1
2015 Research Plan for EDRS
Proposed 3-year Research Plan for EDRS 2015
This document includes general categories to be considered in outlining a proposed
research plan for the future; some elements may need to be modified and/or expanded
upon to address the needs and contexts of particular disciplines. Although plans may
change over time (e.g., as new opportunities arise), this plan is intended to guide
discussions during the Employee Development & Review conversation and to inform
the identification of specific activities for the coming year, as outlined on the EDRS
form (Section 2).
Updates for 2015:
1. The Project Template included in this document replaces the previous
template used. The new template has been designed to facilitate more
descriptive and strategic research planning
2. New sections have been added for 2015 to focus the planning exercise and
align with the CSU Research Narrative and the changes to how research is
evaluated across the sector
3. Please refer to the Research Fact Sheet provided at the end of this document
when populating the Project Template. It provides additional information on how
to interpret the new sections included below.
Using the Project Template:
1. As noted above, the Project Template is designed to be used across all
disciplines and so it is expected that different disciplines will identify with the
sections differently
2. The document contains 3 identical Project Templates (separated by page
breaks) which will expand as you populate the information
3. Add or delete Project Templates as needed for the number of projects you wish
to discuss
4. Please refer to the Research Fact Sheet provided at the end of this document
when populating the Project Template. It provides additional information on how
to interpret the new sections included below.
2
2015 Research Plan for EDRS
PROJECT TEMPLATE
PROJECT NAME/TOPIC
PROJECT SUMMARY
Including Project Aims, FoR codes and % research workload1
PROJECT STAGE & MILESTONES
Planning, preparation, data collections and analysis, dissemination, involvement
of HDR students
SUPPORT REQUESTED
Study leave, PD, research assistance, Research Centre Support etc.
ALIGNMENT WITH CSU RESEARCH NARRATIVE
Identify 1 or more components which are addressed by this project
COLLABORATION
CSU/external academics, non-university partners, community groups, industry etc.
2016 Planned, Pending or Secured Inputs
External grants, consultancies, contracts, internal CSU funding etc.
Planned Outputs
including submission, acceptance and/or publication dates for Books,
Chapters, Journal articles, conference papers, exhibitions,
publications/works, and HDR load/completions etc.
2017 Planned, Pending or Secured Inputs
Planned Outputs
2018 Planned, Pending or Secured Inputs
Planned Outputs
RESEARCH IMPACTS
include outreach or extension activities, reports in the non-academic domain,
government engagement or reporting, industry publications etc.
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY (IP)
investigations, protection, commercialisation (identify maturity of any IP plans
and whether or not discussion with Research Office has taken place)
1
% research workload must meet a 30% minimum across all projects
3
2
2015 Research Plan for EDRS
PROJECT NAME/TOPIC
PROJECT SUMMARY
Including Project Aims, FoR codes and % research workload2
PROJECT STAGE & MILESTONES
Planning, preparation, data collections and analysis, dissemination, involvement
of HDR students
SUPPORT REQUESTED
Study leave, PD, research assistance, Research Centre Support etc.
ALIGNMENT WITH CSU RESEARCH NARRATIVE
Identify 1 or more components which are addressed by this project
COLLABORATION
CSU/external academics, non-university partners, community groups, industry etc.
2016 PLANNED, PENDING OR SECURED INPUTS
External grants, consultancies, contracts, internal CSU funding etc.
PLANNED OUTPUTS
including submission, acceptance and/or publication dates for Books,
Chapters, Journal articles, conference papers, exhibitions,
publications/works, and HDR load/completions
2017 PLANNED, PENDING OR SECURED INPUTS
PLANNED OUTPUTS
2018 PLANNED, PENDING OR SECURED INPUTS
PLANNED OUTPUTS
RESEARCH IMPACTS
include outreach or extension activities, reports in the non-academic domain,
government engagement or reporting, industry publications etc.
Intellectual Property (IP)
investigations, protection, commercialisation (identify maturity of any IP plans
and whether or not discussion with Research Office has taken place)
% research workload must meet a 30% minimum across all projects
4
3
2015 Research Plan for EDRS
PROJECT NAME/TOPIC
PROJECT SUMMARY
Including Project Aims, FoR codes and % research workload3
PROJECT STAGE & MILESTONES
Planning, preparation, data collections and analysis, dissemination, involvement
of HDR students
SUPPORT REQUESTED
Study leave, PD, research assistance, Research Centre Support etc.
ALIGNMENT WITH CSU RESEARCH NARRATIVE
Identify 1 or more components which are addressed by this project
COLLABORATION
CSU/external academics, non-university partners, community groups, industry etc.
2016 PLANNED, PENDING OR SECURED INPUTS
External grants, consultancies, contracts, internal CSU funding etc.
