annual report/2006 - University of Melbourne

esearch and
research training/
The initiative has proven immediately
successful, with SRIF funding helping to
secure the Australasian Research Centre
for the Governance and Management of
Urban Transport (GAMUT) (highlighted
in the Research Centres Section)
and the renewal for four years of the
Intellectual Property Research Institute
of Australia. In addition, the SRIF has
provided support to seven faculties for
involvement in new cross-disciplinary
initiatives. The SRIF supplements the
Major Research Equipment Fund,
another means by which the faculties
are supported in their quest to remain
research competitive through the
provision of matching funds for major
items of research equipment.
Independently of the SRIF, the
University is also providing central
support for the Nossal Institute for
Global Health during the initial phases
of its establishment.
In 2006 a Future Generation Research
Fund was launched to complement the
SRIF. This Fund is targeted specifically
at recruiting world-class researchers
(at professorial and post-doctoral levels)
to lead the University in emerging and
cross-disciplinary research areas and
to act as a conduit for more intense
collaboration across networks of
academic departments, industry and
other research institutions. The Fund
will enhance significantly more modest
existing University schemes supporting
collaborative research with overseas
and Australian partners. A crossdisciplinary
Research Working Group
(chaired by the Vice-Chancellor) was
established to develop the criteria
and processes for the use and
administration of the Fund, leading
to the appointment in the humanities
of the first Future Generation Professor.
A number of Future Generation Fellows
will be appointed during 2007.
The Future Generation Fund also
complements the ongoing University’s
Eminent Scholars Incentive Fund, which
supports the appointment of Nobel
Laureates and Laureate Professors
(distinguished professors from within
the University) as a concerted means
of providing leadership and building
teams in world-class strategic research.
The recruitment of Federation Fellows
was exceptional in 2006 with the seven
new appointments bringing the number
of Federation Fellowships awarded for
research at the University to 16.
Build Future
Research Capacity
Research Training
Strategic Priority
• Increase focus on research training
Achievements
With a Research Higher Degree student
load of over 3,000, the University has
the largest cohort of research students
in Australia.
Melbourne research completions
comprise 11 percent of Australian
research completions. The University
seeks to nurture this next generation of
researchers by providing students with
the highest possible quality supervision,
support and resources to create an
environment where they can best
realise their abilities. In recognition of
the significance of research training,
the University Council appointed the
Dean of Graduate Studies to the
new position of Pro Vice-Chancellor
(Research Training) in 2006 to
lead the enhancement of the
quality of postgraduate research
education with a particular focus on
innovative and internationally relevant
RHD programs.
The School of Graduate Studies
(SGS) coordinates the postgraduate
experience at Melbourne. Focussing
particularly on RHD students and their
supervisors, it offers a comprehensive
range of programs that aim to assist
and extend postgraduate teaching
and learning. The programs focus on
developing leadership and professional
skills of postgraduates and fostering
a broad range of graduate attributes,
particularly among doctoral students.
Building on these current programs in
2006, SGS:
profile
Professor Patrick McGorry
Psychiatrist Professor Patrick
McGorry has been a driving force
in research on early psychosis
since the 1980s. He is the founding
member and Executive Director of
the University affiliated ORYGEN
Youth Health and Research Centre,
the lead agency in a new National
Youth Mental Health Foundation,
awarded $54 million in Federal
funding over four years to deliver
major improvements in the mental
health, social wellbeing and
economic participation of young
Australians affected by mental
health illness.
Professor McGorry has played a
pivotal role in the development of
service structures and treatments
specifically targeting the needs of
young people with emerging or firstepisode
psychosis. His extraordinary
contributions to education, research
and clinical psychiatry have been
recognised through many national
and international grants. He has
published over 200 journal articles,
chapters and books and was elected
as a Fellow of the Academy of Social
Sciences in Australia in 2006.
The University of Melbourne Annual Report 2006
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