Government report reveals best universities in life science research

The Federal Government's Excellence in Research Australia report, which was released today, is the first attempt to comprehensively evaluate the performance of Australian universities in terms of research output, comparing them to benchmark standards set by institutions worldwide.

The report, which surveyed 34 Australian universities, show that Australia has a number of clear strengths in research, with the life sciences being among them.

Eight of the 34 universities surveyed produced research that scored a 5/5 ERA rating, which indicates that it is well above world standard.

These universities are:

• ANU

• LaTrobe University

• Macquarie University

• Monash University

• University of Melbourne

• University of New South Wales

• University of Queensland

• University of Western Australia

The biological sciences category includes biochemistry and cell biology, ecology, evolutionary biology, genetics, microbiology, physiology, plant biology, zoology and other biological sciences.

Several universities also scored 5/5 in immunology research, which is classified under medical and health sciences in the report. These are: ANU, Monash University, Murdoch University, University of Melbourne, University of New South Wales, University of Newcastle and the University of Western Australia.

Some institutions narrowly missed out on a top rating in biological sciences with a score of 4/5, indicating their output is above world standard. These included: James Cook University and the University of Adelaide, although the latter scored 5/5 individually in evolutionary biology and plant biology.

The ERA report is the most comprehensive account of Australian research output ever produced, and involved over three years of consultation to produce.

The full report can be found at the Australian Research Council website.