2011 Strategic Roadmap for Australian Research Infrastructure

to enable the provision of a ‘one-stop shop’ to the wider research community and
industry.
Pricing/access
Several Expert Working Groups identified access and pricing as important factors
influencing uptake of research infrastructure.
Responses to NRIC’s Strategic Framework Discussion Paper indicated that
access and pricing regimes should be clear and transparent. Stakeholders also
indicated that competitive access for finite research infrastructure resources
should be based on a combination of factors including merit, co-investment, the
role of the host institution, opportunities for early career researchers, and
supporting collaborative research.
Comments also suggested that, in addition to research infrastructure at the
national and landmark scale being made widely accessible to publicly funded
researchers on the basis of merit and other factors, local or institutional research
infrastructure should be made accessible to the extent possible in order to
maximise use and support collaboration between institutions.
Excellence
The Strategic Framework Discussion Paper, in the section on prioritising research
infrastructure investment, made the following observation:
Australia should prioritise investments in research infrastructure to ensure the
needs of the nation and its best researchers are met. This means prioritising
investment based on excellent research, or areas in which Australia seeks to
develop leading research capability. Any consideration of research excellence also
needs to be balanced by a focus on innovation outcomes and the contribution that
research makes to productivity and prosperity 9 .
Since that discussion paper was released, the Australian Research Council (ARC)
has released the Excellence for Research in Australia 2010 National Report 10 .
In its overview of that report, the ARC noted that Australia performed ‘well above
world standard’ (i.e. received a rating of five across four or more institutions at the
four-digit discipline level) across the following disciplines:
Cardiovascular Medicine and Haematology; Oncology and Carcinogenesis;
Immunology; Medical Physiology; Human Movement and Sports Science;
Clinical Sciences; Pharmacology and Pharmaceutical Sciences;
Astronomical and Space Sciences; Quantum Physics; Optical Physics;
Plant Biology; Evolutionary Biology; Ecology; Zoology; Geology; Historical
9
http://www.innovation.gov.au/Science/ResearchInfrastructure/Documents/Strategic%20Framework%20for%20Research%2
0Infrastructure%20Investment%20-%20Discussion%20Paper.pdf
10
http://www.arc.gov.au/pdf/ERA_report.pdf
8