Deakin celebrates gains in research excellence
Media releaseDeakin University has achieved a substantial improvement in research quality ratings in the Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA) results announced today with 89 per cent of all assessed disciplines now rated as World Class and Above, up from 69 per cent just three years ago.
The ERA ratings identify research excellence within Australia’s higher education institutions, against national and international benchmarks.
Deakin has been rated at “World Standard or Above” in 47 separate disciplines – increasing from 36 when the ERA assessment was last conducted in 2012.
The University achieved the top rating of 5 indicating “Well Above World Standard” in 10 disciplines – an increase from 5 disciplines rated at this level in 2012.
A rating of 4, “Above World Standard,” was achieved in 16 disciplines, up from 9 in 2012, and a rating of 3, “At World Standard,” was awarded in 21 disciplines, down from 22 in 2012.
Medical and Health research at Deakin, in particular, received exceptional ERA recognition. Of the medical and health disciplines, 6 achieved the top rating of 5 and 4 received a 4 rating.
Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) Professor Lee Astheimer said Deakin’s success reflected a very solid performance for a young university.
“This success reflects exceptional effort, commitment and teamwork across the medical and health disciplines,” Professor Astheimer said.
“As well as publishing world-class research work, academics in eight of Deakin’s Strategic Research Centres are making important translational contributions to critical aspects of the nation’s health and wellbeing – from infant and child health, to nutrition, physical activity, infectious diseases, social and mental health, to disability, ageing and chronic illness.
“In addition to our health and medical research, it is encouraging to be acknowledged for world leading research across such a wide range of disciplines.
“It is also independent validation of the high quality and significance of the research conducted by our academics.
“Deakin is proud of this confirmation. It reflects high standards, outstanding commitment and collaboration, as well as our research teams’ knowledge in advancing global understanding in these areas.
“This announcement caps off a successful year for Deakin, in which we were ranked in the top 3 per cent of the world’s universities including for the first time, ranking in the top 400 in the Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU), and 36 in the QS Top Universities Ranking of world top 50 universities under 50 years old.
“With these ERA 2015 results, I am confident that Deakin’s progress will gain further momentum as our reputation grows and we attract more world class researchers and innovative industry partners.”
Professor Astheimer added that the strongly rated disciplines align very closely with the research undertaken in Deakin’s Research Institutes and Strategic Research Centres, groups that have benefited from significant institutional support over the past six years.
Deakin’s ERA ratings above world standard within each Deakin theme:
Deakin’s ERA results are summarised below within the four research themes that reflect the University’s focus on making a difference to the communities that we serve.
Improving Health and Wellbeing:
Well above world standard (5): Human Movement and Sports Science; Medical Microbiology; Neurosciences; Nutrition and Dietetics; Pharmacology and Pharmaceutical Sciences; and Medical Physiology.
Above world standard (4): Clinical Sciences; Nursing; Public Health and Health Services; and Psychology.
Designing Smarter Technologies:
Well above world standard (5): Macromolecular and Materials Chemistry; and Materials Engineering.
Above world standard (4): Physical Chemistry; Artificial Intelligence and Image Processing; Distributed Computing; Electrical and Electronic Engineering; Manufacturing Engineering; Mechanical Engineering; and Nanotechnology.
Well above world standard (5): Environmental Science and Management; and Zoology.
Above world standard (4): Evolutionary Biology; and Fisheries Sciences.
Advancing Society and Culture:
Above World Standard (4): Specialist Studies In Education; Economic Theory; and Historical Studies.