Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA) 2010 Results

Visit the ARC's ERA 2010 Results website for full documentation

The release of the first ERA rankings provides data on the University's areas of research strength which may strengthen your 'Research Environment' response. If you wish to make a statement on the University's ERA ranking for your discipline/Field of Research (FOR) please consider the following:

when referring to your ERA rankings ensure that you contextualise the University's ranking in terms of national rankings across the FOR, and the University's relative performance. It is quite possible that a ranking of 3 is the highest nationally for a particular FOR and if this is the case for your FOR you indicate this to ensure clarity for the ARC and assessors rankings of 4 or 5 should be promoted as evidence of the excellent research environment for this field of research at the University of Adelaide - and should be promoted as above or well above world standard.
rankings of 3 should be framed positively in terms of presenting the discipline at the University in terms of an upward research trajectory. You may like to highlight any new achievements and research outputs produced in A or A* journals since the first ERA collection.
link ERA outcomes to University facilities in a positive way
rankings of 1, 2 or 3: consider whether you have published in any other areas outside your main FOR which may have achieved a higher ERA ranking. If so, it is worth mentioning these. If you are involved in cutting edge cross-disciplinary research you may be able to review results across the relevant FORs to find a positive story to tell.

More about journal ranking

Tiers for the Australian Ranking of Journals
Overall criterion: Quality of the papers

Note: The previous percentages of journals defining each quality tier have now been removed by the ARC.

A*
Typically an A* journal would be one of the best in its field or subfield in which to publish and would typically cover the entire field/subfield. Virtually all papers they publish will be of a very high quality. These are journals where most of the work is important (it will really shape the field) and where researchers boast about getting accepted. Acceptance rates would typically be low and the editorial board would be dominated by field leaders, including many from top institutions.

A
The majority of papers in a Tier A journal will be of very high quality. Publishing in an A journal would enhance the author’s standing, showing they have real engagement with the global research community and that they have something to say about problems of some significance. Typical signs of an A journal are lowish acceptance rates and an editorial board which includes a reasonable fraction of well-known researchers from top institutions.

B
Tier B covers journals with a solid, though not outstanding, reputation. Generally, in a Tier B journal, one would expect only a few papers of very high quality. They are often important outlets for the work of PhD students and early career researchers. Typical examples would be regional journals with high acceptance rates, and editorial boards that have few leading researchers from top international institutions.

C
Tier C includes quality, peer reviewed, journals that do not meet the criteria of the higher tiers.

Background information

ERA Rating Scale

5 outstanding performance well above world standard
4 performance above world standard
3 average performance at world standard
2 performance below world standard
1 performance well below world standard

Our top rated ‘5’s (in both 2 and 4 digit codes) are in:

Physical Sciences
- Astronomical and Space Sciences
- Optical Physics
Earth Sciences
- Geology
Environmental Sciences
- Soil Sciences
- Evolutionary Biology
Agricultural and Veterinary Sciences
- Plant Biology
- Crop and Pasture Production
- Horticultural Production
Medical and Health Sciences (BCH)
- Cardiovascular Medicine and Haematology
- Medical Microbiology
- Nursing
- Nutrition and Dietetics
- Oncology and Carcinogenesis
- Paediatrics and Reproductive Medicine
- Medical Physiology
Studies in Creative Arts and Writing
- Performing Arts and Creative Writing

We are top or equal top in 6 (2-digit) disciplines:

Physical Sciences
Earth Sciences
Environmental Sciences
Agricultural and Veterinary Sciences
Medical and Health Sciences
Studies in Creative Arts and Humanities

We are top or equal top in 24 (4-digit) sub-disciplines. These are primarily found in the disciplinary areas of:

Agricultural and Veterinary Sciences
Physical Sciences
Medical and Health Sciences
Environmental Sciences
Biological Sciences
Earth Sciences
Studies in Human Society
Studies in Creative Arts and Humanities
Philosophy and Religious Studies

We received the only ‘5’ nationally for Paediatrics and Reproductive Medicine.

We received the equal highest score (with one other institution) in the following sub-disciplines:

Soil Science (with Sydney)
Horticultural Production (with Tasmania).
Nutrition and Dietetics (with Sydney).
Demography (with ANU).
Performing Arts and Creative Writing (with UNSW).

