Media Release
January 31 2011
University of South Australia research
recognised as world-class in national assessment
University
of South Australia Vice Chancellor,
Professor Peter Høj, says the first
Excellence in Research
for Australia (ERA) assessment has recognised the University’s
achievements in research and confirmed that it is on target to meet its
ambitious research goals for the next decade.
“I am delighted to see that the ERA outcomes demonstrate that, not only
are we producing research that is world-class in all of our academic
divisions, we are performing well above world-class level in key areas,”
Prof Høj says.
“Our results show that around 70 per cent of UniSA research assessed is
world-class, which is a testament to the commitment of research active
staff across our divisions and institutes.”
UniSA is performing at or above world class levels in:
- Chemical Sciences, including Physical Chemistry
- Engineering, including Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Materials Engineering, Resources Engineering and Extractive Metallurgy and Chemical and Civil Engineering
- Environmental Sciences,
including Environmental Science and Management
- Medical and Health Sciences, including Nursing, Nutrition and Dietetics, Pharmacology and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Medical Physiology, Public Health and Health Services
- Accounting and auditing
- Business and management
- Language, Communication and Culture, including Cultural Studies and Linguistics
- Education Systems
- Historical Studies
- Law
- Mathematical Sciences, including Pure and Applied Maths
- Social Work
- Tourism
- Built Environment and Design, including Urban and Regional Planning
- Studies in Creative Arts and Writing, including Visual Arts and Crafts
The ERA exercise, an Australian Government initiative to assess the
research contributions of Australian universities, has been based on
research performance data collected between 2003 and 2008 and
publications during that period.
Professor Høj says that as an institution established just 20 years ago,
the University’s performance is remarkable.
“Even though we are a very young institution and the data collection for
this ERA assessment represents a period early in our development as a
research university, our results are a clear sign that we are on the
right trajectory,” he says.
“And we’ve continued to strengthen our research performance in the
period since the ERA data were collected.
“We are ambitious about the role that the University will play in
building further research excellence and innovation in Australia. In the
past five years we doubled our research income and we’re on track to
double it again.”
Professor Høj says the University of South Australia is building on its
current strengths by attracting world-class researchers from
institutions such as the Universities of
Oxford and Cambridge, the
University of London, the
Max Planck Institute for Colloids and Interfaces, the
University of Melbourne,
UC Berkeley and
Colorado State University, to
establish or build research in key disciplines.
“Of our academic staff, 66 per cent hold doctorates, and in 2010 the
University was in the top 10 in Australia on this measure,” he says.
“We have aligned our research development with our teaching and learning
strengths and with national and state targets for innovation in key
areas including minerals and materials science, environmental management
and population health and well-being and with our mission to educate
professionals”
Research highlights
- UniSA has doubled research income from $26.5M in 2004 to $58M in 2009 and is on track to double it again.
- To build on existing strengths, UniSA has attracted world-class researchers from institutions such as the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, the University of London, the Max Planck Institute for Colloids and Interfaces, the University of Melbourne, UC Berkeley and Colorado State University, to establish and build research in key disciplines.
- Some 66 per cent of UniSA’s academic staff hold doctorates, and in 2010 the University was in the top 10 in Australia on this measure.
- Since 2006 UniSA has appointed 13 new UniSA ResearchSA Chairs, and more than 26 externally and competitively funded research fellows.
- Since 2009, UniSA academics have been awarded seven Australian Research Council Future Fellowships, a National Health and Medical Council (NHMRC) Australia Fellowship and an NHMRC Senior Principal Research Fellowship.
- UniSA researchers have recently won an $8M NHMRC program grant to investigate diabetes and cardiovascular disease in Indigenous populations and a $5M Australian Space Research Program grant to transmit data from field instruments to researchers live via satellite.
- Federal and state governments have awarded UniSA $45M for a new materials and minerals science learning and research facility at Mawson Lakes, and over $13M to support research centres of national importance in the humanities and social sciences, including the International Centre for Muslim and non-Muslim Understanding, the National Centre for Student Equity in Higher Education and the Australian Centre for Child Protection.
- In 2009 UniSA was ranked in the top 5 in Australia for funding awarded to support Cooperative Research Centres
- UniSA has over 1000 PhD students with the majority working in our 6 research institutes and 17 research centres and engaging with a wide range of industry and end user partners
- UniSA has six research institutes, each with the multidisciplinary capacity to address research questions in a range of priority areas including sustainability, the social and biological determinants of health and Indigenous health, telecommunications, marketing science, materials and mineral science and social science research.
- UniSA has 17 research
centres and is a key partner in eight Cooperative Research Centres.
Emerging research priorities include population health, defence and security, Asian business and Muslim/non-Muslim understanding.
Media contact
- Michèle Nardelli office (08) 8302 0966 mobile 0418 823 673 email michele.nardelli@unisa.edu.au