Australia's Leading Research University
Knowledge is the great human project, never completed but always pressing. A public-spirited university helps to nurture scholarship, develop new insights, and promote wider understanding.
Viewed nationally, Melbourne is a leading research university. It scores strongly against every national research indicator for size, from income and publications to research higher degree load and completions. It is uniquely placed in the Parkville precinct, able to work closely with some of Australia's eminent bio-medical research institutions. A number of disciplines at Melbourne are ranked among the best in the world...
To ensure the University is investing primarily in areas of greatest research performance and potential, a transparent and systematic review will test whether each disciplinary area is within the top three in Australia. If performance is not at an acceptable level faculties will work on an improvement plan since, in the long run, investment will focus only on those academic areas deemed capable of national leadership and international relevance.
This process of evaluation will commence in 2006 to prepare the University for the Research Quality Framework exercise, due to commence the following year. Internal reviews will follow an academic logic so that essential capabilities are not lost due to inappropriate measures of performance.
To encourage more intensive cross-disciplinary research across networks of academic departments, industry and other tertiary institutions, in 2006 the University will establish a Future Generation Fund which will support priority projects. In 2006-2008 the University will recruit at least 10 Future Generation Professors to lead collaborative research on these projects. The University will strengthen its existing, highly successful program for attracting Nobel Laureates and other world-eminent scholars.
[This is an extract from Growing Esteem, the University's 10-year development strategy published in December 2005.]