2007 Annual report (PDF 8.1 Mb) - University of Melbourne

INTRODUCTION
And OVERVIEW
In 2007 Melbourne maintained its position
as a leading national research university,
scoring strongly against every national
research indicator and recording its best
ever performance in competitive grant
income. Performance in ARC Discovery
and NHMRC project grants was particularly
strong and well up on 2006 figures.
Melbourne remains one of Australia’s
largest universities in terms of both
research income and expenditure.
Global Links
The progress of knowledge relies on
international effort. The University
participates in global opportunities
and the sharing of knowledge in many
ways – through international networks,
international partnerships and some 180
bilateral agreements with universities
around the world. Melbourne has been
a keen participant in the activities of the
Association of Pacific Rim Universities
(APRU) in its first year of membership,
while continuing to engage in collaborative
and entrepreneurial activities through the
Universitas 21 network. The University
consolidated its strategic presence in
the Asia – Pacific region through new
international offices in Kuala Lumpur,
Singapore and Bangalore, complementing
existing offices in Jakarta and Bangkok. In
July we formed a partnership with seven
Malaysian universities for a PhD program
designed to build capacity in the Malaysian
higher education sector, allowing candidates
to split their research time between
Melbourne and their Malaysian university.
Pushing against the national trend of
declining international student enrolments,
the University was once again successful in
attracting a large number of well-qualified
students from overseas to its programs.
Of the 44,500 students enrolled at the
University in 2007, over 11,000 (27 per
cent of the teaching load) are international
students from more than 115 countries.
Outstanding
Undergraduate Intake
Melbourne again experienced high
demand for its undergraduate places from
outstanding domestic students in 2007,
resulting in a median ENTER score for
Victorian school leavers of 94.7, 5.2 points
higher than the closest Victorian university.
Melbourne again recorded a substantial
number of domestic undergraduate feepaying
students, all of whom received
high ENTER scores and were eligible for
a government-subsidised place in other
courses or at other institutions.
Funding
While governments continue to be
important contributors, in 2007 funding
from Commonwealth and Victorian
governments, excluding research funding,
constituted just 25.8 per cent of total
revenue. Commonwealth funding from all
sources (including research) other than the
Higher Education Contribution Scheme
has diminished from 56 per cent of the
total in 1996 to 41.0 per cent in 2007. The
University’s consolidated income of $1.43
billion in 2007 was up by 11.7 per cent on
2006, due largely to continuing growth of
fee-revenue and research and investment
income. Overall, Melbourne has been
successful in achieving a 11.54 per cent
increase in unit-of-resource student funding
since 2004, i.e. $34,700 to $38,704. The
University’s financial strength has been
confirmed by continuation of its Standard
and Poor’s credit-rating at AA+, the highest
rating available to an Australian university.
Outlook
These are exciting times for the University.
2007 proved a year of important progress
toward a new learning and teaching agenda
for Melbourne, enhanced research focus,
the widescale adoption of Knowledge
Transfer, and a series of local actions to
create a university which offers great
facilities to students from home and abroad.
It is testament to the commitment and
professionalism of the University’s staff
that implementation of Growing Esteem
has not detracted from the University’s
performance as a leading Australian
University in 2007. In 2008 we will continue
to reshape an institution of great social,
economic and cultural significance, paying
particular attention to the values that guide
our journey to becoming one of the finest
universities in the world.
Professor Glyn Davis AC
Vice-Chancellor
PROFILE
Professor
MARCUS Pandy
Chair of Mechanical and Biomedical
Engineering, Professor Marcus
Pandy, is leading a $4 million research
project mapping the way we move
and how this impacts on our joints.
The research is aimed at better
understanding the biomechanics and
control of human movement.
The Human Movement research project
has been established within NICTA,
Australia’s research centre of excellence
in Information and Communication
Technology. Professor Pandy is using
sophisticated fluoroscopy X-rays and
computer generated modelling, to track
a range of indicators including muscle
use, rotation and force to map how
humans move.
The focus is on applying engineering
techniques to address a range of
clinical problems, such as movement
abnormalities caused by knee-ligament
injury, knee joint osteoarthritis, and
cerebral palsy. Professor Pandy uses
mathematical models to simulate a
range of movements. Analysis of the
models helps understanding of which
muscles move particular joints and
how muscles contribute to the stress
patterns developed at each joint.
The models have far reaching
assessment and diagnostic
possibilities. Professor Pandy has
received national and international
awards for his research on
computational modelling of movement.
He is a Fellow of the American Society
of Mechanical Engineers and a Fellow
of the American Institute of Medicine
and Biology in Engineering.
The University of Melbourne Annual Report 2007 11