PLANNED OUTPUTS
including submission, acceptance and/or publication dates for Books,
Chapters, Journal articles, conference papers, exhibitions,
publications/works, and HDR load/completions
2017 PLANNED, PENDING OR SECURED INPUTS
PLANNED OUTPUTS
2018 PLANNED, PENDING OR SECURED INPUTS
PLANNED OUTPUTS
RESEARCH IMPACTS
include outreach or extension activities, reports in the non-academic domain,
government engagement or reporting, industry publications etc.
Intellectual Property (IP)
investigations, protection, commercialisation (identify maturity of any IP plans
and whether or not discussion with Research Office has taken place)
% research workload must meet a 30% minimum across all projects
5
2015 Research Plan for EDRS
RESEARCH FACT SHEET
This Fact Sheet has been compiled by the Acting DVC (Research, Development and Industry) to
support staff and their Heads of School during the research component of the EDRS conversation.
This Fact Sheet contains links to key documentation but also provides brief commentary to users
on a number of research metrics or tools towards building a shared understanding of where
expectations are based and how research plans should be shaped within the CSU framework.
All staff should ensure they are aware of any School and/or Faculty specific expectations
which are not covered by this document.
Staff who are members of a University Research Centre should consult with their Centre Director
and Head of School on how their efforts as a member can be appropriately captured.
The CSU Research Narrative
The Research Narrative guides the research agenda at an institutional level and is a way to articulate
the cumulative goals and strengths of our research activities. This means that individuals are unlikely
to be able to identify their distinct discipline or School within the Narrative but instead should work
towards identifying how the outputs from their research projects and programs will contribute
towards this institutional Narrative.
It should not be uncommon that the research of one individual or team might contribute towards
more than one research theme within the Narrative – some contributions might be short term, some
longer term. The Narrative is about the benefits of research conducted at CSU and how collectively
we can demonstrate intellectual leadership in our regions and communities.
Definition of Research Active for the Purposes of Higher Degree by Research Supervision
The Definition was approved by Academic Senate in late 2014 for the purposes of identifying staff
experienced and established to undertake supervision of Higher Degree by Research (HDR)
students.
The Definition is already used in many Schools as a reference point for discussion of research output
and in particular when discussing discipline specifics and expectations.
The Definition can also be used as a reference point for research output discussions more broadly
and as a framework against which one can compare personal research success from time to time.
It can be a useful starting point in considering suitability for funding proposals or as a comparison to
peers in your discipline.
Research Inputs – Funding Sources
A diverse funding profile is a healthy funding profile, both as an institution and as an individual
researcher. The CSU report to HERDC for 2014 research income was $13.9 million, an increase of
14% on 2013 with a spread across Categories 1-3. To some extent with external research income
a dollar is a dollar and the Category should not be the only determining factor when identifying a
potential funding source.
6
2015 Research Plan for EDRS
One should remain cognisant of
-
Suitability to research area e.g. funding priorities of a given funding agency, and eligibility
criteria
Success of peers in your discipline with a given funding source
Alternative funding sources from the mainstream including foundations, industry and
businesses, philanthropic sources, fellowships etc.
Previous personal success and track record
Project scale compared to availability of funding and the size of your research effort
Funding Category
Spreading risk across diverse funding sources
Likelihood of success versus time commitment to proposals
Choosing strategically when CSU is the lead institution
The need for external funding to come to CSU on collaborative projects where CSU is not the
lead
Valuing the cost of research in developing realistic budgets
Research Impact
It is increasingly common across the sector nationally and in research discussions internationally to
hear reference made to research impact. The impact of research on the non-academic world is not
new, but particularly in Australia the desire to define research impact in quantifiable and measured
terms is a sometimes heated debate.
CSU as an institution has clearly stated enduring objectives for our communities, our students and
ourselves and strives to achieve these by having an impact in our region. From a research
perspective, it is about striking a balance between academic pursuits and excellence recognition
versus being able to articulate the impact of our research for the everyday person.
According to a working group led by the Australian Research Council, research impact can be
defined as ‘the demonstrable contribution that research makes to the economy, society, culture,
national security, public policy or services, health, the environment, or quality of life, beyond
contributions to academia’
The Research Impact Principles and Framework developed by this broader group provides one of
the clearest current reference points for considering how to articulate research impact.
The use of ERA rankings
As the sector awaits the results of the ERA 2015 evaluation and continues to quote the results from
the ERA 2010 and ERA 2012 evaluations, it is as critical as ever to remember that ERA rankings
are institutional rankings. They do not represent the individual researcher and they do not often even
represent a single School or Faculty within an institution. ERA rankings are derived through complex
evaluations of a select set of research metrics (traditional and non-traditional outputs, research
income, applied and esteem measures) applied at the institutional level and only where productivity
exceeds a set threshold. They are extremely useful when used correctly and are the strongest set
of evaluation metrics the Australian research sector has developed to date, but they do not
necessarily translate into individual performance assessments.