Introduction for New Employees
This document provides information about the Applied Research Centre Technology Water Environment (ARC-TWE), the research branch of the TWE domain at HZ University of Applied Sciences (HZ-UAS). General information about the HZ can be found in the document 'HZ Guide for New Employees,' available here.
Who We Are
All research activities within the TWE domain are housed under ARC-TWE. Professors, coordinators, (teaching) researchers, students, and industry representatives collaborate on relevant issues here. Information about the ARC-TWE researchers can be found on this page, and an organizational chart of the entire TWE domain (research, education, and domain office) is available here. New employees are automatically connected to the G:\ drive (G:\ARC-TWE) once they receive an HZ account. Most documents can be found in this folder on the G:\ drive.
What we do
HZ has chosen to focus on three themes: Water, Energy, and Vitality. See the HZ Institutional Plan 2022-2027 for more information. These topics have a significant social, regional, and even global impact and are part of the region’s DNA. At ARC-TWE, we primarily focus on Water and Energy themes and collaborate with researchers from ARC Vitality (comprising six research groups) on the Vitality theme.
Applied Research In recent years, HZ has evolved from an educational institution into a knowledge institution where (applied) research and education are closely linked (see the Institutional Plan). Research at HZ begins with a question from the field, whether from private or public organizations, and is carried out in a project-based manner. Before a research project begins, a research proposal is drafted. This proposal is aligned with all involved project partners and submitted to a funding body (external or internal sponsors, companies, governments). Each new research project comes with obligations that HZ must meet. Therefore, it is essential to assess early on the strategic fit with the research group, the quality and integrity of the research plan, feasibility, and the financial and legal risks. The developed process is described in this document, along with a corresponding risk analysis form. Once a project is funded, its execution begins. A project team carries this out under the leadership of a project manager. Every project is unique, but all projects follow the same phases, regardless of content, duration, or complexity.
This document describes the phases of a project, what occurs in each phase, and provides guidelines for project managers to effectively carry out their duties. Researchers and teachers working on a project record their hours in the time tracking tool (see the MyHZ-widget project manual). All project staff are required to submit their timesheets by the end of each month, no later than the fifth working day of the following month.
Research Quality The quality of our research is ensured in various ways. Each research group has a multi-year research plan, drafts an annual plan for the coming year, and reports on the previous year. These are discussed with the domain director, lead professor, and research manager. Every six years, the research groups are evaluated by an external committee. A self-evaluation is prepared for this. The most recent one can be found here.
In daily practice, we safeguard the quality and integrity of our research by adhering to the Dutch Code of Conduct for Scientific Integrity.
Our research data is stored on Research Drive, where each research group and project has its workspace. See this page of the Media Library for more information. Research results can be published in (scientific) publications, but we also believe it is important to make the results accessible to a broader audience. We do this through the channels listed below, with support from the Marketing, Communication, and Internationalization department:
- https://hz.nl/en/applied-research - https://projectenportfolio.nl/ - https://deltaexpertise.nl