of around 100 investigators. Todey the LUDC includes 300 members.
"LUDC has been remarkably productive..." writes the Reserach Council and exemplifies that 55 PhD Students har defended their thesis during the period, has generated more that 600 peer-reviewed publications in prestigious journals and have been cited more then 15.000 times over period. "This enormous effort clearly reflects the bloval impact of this team in diabetes-related research".
Collaboration and network
The evaluation also focuses on LUDC´s extensive national and international collaborations with other research groups, as example the very large EU-financed project SUMMIT (surrogate markers for diabetic complications), a collaboration between different european universities and the pharmaceutical industry.
An other example is EXODIAB (Excellens Of Diabetes Research in Sweden), where LUDC and diabetes researchers in Uppsala works together.
- The evaluation is a strong argument for strategic investments could give more than investments in individual researchers. In particular young researchers have large opportunities in an environment as LUDC, where the infrastructure can help in the beginning of the career, says Leif Groop.
Even diabetesportalen.se
Also the way how LUDC internal is organized and is lead gets credit. In the evaluation it is called a model of how the work in a research environment can be done effective. In similar ways is the equality described, the evaluation notes that women is well represented in all levels.
Even diabetesportalen.se gets credit, as the public "Diabetes evenings" which is organized twice a year in Malmö. Those are two examples that LUDC take the assignment of spreading its research results to the public seriously, says the expert panel of the Reserch Council.
- The evaluation is an acknowledgement that LUDC is a creativ environment and one of the worlds most dynamic research centers within the diabetes field, sums Lief Groop, professor in diabetology, M.D. and since the start coordinator of LUDC.
The report in its full is on the web of the Research council. The chapter about LUDC begins at page 77.