The Australian Research Council's 2018 analysis rated RMIT ‘well above world standard’ and ‘above world standard’ in 37 areas of research – 15 more than in 2015.
Deputy Vice-Chancellor Research and Innovation and Vice-President, Professor Calum Drummond, said the outstanding results and significant improvement reflected RMIT’s focused investment and pursuit of collaborative research relevant to industry and the community.
“These results demonstrate that our strategy to attract and retain talent and to conduct society relevant research is working,” he said.
“Our people are supported by our investment in facilities that best support their work, including new laboratories for Advanced Materials and Advanced Fabrication and Manufacturing research, the MicroNano Research Facility, and the Ian Potter NanoBioSensing Facility.”
The fields of Environmental Science and Management, Communication and Media Studies, Aerospace Engineering and Medical Physiology were included among 16 RMIT fields that received ‘well above world standard’ ratings.
“We aim for excellence but, just as importantly, we also aim to ensure that what we discover and develop benefits those beyond the walls of RMIT,” Drummond said.
The ERA initiative assesses research quality in Australia's higher education institutions based on expert review by committees comprising experienced, internationally-recognised experts.
Research is assessed by discipline, identifying the research strengths of individual universities and of the sector as a whole.
This round, RMIT’s research was rated 'well above world standard' in 16 fields, 'above world standard' in 21 fields and 'world standard' in a further 28.
Well above world standard
- Physical Sciences
- Analytical Chemistry
- Macromolecular and Materials Chemistry
- Physical Chemistry (Incl. Structural)
- Environmental Science and Management
- Microbiology
- Aerospace Engineering
- Electrical and Electronic Engineering
- Environmental Engineering
- Manufacturing Engineering
- Materials Engineering
- Clinical Sciences
- Complementary and Alternative Medicine
- Pharmacology and Pharmaceutical Sciences
- Medical Physiology
- Communication and Media Studies
Above world standard
- Mathematical Sciences
- Applied Mathematics
- Numerical and Computational Mathematics
- Chemical Sciences
- Organic Chemistry
- Environmental Sciences
- Artificial Intelligence and Image Processing
- Data Format
- Distributed Computing
- Engineering
- Civil Engineering
- Mechanical Engineering
- Medical and Health Sciences
- Built Environment and Design
- Architecture
- Building
- Urban and Regional Planning
- Psychology
- Visual Arts and Crafts
- Language, Communication and Culture
- Cultural Studies
World standard
- Statistics
- Biological Sciences
- Biochemistry and Cell Biology
- Information and Computing Sciences
- Information Systems
- Biomedical Engineering
- Chemical Engineering
- Food Sciences
- Public Health and Health Services
- Design Practice and Management
- Education
- Education Systems
- Economics
- Applied Economics
- Commerce, Management, Tourism and Services
- Banking, Finance and Investment
- Marketing
- Transportation and Freight Services
- Studies in Human Society
- Policy and Administration
- Political Science
- Sociology
- Psychology and Cognitive Sciences
- Law and Legal Studies
- Law
- Studies in Creative Arts and Writing
- Film, Television and Digital Media
- Performing Arts and Creative Writing
Story: Kate Milkins
