Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA 2015)
RMIT Presentation
18 January 2016
Ms Leanne Harvey
Executive General Manager
Australian Research Council
What is ERA?
• ERA evaluates the quality of the research undertaken in
Australian universities against national and international
benchmarks.
• The outcomes (ratings) are determined and moderated by
committees of distinguished researchers from Australia and
overseas.
• The unit of evaluation is broadly defined as the Field of
Research (FoR) within an institution based on the Australia and
New Zealand Standard Classification (ANZSRC).
• The indicators used in ERA include a range of metrics such as
citation profiles which are common to disciplines in the natural
sciences, and peer review of a sample of research outputs
which is more broadly common in the humanities and social
sciences.
• ERA is a comprehensive collection. The data submitted by
universities covers all eligible researchers and their research
outputs.
Objectives of ERA?
• Establish an evaluation framework that gives government,
industry, business and the wider community assurance of the
excellence of research conducted in Australia’s institutions;
• Provide a national stock take of discipline-level research;
• Identify excellence across the full spectrum of research
performance;
• Identify emerging research areas and opportunities for further
development;
• Allow for comparison of Australia’s research nationally and
internationally for all discipline areas
ERA Unit of Evaluation—the FoRs
The ERA Unit is not the department nor the individual researcher
The ERA rating scale
Rating
Descriptor
5
The Unit of Evaluation profile is characterised by evidence of
outstanding performance well above world standard presented by the
suite of indicators used for evaluation.
4
The Unit of Evaluation profile is characterised by evidence of
performance above world standard presented by the suite of
indicators used for evaluation.
3
The Unit of Evaluation profile is characterised by evidence of average
performance at world standard presented by the suite of indicators
used for evaluation.
2
The Unit of Evaluation profile is characterised by evidence of
performance below world standard presented by the suite of
indicators used for evaluation.
1
The Unit of Evaluation profile is characterised by evidence of
performance well below world standard presented by the suite of
indicators used for evaluation.
ERA 2015 Outcomes
ERA 2015 results are available in: State of
Australian University Research 2015-2016 ,
Volume 1, ERA National Report.*
ERA 2015 outcomes show Australia’s
universities continue to produce high-quality
research across a wide range of disciplines.
Overall research quality is improving and reflects
ERA’s role in focussing universities on research
quality.
Of the UoEs assessed in both ERA 2015 and the
previous round, ERA 2012, 56 per cent of these
maintained the same rating, while 29 per cent
improved their rating by one.
The ERA results show an extraordinary breadth
of outstanding research performance in
Australia.
*Available at: www.arc.gov.au.
ERA 2012 to ERA 2015 Growth
There was steady growth in Australia’s university research
activity between the ERA 2012 and ERA 2015 rounds,
including increases in:
•
the total number of assessed UoEs, up 6% to 2460
•
the number of research outputs submitted, up 5% to 432
747
•
the number of research staff submitted, up 11% to 67 579
•
total number of patents, up 20% to 936.
High Performing 2-digit Units
of Evaluation
Two-digit Fields of Research codes:
01 Mathematical Sciences
09 Engineering
02 Physical Sciences
11 Medical and Health Sciences
03 Chemical Sciences
17 Psychology and Cognitive Sciences
05 Environmental Sciences
18 Law and Legal Studies
07 Agricultural and Veterinary Sciences
21 History and Archaeology
National Strengths
• ERA also helps identify areas of particular research strength.
• Consistent with previous ERA rounds, the national strengths
are defined as specific disciplines (4-digit FoRs) where ten
(10) or more Australian universities were rated at above world
standard or higher, including four or more Australian
universities rated at well above world standard
• A wide variety of disciplines are represented in these national
strengths—from basic sciences, engineering, to the
humanities—including pure and applied mathematics ;
astronomical and space sciences; macromolecular and
material chemistry; soil sciences; plant biology; civil
engineering; clinical sciences; nursing; cultural studies;
historical studies; philosophy and law.
List of National Strengths
Mathematical Sciences
0101
Pure Mathematics
0102
Applied Mathematics
0104
Statistics
Physical Sciences
0201
Astronomical and Space Sciences
0204
Condensed Matter Physics
0205
Optical Physics
Chemical Sciences
0301
Analytical Chemistry
0302
Inorganic Chemistry
0303
Macromolecular and Materials Chemistry
0306
Physical Chemistry (incl. Structural)
Earth Sciences
0403
Geology
0406
Physical Geography and Environmental
Geoscience
Environmental Sciences
0501
Ecological Applications
0502
Environmental Science and Management
0503
Soil Sciences
Biological Sciences
0602
Ecology
0604
Genetics
0607
Plant Biology
0608
Zoology
Engineering
0905
Civil Engineering
0906
Electrical and Electronic Engineering
0912
Materials Engineering
0913
Mechanical Engineering
Medical and Health Sciences
1102
Cardiovascular Medicine and Haematology
1103
Clinical Sciences
1106
Human Movement and Sports Science
1107
Immunology
1108
Medical Microbiology
1109
Neurosciences
1110
Nursing
1111
Nutrition and Dietetics
1112
Oncology and Carcinogenesis
1115
Pharmacology and Pharmaceutical Sciences
1116
Medical Physiology
1117
Public Health and Health Services
Commerce, Management, Tourism and Services
1503
Business and Management
Studies in Human Society
1606
Political Science
Psychology and Cognitive Sciences
1701
Psychology
Law and Legal Studies
1801
Law
Language, Communication and Culture
2002
Cultural Studies
2005
Literary Studies
History and Archaeology
2103
Historical Studies
Philosophy and Religious Studies
2203
Philosophy
UoE ratings (aggregated 4-digit results,
grouped by 2-digit FoR code)
RMIT’s High Performing Disciplines
RMIT University was assessed in 16 broad (2-digit) Fields of
Research (FoR) and 39 specific (four-digit) disciplines. RMIT
attained no ratings of ‘5’ in 2-digit FoR and 13 4-digit FoR. Ratings
of well above world standard, were attained in the following FoRs:
Distribution of ERA 2015 Ratings
across all Australian Universities
Distribution of ERA 2015 Ratings
for RMIT
Distribution of ERA 2015 Ratings—
RMIT HASS disciplines
Ratings for RMIT HASS disciplines
Note: For 17 Psychology and Cognitive Sciences is excluded from the HASS total
Rating changes—RMIT HASS
disciplines
The data below show the 2- and 4-digit UoEs displayed by 2-digit
grouping.
Note: For 17 Psychology and Cognitive Sciences is excluded from the HASS total
Questions?