The Matter of Research Impact is Once Again Under Discussion. (July 23, 2008)

The Australian Technology Network of Universities (ATN)* are striving to place research impact on the agenda for defining the scope of Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA).

Senator Kim Carr, with support from many academics, called for it to be removed from the Coalition's now relegated Research Quality Framework (RQF). It was clear from the pronouncements that came forth from the RQF reference committee that it was having the devil's own time trying to develop a framework to quantitatively assess the quality of impact on "real world" imperatives.

Unphased, the ATN institutions, who define themselves principally as institutions of applied research, are fighting to have impact considered a key factor in ERA assessment, claiming: "the translation of research outcomes can be credibly defined, validated and assessed."

University of NSW deputy vice-chancellor Les Field and University of Sydney deputy vice-chancellor research Merlin Crossley (two of the Group of Eight universities' administrators) were equivocal in their comments to The Australian's Guy Healy saying respectively research impact was "important" and "vital".

But Professor Field warned that trying to quantify impact risked making the exercise "backward-looking", since the most significant impact of the best research often occurred many years after it was performed. "We must avoid at all cost verbose and descriptive prose and we must stick to impact that is real, as distinct from speculative," he said.

Professor Crossley said it was not necessary to struggle to attempt to measure impact over the short term, since the term quality research already meant research "we believe will have an impact on society in the future".

Australian Research Council chief executive Margaret Sheil, could not have been more definite telling Mr Healy that the Government's Excellence in Research Australia initiative would "not attempt to measure impact".

On the other hand she did not explain why the ERA was necessary at all.

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*The five universities making up the ATN: Curtin University of Technology, University of South Australia, University of Technology, Sydney, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology and the Queensland University of Technology.