News

Research Centres

[ Research Review 0307 ]

In 2006, the University was involved in over 125 centres providing a focus for research

• Nineteen Cooperative Research Centres (CRCs) (including the outcomes of the 2006 Selection Round), 15 as a core participant,
from a total of approximately 60  CRCs serving six Federal Government-targeted industry sectors.

• The Australasian Centre for the Governance and Management of Urban Transport (the GAMUT Centre), funded with a grant of $4.3 million (over five years) from the Volvo Education and Research Foundation. GAMUT is a collaborative research centre dedicated to promoting and supporting sustainable urban transport in Australia and the Asia-Pacific region. Based at the University of Melbourne in the Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning, GAMUT draws together a series of international institutions – Hitotsubashi University, Tokyo, Tongji University, Shanghai, and the National University of Singapore – with national research hubs at Griffith University and Curtin University.

• Fourteen ARC Centres (including eight ARC Centres of Excellence and four ARC Special Research Centres), three NHMRC Centres of Clinical Research Excellence, two Grains Research and Development Corporation Centres (one jointly with the ARC) and the Intellectual Property Research Institute of Australia.

• A number of national and State institutes and centres in the mathematical, chemical, oral and vision health, and plant sciences, and tissue engineering established with support from Victorian Government STI Infrastructure Grants including:

– The Advanced Centre for Automotive Research and Testing – the biggest facility of its type in the Southern Hemisphere. This collaboration between the University and Ford Australia (with funding support of $6.7 million from a Victorian Government Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) Infrastructure Grant) is aimed at developing streamlined processes between researchers and Victorian car manufacturers to create fuel efficient cars. Based in the Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, the multidisciplinary research will also involve the Departments of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Chemistry and Physics.

• The Australia-China Centre on Water Resources Research, an initiative of the Melbourne Water Research Centre of the University of Melbourne and the Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

• The UNESCO Observatory Multi-disciplinary Research in the Arts, involving nationally and internationally recognised researchers in the areas of architecture; the physical, natural, social and health sciences; well-being, culture, heritage, arts practice, education in the arts, community arts practice, research methodology, philosophy, ethics and program evaluation across pure, strategic, applied and action research, across the Asian and Pacific region.

Research Performance

Since 1996, the University has consistently ranked first or second on all major national research indicators, namely, total income, publications, research higher degree (RHD) load and RHD completions. These indicators are used by the Department of Education, Science and Training (DEST) to allocate government funding for research and research training infrastructure. As indicated in the table on page 51, for 2005 (the latest data available), the University was ranked first in all of these key research performance parameters.

Based on this research performance, the University was successful in gaining the highest allocation nationally of the research block grant ($120 million representing an increase of 4.6 per cent from 2005) comprised of:

• Institutional Grants Scheme (IGS) funding ($34 million),

• Research Training Scheme (RTS) funding ($59.9 million) and

• Research Infrastructure Block Grants Scheme (RIBGS) funding ($26.1 million).

Based on 2005 (the latest available comparative data), the University’s research income totalled $254.4 million (an increase of 22 per cent), with $106.7 million of Australian Competitive Grants, $53.5 million from other public sector funding and $94.2 million in industry (including CRCs) and international support.

In 2006, for commencement in 2007, the University was awarded the highest amount of combined National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) and ARC five-year funding.

NHMRC performance was strong, with the University maintaining its top ranking for both NHMRC Project and Program Grants combined margin of $35.5 million. Success in the Project Scheme (27 per cent) was the highest in the Go8 (average 22 per cent) and nationally (average 21 per cent). New multi-year NHMRC project grants (85) and funding ($34.5 million) increased by 20 per cent and 12 per cent respectively. Three NHMRC Program Grants were awarded to the University for 2007 with a total value of $32.4 million, compared with two grants and $23 million respectively for 2006.

Results in the ARC schemes were mixed. New multi-year ARC project grant funding of $28.6 million represented an increase of 13 per cent (the second highest GO8 per centage increase) and $3.4 million on the previous year and resulted in an improved fourth-place ranking. Although the number of successful project grants increased slightly to 92, the success rate of 20.9 per cent was below the GO8 average of 23.7 per cent. With regard to ARC infrastructure funding, the University obtained the highest GO8 Linkage Infrastructure funding as administering institution of $4.6 million (more than double the 2005 total) but performed poorly in relation to ARC Linkage Project Grants (Round One) receiving $3.2 million resulting in a decrease of 29 per cent and a sixth place ranking. Across the schemes, there were considerable differences between faculties.

To address this varied success in relation to ARC funding, an Action Plan providing for mentoring and target setting strategies was developed and implemented in late 2006.

Research Funding

Some of the larger international funding grants received included:

• $950 000 from the National Institute of Health in the United States for a joint project with the US-based Institute for Genomic Research to sequence and analyse the genome of the usually fatal fungal pathogen Penicellium marneffei;

• $820 000 over three years from the US-based Michael J Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research for research to help prevent falls and improve walking in people with Parkinson’s disease;

• $579 300 from the Susan G Komen Breast Cancer Foundation (USA);

• $516 800 from the Volkswagen Stiftung Foundation (Germany).

National funding obtained for international purposes in 2006 included $2.1 million DEST International Science Linkages funding and two ARC International Fellowships awarded for 2007.

In 2006, the University maintained its position as one of the largest research and development providers in Australia. Expenditure on research and research training from all sources was an estimated $499 million representing 42 per cent of total University expenditure. The University’s research expenditure has more than doubled over a 10-year period.

[Back to Contents]