CQUniversity welcomed a federal government report this week which places its Engineering, Medical & Health Sciences and Nursing research at a world-class standard, saying significant changes had been made to the University's research program since the 'retrospective' Excellence in Research (ERA) process, which relied on 2003-2008 data.

"We see a strong connection between the areas in which research is excelling and the growing reputation we have for courses and programs in the natural resources and health sectors," said CQUniversity Vice-Chancellor Scott Bowman.

The University has introduced three new Medical Science programs for 2011, built on its Nursing expertise and is known widely across industry for its highly acclaimed Bachelor of Engineering Co-Op program.

"Those, and other specialties, are areas in which we'll heavily invest over the next decade, making CQUniversity known for its engaged research as well as its Learning and Teaching excellence," added Professor Bowman.

CQUniversity  Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Research) Professor Chad Hewitt, who was commenting after Innovation Minister Senator Kim Carr released the ERA ratings on Monday, added the full measure of CQUniversity's research was not taken into account in the ERA report because it failed to consider the benefit our research had on our community, clients and research partners.

"That aside, we clearly perform well in the railway engineering space, for example," he said. "The challenge for CQUniversity is to appropriately manage the balance between our great community impact and the indicators of success, including publishing, which the ERA process values and rewards through funding."

Since 2008, CQUniversity has revamped its research structure and significantly invested in strategies to promote research performance through Institutes and Centres, according to CQUniversity Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academic & Research) Jennelle Kyd.                                                      

"Recruitment of quality researchers and formalised mentoring processes for existing staff have also begun to strengthen the research culture of the University," Professor Kyd stated.

"Future growth will focus primarily in applied and translational research of relevance to our stakeholders in the strategic areas of medical and allied health, resource industries and engineering, natural environment and education," added Professor Hewitt.

Outcomes of the ERA 2010 process are available on the Australian Research Council (ARC) website at www.arc.gov.au/era/outcomes_2010.

The ERA initiative is a key element of the Government's ten year Innovation Agenda, Powering Ideas. To view the agenda, visit http://www.innovation.gov.au/innovation/policy/pages/PoweringIdeas.aspx.

For information about the ERA initiative, visit http://www.arc.gov.au/era/default.htm.