February 3, 2016
The results of Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA) 2015 have again confirmed the Go8 universities as world leading research institutions and as the top eight research intensive universities in Australia.
The Go8 has increased its number of world leading research groups (ERA rating 5) by 51% from ERA 2012.
The Go8 now has 312 world leading research groups, representing 60% of the total number in Australia
Across all disciplines assessed in ERA 2015, 99% of Go8 research was judged to be at world standard or above.
ERA is conducted by the Australian Research Council to identify and promote excellence across the full spectrum of research activity within Australian higher education institutions.
Go8 universities held the top eight positions nationally for the number of fields at world standard or above, and the percentage of assessed research fields at world standard or above*.
* for universities with more than one assessed 4-digit Field of Research (FoR).
In particular, ERA results emphasise the Go8 footprint in medical research. The Go8 has six of eight groups nationally at world leading level in the broad (2-digit FoR) field of Medical and Health Sciences.
These Go8 medical research groups also won over 60% of NHMRC funding in 2015.
Table 1 – Number and percentage of 4-digit Fields of Research at World Standard (rating 3) above for Go8 institutions in ERA 2015
Go8 Institution | Number of FoRs rated 3,4,5 | Number of FoRs Assessed | Percentage of FoRs rated 3,4,5 |
The University of Melbourne | 104 | 105 | 99.0% |
The University of Sydney | 99 | 99 | 100.0% |
The University of Queensland | 97 | 97 | 100.0% |
Monash University | 91 | 92 | 98.9% |
UNSW Australia | 87 | 90 | 96.7% |
The University of Western Australia | 69 | 71 | 97.2% |
The Australian National University | 66 | 66 | 100.0% |
The University of Adelaide | 66 | 67 | 98.5% |
Go8 aggregate | 679 | 687 | 98.8% |
Chart 1 – Go8 performance in ERA 2012 vs ERA 2015 by 4-digit FoR rating
ERA 2015 performance reconfirms the Go8 status as a world leading research network:
• At least one Go8 university with an ERA rating of 5 in 20 of 22 broad fields of research (2-digit FoR)
compared to only 11 broad fields of research where any non-Go8 university achieved an ERA 5 rating;
• 14 fields of research in which the Go8 has at least 6 world leading (ERA rating 5) research groups:
o Astronomical and Space Sciences;
o Cardiovascular Medicine and Haematology;
o Clinical Sciences;
o Condensed Matter Physics;
o Ecology;
o Environmental Science and Management;
o Immunology;
o Macromolecular and Materials and Materials Chemistry;
o Materials Engineering;
o Neurosciences.
o Optical Physics;
o Plant Biology;
o Quantum Physics; and
o Statistics;
• 39 fields of research in which at least half of the Go8 universities are world leading.
For the complete results for ERA 2015 go to the website of the Australian Research Council (ARC) www.arc.gov.au
