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SEER Application Help

Welcome to SEER

The System to Evaluate the Excellence of Research, referred to as SEER, is the information technology platform operated by the Australian Research Council (ARC) to support the administration and evaluation workflows of the Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA) initiative.

SEER is intended predominantly for use by eligible Australian higher education providers, hereafter "institutions", ERA Research Evaluation Committees (RECs), ERA expert and peer reviewers and ARC staff. Access to SEER is granted by the ARC to an institution to facilitate ERA submissions.

For further information please refer to:

ERA Timelines

Institutions participating in ERA are able to upload their submissions for the Physical, Chemical and Earth Sciences (PCE) Cluster from Monday 1 June 2009 until Friday 3 July 2009, and for the Humanities and Creative Arts (HCA) Cluster from Monday 3 August 2009 until Friday 21 August 2009. SEER will not permit further data to be submitted to the system outside these submission periods.

ARC Helpdesk

During the submission periods for the PCE and HCA clusters Helpdesk support for institutions will be provided by the ARC during AEST business hours.
Please direct SEER inquiries to the ERA Helpdesk on 02 6287 6755 or email era@arc.gov.au.

Submission Management

Upload a Submission

Items to note:

  • Only actions relating to the relevant cluster during the cluster specific submission period are permitted. For example, during the PCE submission period institutions will not be able to undertake HCA-related activities in SEER.
  • Warning messages at the top of the screen may appear at any point during the submission process.
  • A file being uploaded replaces any previously uploaded file.
  • Any error notifications that may be displayed by the system are listed at SEER Messages below, together with clarification on what they mean and what action is required.
Activity:
Upload Institution Submission
Outcome:
At the completion of this activity the selected institution submission file will be uploaded, verified and stored within SEER.

Steps

  1. From the SEER Home page select the Upload Submission link.
  2. Select the relevant discipline cluster from the drop-down menu.
  3. If any previous uploads have occurred, details of the files will be displayed in the Upload Institution Submission page
  4. At the Select Institution Submission field select the Browse button and locate the submission file on your system.
  5. Choose the submission file to upload and select the Open button. Select the Upload button.
  6. The Verify Institution Submission page will display, indicating the uploaded filename, the upload date and the file size. If the upload has been successful a message will be displayed in blue at the top of the screen.
  7. At this step either:
    • Select the Cancel button to return to the SEER Home page. This will cause the upload to stop and the file will not be submitted; or
    • Select the Verify button and SEER will verify that the content of the uploaded XML file complies with the XML schema released for the PCE and HCA clusters for ERA in 2009. The results of this verification will be displayed on the Submission Upload Status page.
  8. The Submission Upload Status page will display a summary of the outcome of verifying the uploaded XML file including whether XML validation and data verification has passed or failed. A blue message at the top of the screen will confirm that the submission file has passed and has been stored, whilst a red message will alert the user that validation has failed.
  9.  At this step either:
    • select the Return to Home button to return to the SEER Home page; or
    • select the Generate Reports button to proceed to the Submission Upload Status Report page.
Activity:
Manage Background Statement
Outcome:
At the completion of this activity the selected institution’s Background Statements for specific two-digit fields of research will be uploaded and stored within SEER.

Steps

  1. From the SEER Home page select the Manage Background Statement link.
  2. Select the relevant discipline cluster from the drop-down menu.
  3. Select the relevant two-digit FoR code from the drop-down menu.
  4. Type or paste in your Background Statement and select Save. Please note that you will not be able to save your statement if it exceeds the 10 000 character limit.
  5. To amend your Background Statement after you have saved it select Edit. To erase your Background Statement select Delete and insert a new statement.
  6. Once your statement has been saved a message indicating that the Background Statement has been saved will display at the top of the screen.
Activity:
Finalise Submission
Outcome:
At the completion of this activity material submitted by the selected institution will be finalised within SEER. This process will lock the submission so that no further changes can be made prior to certification. Finalising the submission will also prevent any further changes being made to the Background Statements.
Note:
To unfinalise a submission contact the ERA Helpdesk.

Steps

  1. From the SEER Home page select the Finalise Submission link.
  2. Select the relevant discipline cluster from the drop-down menu.
  3. Details of the file to be finalised will be displayed under the Verified Upload to Finalise field. If relevant, this page will also display historical data on previously unfinalised submissions as well as warning details.
  4. Select Finalise to finalise the submission.
  5. A confirmation button will appear. Selecting No will return you to the Home page. Selecting Yes will bring up the Final Submission Complete page with finalised details.
Activity:
Certify Submission
Outcome:
At the completion of this activity the Vice-Chancellor or equivalent will have provided certification in SEER that all information in institution submissions is accurate and comprehensive. To complete certification a signed hardcopy of the Certification Statement must be forwarded to the ARC by the prescribed date.
Note:
To uncertify a submission contact the ERA Helpdesk.

