Sector feedback requested on ERA

2 April 2013

Sector feedback requested on ERA

The Australian Research Council (ARC) has today asked the Australian research sector for feedback on Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA) 2012 looking forward to the next ERA, scheduled for 2015.

ERA is a research evaluation which identifies research quality across Australian institutions and provides valuable information about the research activities of our universities.

The ARC is undertaking a review of ERA 2012 in order to identify any areas of possible improvement for the third round in three years-time and beyond.

The aim of the review is to:

• ascertain possible improvements in providing information and support for university staff responsible for collating and submitting ERA data
• identify any functional and user experience enhancements that can be made to the data collection process, or other technical aspects of the submission process
• ensure data integrity throughout future ERA processes; and seek general feedback from universities on the preparation, submission and evaluation phases of the ERA 2012 process. 

ARC CEO, Professor Aidan Byrne, said his agency was committed to working with the research sector to ensure that ERA remained a dynamic and flexible system of research evaluation.

"Anyone with an interest in the ERA 2012 process is invited to respond to the questions listed in the review paper.

"Changes were made to the ERA process from Round 1 in 2010 to Round 2 in 2012; looking ahead we need to ensure that if there is room to provide additional opportunities to extend ERA's reach that we explore those options," Professor Byrne said.

The closing date for feedback is 4.00 pm, 23 April 2013. The review paper is available from the ARC website.

Media contact: 
ARC Stakeholder Relations 
0412 623 056 or communications@arc.gov.au