On track to achieve
Lesley Johnson, Deputy Vice Chancellor (Research), sums up why Griffith University is set to score its research excellence goals.
Who would have imagined two years ago that we would be looking back in late 2007 reflecting on the following major successes:
- $22 million National Adult Stem Cell Centre,
- $16 million Tropical Rivers and Coastal Knowledge Research Hub,
- $18 million Smart Water Research Facility,
- $15 million Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence in Policing and Security and
- $1.9 million Smart State grant to Eskitis Institute for Cell and Molecular Therapies.
We’ve witnessed the rapid growth in student numbers and associated capital works over the past five to ten years. During this time, the organisational structures were also designed to support research strengths and we now have strategic research programs and research centres in place to take Griffith through to 2015.
Concentrating and supporting research strengths within the programs and centres are yielding significant returns for us today.
In 2006, we achieved a 9.24 per cent increase in research income - exceeding $36 million for the first time, and 26 per cent rise in commercialisation income. Our research higher degree completions are on target and the quality of our academics' published works has steadily risen, demonstrating widespread support for strategic research objectives at the operational level.
The University's research capability has been strengthened significantly by a number of new professorial appointments while overall support for researchers has been bolstered by the appointment of the research development team, Griffith Research Online - an online database of published works and other support mechanisms.
The University's scale and focus of research ensure that we are in a strong position to tackle major national and international research challenges, extend research-training capacity and pursue larger, more strategic commercial outcomes.
We are also fortunate that our campuses are located in one of the fastest growing regions of Australia and the University has the Queensland Government's strong backing.
There are a range of external factors that will influence our performance in the coming years including the Research Quality Framework (RQF) - whatever its future form, rankings, national funding schemes, Higher Education Endowment Fund (HEEF) and the increasing internationalisation of research.
The themes that will dominate our strategic thinking about research and research training in the coming years include: how to expand research higher degree numbers while maintaining high quality; how to foster better collaboration both nationally and internationally; how to access global research opportunities; and how to adapt to the requirements of the RQF or any alternative scheme. The $6 billion HEEF will also influence our strategic direction for research - although the ground rules for allocation of HEEF funding remain unclear.
Griffith University can look forward to positive research outcomes during 2008 and beyond. With Griffith’s rapidly growing health profile and excellence in drug discovery, climate change, water, social sciences, policing and security and business research, it is difficult to envisage any other scenario.