Steps

  1. From the SEER Home page select the Certify Submission link.
  2. Select the relevant discipline cluster from the drop-down menu and then Continue.
  3. The Certify Submission page will display the selected discipline cluster and Terms and Conditions. Select Continue.
  4. Another Certify Submission page will appear displaying the selected discipline cluster and file details. If relevant, this page will also display Alert Details, including historical data on previously unfinalised and uncertified submissions as well as warning details.
  5. Select Accept and Continue.
  6. A yellow warning will display with a reminder that a signed copy of the Certification Statement must be forwarded to the ARC.
  7. Select Print Draft Certification Statement. A PDF file of the Draft Certification Statement is generated and displayed in a new tab or browser window. The draft statement is identical to the final statement except for the draft watermark.
  8. Select Certify.
  9. A Confirmation button will appear. Selecting Yes will bring up the Certify Completed page, specifying certification details and instructions on how to complete the certification process.
  10. Select Print Certification Statement. This form must be signed by the Vice-Chancellor or equivalent and forwarded to the ARC by the prescribed deadline.

Reports

Generating a Report

Activity:
Generate Submission Upload Status Report
Outcome:
At the completion of this activity the Submission Upload Status Report will be generated from the data currently stored in SEER for the user's institution and displayed.

Step

  1. From the SEER Home page select the Generate Report link.
  2. Select the relevant discipline cluster from the drop-down menu.
  3. Select Submission Upload Status Report from the drop-down menu.
  4. Select the Generate Report button.
  5. The report will be generated and displayed.

Error Messages

The following tables list the error notifications that may be displayed by the SEER application.

The following error messages are shown on a separate error page.
SEER Message
Notes
The XML namespace of the uploaded submission file does not match the selected cluster (Name of the Cluster) Either user has selected invalid cluster for submission or submission file contains xml specific characters such as “&, > < , `” etc. Please select appropriate cluster or remove any special characters from submission file.
The compressed file that you uploaded contains too many files. Compressed files must contain only a single XML file. The uploaded zip file contained more than one file. Resubmit a zip file containing only a single XML file.
The compressed file you uploaded does not contain an XML file. The zip file contained a file which did not have an .xml file extension or an unknown error occurred extracting a submission file from a zipped submission file. Resubmit zip file containing a valid XML file.
SEER cannot store the selected file. Please contact the ERA Help Desk. An error occurred writing the uploaded file to the application server's file system.
You must select a .XML or .ZIP file to upload. SEER does not accept files in formats other than these two. File uploaded is not a zip or XML file. Resubmit a valid .XML.or zip file.
Error accessing the upload filename. Upload filename is empty or cannot be found. Filename value in submission upload table is empty. Contact the ERA Helpdesk for assistance.
Error submission upload cannot be found This will message will be displayed if the submission upload data in the database cannot be found. Contact the ERA Helpdesk for assistance.

The following error messages are shown in a message box at the top of the screen.

SEER Message
Notes
Background Statement can not be saved at this time.
Please try again.		 Background Statement can not be saved at this time. Please try again.
An error occurred while saving the Background Statement. Please contact the ERA help desk. Unknown error during saving of the Background Statement. Contact the ERA Helpdesk for assistance.
No Background Statement provided for this two-digit FoR code. A user has attempted to view a Background Statement for a 2-digit FoR where no Background Statement was supplied (note that this will only be shown for finalised/certified submissions).
A new submission file is currently being uploaded for the same cluster. Please restart Finalisation when the file upload is completed. Another user has uploaded a new submission file whilst this user has been attempting the finalisation process. Begin finalisation process again.
SEER is unable to finalise the submission. Please contact the ERA Help Desk. An attempt has been made to certify a submission which has already been certified. Contact ERA Helpdesk for assistance.
Submission details update has been detected. Please restart Certification. The submission details change whilst a user is attempting to certify, therefore potentially the details in the Certification Statement are not up to date.
SEER is unable to certify the submission. Please contact the ERA Help Desk. An attempt has been made to certify a submission which has not been finalised. Finalise submission, and then proceed to certification. Contact ERA Helpdesk if you require assistance.
Content Last Modified:

17/12/09


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