We received the equal highest score (with two other institutions) in the following sub-disciplines:

Crop and Pasture (with Sydney and Murdoch).
Artificial Intelligence and Image Processing (with ANU and Sydney).
Medical Microbiology (with Monash and Murdoch).
Nursing (with Melbourne and QUT).
Atomic, Molecular, Nuclear, Particle and Plasma Physics (with Melbourne and Sydney).
Applied Ethics (with Melbourne and Sydney).

We are also above world status in 17 additional sub-disciplines.

The University of Adelaide was unique in achieving a ‘5’ in 16 of the 18 sub-disciplines (the highest rating – well above world standard) results for South Australia.

The University of Adelaide had 33 sub-disciplines ranked at above world standard (a ‘4’ or ‘5’). This was 66% of all the sub-disciplines ranked at above world standard within South Australia. [20% for University of SA and 14% for Flinders].

Our investment in Research Institutes aligns well with ERA high performers. As examples, the following sub-discipline areas all scored a result of ‘5’:

Optical Physics (Institute for Photonics and Advanced Sensing)
Soil Sciences, Plant Biology, Crop and Pasture Production, and Horticultural Production (Waite Research Institute)
Geology (Institute for Mineral and Energy Resources)
Paediatrics and Reproductive Medicine, Nutrition and Dietetics (Robinson Institute)
Evolutionary Biology (Environment Institute)

Summary

The University of Adelaide aspires to be a great research university. Therefore, we are concerned with the fundamentals that lead to high productivity, quality and impact in research, such as outstanding people, excellent facilities, talented HDR students, targeted investment, and drivers for collaboration. As a Go8 institution, the University maintains high research intensiveness and a relatively broad disciplinary coverage. The ERA results help to confirm that we are on the right track.

It confirms many of our fundamental research strengths. In considering the national outcomes, the University of Adelaide found itself in an elite group of various institutions unsurpassed in 6 major discipline areas:
- Physical Sciences
- Earth Sciences
- Environmental Sciences
- Agricultural and Veterinary Sciences
- Medical and Health Sciences (BCH)
- Studies in Creative Arts and Humanities

These were all rated at ‘well above world standard’. At the sub-disciplinary level (4-digit FoR), we were unsurpassed in 24 areas, some of which are in areas outside those just listed.

It indicates our recent investment strategy in promoting new Research Institutes and Research Centres is appropriately targeted. For example, we have ‘well above world standard’ sub-disciplines in the Institute for Photonics and Advanced Sensing (Optical Physics); the Waite Research Institute (Soil Sciences, Plant Biology, Crop and Pasture Production, and Horticultural Production); the Robinson Institute (Paediatrics and Reproductive Medicine)
It provides us with useful information to assist us in determining future developments across the broad spectrum of University research. This includes addressing areas where we could do better, as well as investing in excellence. Not only do we need to work hard to lift the performance of an underperforming area, but we must continue to support those areas already delivering stunning outcomes.
It reinforces the fact that we are one of Australia’s leading research institutions, and that within South Australia we are the preeminent university . The University of Adelaide was unique in achieving a rank of ‘5’ (the highest rating – well above world standard) in 16 of the 18 sub-disciplines to receive such a score in the State.

There are many examples of high performance across the University, but to highlight just a few:

19 (86%) of our disciplines (two-digit codes) ranked at or above the ERA defined level of ‘world standard’.
We received the only ‘5’ nationally in the sub-discipline of Paediatrics and Reproductive Medicine.
We shared the equal highest score with one other institution in the following sub-disciplines: Soil Science, Horticultural Production, Nutrition and Dietetics, Demography, and Performing Arts and Creative Writing.
We shared the equal highest score with two other institutions in the following sub-disciplines: Crop and Pasture; Artificial Intelligence and Image Processing; Medical Microbiology; Nursing; Atomic, Molecular, Nuclear, Particle and Plasma Physics; and Applied Ethics.

It is important to remember that the ERA is a retrospective exercise, based on research outputs for the period 2003-2008. We are hopeful that a number of strategies which we have put in place over the last couple of years will have a positive affect on the results of the 2012 ERA (likely to be for the assessment period of 2005-2010).