News & Views item - December  2004

 

 

Development of a Research Quality Framework for Publicly Funded Research Gets its Expert Advisory Group. (December 21, 2004)

    Last May when Backing Australia's Ability II was announced the Coalition Government committed itself to developing a framework on which to base the quality of publicly funded research. Part of the commitment was to bring together a group to undertake "wide-ranging consultations, release an issues paper and hold a major stakeholder forum." Ultimately the Framework "is to measure the quality of research conducted in Australia’s universities and Publicly Funded Research Agencies (PFRAs), as well as benefits of research to the wider community. This initiative will develop the basis for a more consistent and comprehensive approach to assessing the quality and impact of publicly funded research."

 

The Department of Education, Science and Training's media release then makes the sweeping statement, "The Government is committed to ensuring that ...resources [it puts into research] are directed to areas of research excellence and public benefit." How that will be interpreted and what qualitative and quantitative influence the recommendations of the Expert Advisory Group will have on the interpretation will be viewed with considerable interest by the academic and research communities.

 

The Chairman of the Group is to be Sir Gareth Roberts.

 

    On April 19, 2002 TFW reported the findings of the "Robert's Report" commissioned by the UK government as follows:

On June 21st last year HM Treasury headed a media release, "Views Sought on the Supply of Scientists and Engineers."

Today [April 15, 2002] saw the publication of a consultation paper seeking to encourage innovation and strengthen further the UK's science base by enhancing the supply of highly skilled scientists and engineers. The consultation paper, which seeks views on the key issues affecting the supply of scientists and engineers, is the first stage of an independent review led by Sir Gareth Roberts.
    The aim of this review is to ensure that businesses, universities and the public sector can recruit and retain the highly skilled scientists and engineers necessary to underpin their research activities, and thereby enhance the UK's already strong reputation for scientific and technical expertise.

The 218 page Roberts' Report, SET for success: The supply of people with science, technology, engineering and mathematics skills was released on Monday. Roberts, a physicist and president of Wolfson College, Oxford, found a scientific community out of balance. While there was a rise of 49% of scientists during the past 5 years in biology, there was a 7% decline in physics and engineering graduates and a 16% drop in chemistry over the same period. This has led to "a number of serious problems," says Roberts; for example about two-thirds of physics teachers in British schools have no training in physics. Universities and companies complain of a lack of physical science talent at all experience levels.
    It was concern about the supply of research talent that led the Treasury to commission the report as a matter of urgency. The review sets out 36 recommendations which it says, "are designed to help secure a strong supply of people with science and engineering skills. The Review believes that implementing these recommendations will be a crucial element in achieving the Government's agenda for raising the R&D and innovation performance of the UK to match the world's best."
    The review gave no costings for the implementation of its recommendations in contrast to the Office of Science and Technology's Study of Science Research Infrastructure which went into considerable cost detail.

 

Whether the report to be brought down with respect to Australia's "Research Framework" will speak in the same blunt language that was used in Robert's 2002 UK report -- well we can only hope.

 

Below are tabulated the thirteen members of the Advisory Group.

 

Members of the Research Framework Expert Advisory Group

Qualifications as listed in DEST's media release

Sir Professor Gareth Roberts, Chairman International representative - United Kingdom. President of Wolfson College, Oxford. Appointed to serve on the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) Board from August 1997 for three years and was reappointed in 2000 and again in 2002 until August 2005. He chairs the Board’s Research Committee and led the UK-wide review of research assessment, which reported to the UK funding bodies in 2003. Sir Gareth was formerly Vice-Chancellor of the University of Sheffield and in 2001 became the President of Wolfson College, Oxford.
Professor Paul Callaghan International representative - New Zealand. Director of The MacDiarmid Institute for Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. Professor Callaghan chaired the Moderation Panel of New Zealand’s Performance-Based Research Fund (PBRF), in 2003. A key function of the Moderation Panel was to ensure consistent standards, both within and between Peer Review Panels. Professor Callaghan has a BSc (Hons) (Wellington) and DPhil DSc (Oxford) and membership of FRSNZ, FRS FInstP, and FNZIP.
Dr Michael Barber Representing the CSIRO. Executive Director, Science Planning, CSIRO. Dr Barber oversees the assessment, development and promotion of CSIRO's scientific excellence and talent to ensure CSIRO's sustained leadership in scientific and technological excellence and thus the organisation's impact on and relevance to the nation. Prior to joining CSIRO, Dr Barber was Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research and Innovation) at The University of Western Australia.
Professor Ian Chubb Representing the Group of Eight Became Chair of the Group of Eight in November 2003. Professor Chubb was appointed Vice-Chancellor of The Australian National University in 2001, having been Vice-Chancellor of Flinders University; Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor at Monash University; and Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the University of Wollongong.
    Between 1990 and 1993, Professor Chubb was Chair of the Higher Education Council, and concurrently Deputy Chair of the National Board of Employment, Education and Training. He also served as Interim Chair, then Deputy Chair, of the National Committee for Quality in Higher Education. Between 2000 and 2002 Professor Chubb served on the Prime Minister's Science, Engineering and Innovation Council. He is a serving member of the Foreign Affairs Council, and is a Director of the Australia-New Zealand School of Government. He also served in various capacities on the National Health and Medical Research Council and the Australian Research Council.
Professor Peter Høj Representing the Australian Research Council (ARC). Commenced as CEO of the ARC on 1st October 2004. He was previously Managing Director of the Australian Wine Research Institute, based in Adelaide. Professor Høj was educated at the University of Copenhagen, majoring in Biochemistry and Chemistry. He has a Master of Science Degree in biochemistry and genetics and a PhD in photosynthesis. Since arriving in Australia in 1987 he has worked as a Lecturer and Senior Lecturer in Biochemistry at La Trobe University and Professor of Viticultural Science and Oenology at the University of Adelaide. In 1992 he was awarded the Boehringer-Mannheim medal by the Australian Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.
Dr Ian O Smith Representing The Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO). Commenced as Executive Director, ANSTO in May 2004. Dr Smith had, since 1995, been the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research, Enterprise & International) at the University of Otago, New Zealand. Among other roles, Dr Smith has held senior management positions with the Comalco Research Centre and CRA Advanced Technical Development.
Dr Robin Batterham Chief Scientist of Australia and Chief Technologist, Rio Tinto Limited. Dr Batterham’s career has focused on research and technology, in both the public and private sectors. As Chief Scientist, Dr Batterham provides advice to the Australian Government on science and innovation matters, promoting linkages between science, industry and government. He also helps to ensure public investment in science and technology is properly focused on issues of national priority. He is executive officer of the Prime Minister’s Science, Engineering and Innovation Council.
    Dr Batterham is Chairman of the International Network for Acid Prevention and is President of the Institution of Chemical Engineers (2004-05). He also holds a number of government appointments, including membership on the Commonwealth, States and Territories Advisory Council on Innovation, the Australian Research Council, the Science Prizes Committee, the Coordination Committee on Science and Technology, the Cooperative Research Centres’ Committee and the Victorian Government’s Innovation Economy Advisory Board. He is also an advisor to the Australian Institute of Commercialisation.
Professor Peter Sheehan

