This sentiment was confirmed by the industrial member of the team during the first validation meeting. Most staff have produced several papers in the last five years as listed in their CVs, and many more are in production. Recently, however, these isolated achievements have begun to coalesce and are now starting to show more significant and public results. This tendency is revealed by the trend towards multiple authors resulting from both local and wider collaboration. Several staff continue to act in a professional capacity, either as consultants specialist trainers and, in one case, an expert witness, confirming the respect with which commerce holds the expertise gained through these activities.
Participation rates continue to grow.
As was pointed out in the 1992 validation, most of the staff were not research active. Now most staff are, or have recently been, involved in some capacity in the research activities described above. This may be due to both a change in culture and opportunity, as well as to the influence of newer staff who are already research active. The Department is fortunate in its association with several consultants and professionals who either contribute by part-time teaching or by collaboration on research projects. There have also been five ESF-funded industrial and commercial collaborative programmes during the last two years in which research has played either a complete or ancillary role.