Excellence in Research for Australia

The Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA) Initiative

On 26 February 2008, the Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research, the Hon. Senator Kim Carr, announced his plans for a new research quality and evaluation system.

The Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA) initiative will be developed by the Australian Research Council (ARC). It will assess research quality within Australia’s higher education institutions using a combination of indicators and expert review by committees comprising experienced, internationally-recognised experts.

ERA will use leading researchers to evaluate research in eight discipline clusters.

ERA will detail by institution and by discipline those areas that are internationally competitive, together with emerging areas where there are opportunities for development and further investment.

ERA will start with those disciplines where the indicators are most widely accepted, for example, in the physical and biological sciences.

Consultation will continue with other disciplines about indicators appropriate to their disciplines, noting that some measures will be appropriate to all disciplines and that for all disciplines expert review of the indicators is essential.

The submission process for the ERA Initiative Consultation Paper has now closed.

Consultation with the higher education sector on Research Outlet Rankings is in progress. 

Links and documents

• Flinders ERA webpage
• ERA Initiative website
• ERA Initiative Consultation Paper (PDF 329KB)
• Flinders Submission - ERA Initiative (PDF 620KB)