Representing the Australian Vice-Chancellors’ Committee. The Chair of the AVCC’s working group on the Research Quality Framework. He is Vice-Chancellor of the Australian Catholic University. Professor Sheehan has a Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology (1965) from the University of Sydney. In 1973 he was appointed Professor of Psychology at the University of Queensland and later Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research and Postgraduate Studies) at that University.
    Professor Sheehan’s appointments include: Chair, National Panel (Social Sciences and Humanities) of Australian Research Grants Committee (1980-1985); Chair, Queen Elizabeth II Fellowships and Australian Research Grants Committee (1983-1985); Chair, Commonwealth Cinematograph Films Board of Review (1986-1987); President of the International Congress of Psychology (1988); Chair, Humanities and Social Sciences Panel of Australian Research Council (1990-1991); President of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia (1991-1993); and Chair, Research Grants Committee of Australian Research Council (1992-1993).

Mr Phil Clark Representing the Business Council of Australia (BCA) The Managing Partner and CEO of Minter Ellison. He has overall responsibility for his firm's operations in Australia, Asia Pacific, the United Kingdom and United States. Prior to joining Minter Ellison in 1995, Mr Clark worked with ABN Amro Australia and prior to that, managed another major law firm. He has also worked in the oil industry and with the Pratt Group.
    His appointments outside Minter Ellison include a directorship of St James Ethics Centre and various charitable organisations. He is also a member of Australian Davos Connection and serves on several advisory boards, including the International Chamber of Commerce, European Australian Business Council and Australian Graduate School of Management.
Professor Ross Milbourne Representing the Australian Technology Network of Universities (ATN). Vice-Chancellor and President of the University of Technology, Sydney. Previously he was Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) at the University of Adelaide. His areas of research are monetary economics, macroeconomics and economic growth. His current area of interest is economic growth in open economies and the role of technology diffusion.
Professor Anne Edwards Representing the Innovative Research Universities Australia (IRUA). The Convenor of the IRUA. Professor Edwards is Vice-Chancellor of Flinders University. Her previous appointments include: Deputy Vice-Chancellor Flinders University; Professor of Sociology at Monash University; and positions of Head of the Department of Anthropology and Sociology and Associate Dean in the Faculty of Arts. Professor Edwards holds a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) and a PhD from the University of London and is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Social Sciences.
    Professor Edwards is currently a member of the Australian Universities Teaching Committee and a member of the Board of the Australian Vice-Chancellor's Committee (2002-2003). She was a member of the Australian Research Council (1994-1997), and Deputy Chair (1997). Professor Edwards was also a member of the Victorian Casino and Gaming Authority (1993 to 2000), and Deputy Chair and Chair of the Authority's Research Committee (1994). In 2000 she was a member of the South Australian Film Corporation Board and she became the Chair of the Board of the Adelaide Central School of Art. She is a founding trustee of the South Australian Women's Trust.
Professor Alan Pettigrew Representing the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC). Appointed CEO of the NHMRC, commencing January 2001. Prior to this appointment, he was Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic Planning and Resources) at the University of NSW. Professor Pettigrew was NHMRC’s representative on DEST’s National Research Infrastructure Taskforce.
    Professor Pettigrew has held academic appointments at the University of Sydney and prior to joining the University of NSW was Executive Dean of the Faculty of Biological and Chemical Sciences at the University of Queensland. Professor Pettigrew's research concerned the development of the nervous system and involved both laboratory and clinical studies. He has had a long standing involvement with the NHMRC through his activities on the Grants Committee, including serving as Chair of the Committee, and on the Research Committee. Professor Pettigrew has also served on the Board of Uniquest at the University of Queensland and on the Board of the Prince of Wales Medical Research Institute.
Dr Evan Arthur Representing the Department of Education Science and Training (DEST). The Group Manager of the Innovation and Research Systems Group in the Department of DEST. Dr Arthur was educated at Newcastle (Australia) and Cambridge (UK) universities. His doctoral thesis was in the area of Stoic Philosophy. He joined the Australian Public Service in 1981 and has worked in the Department of Immigration and Ethnic Affairs as well as DEST. Dr Arthur has worked on issues such as: refugee policy; labour market programs; teacher professional development; research policy; recognition of overseas qualifications; and the use of information technology in education.