Analysis of performance against purpose

Excellence in Academic Culture is central to the University’s identity. A number of initiatives are ensuring ANU continues to drive excellence as a marker for all that we do. For example, in 2019 ANU:

• changed the way it admits students to consider co-curricular and service achievements and provide clarity on equity and merit adjustments;
• launched the Zero-Carbon Energy for the Asia-Pacific and Humanising Machine Intelligence Grand Challenge projects, encouraging large-scale interdisciplinary research approaches to some of the world’s most significant problems;
• continued to prioritise gender equity, and received the SAGE Athena SWAN Bronze Award for gender equity in sciences, technology, engineering and mathematics disciplines;
• launched a 15-year collaborative research programme with the Australian Signals Directorate;
• won major Government tenders for the Australia-Pacific Security College and National Security College, confirming our leadership in this space;
• through the ANU Futures Scheme, supported the best and brightest early- and mid-career researchers to join ANU as continuing members of academic staff;
• achieved a high success rate for Australian Research Council grants.

Performance criterion

Improvement in the proportion of academic staff contributing to Excellence in Reseach for Australia (ERA) level-4 and level-5 results

Criterion source

ANU Strategic Plan 2019–2022, Key Performance Indicator 1, p.25

Result against performance criterion

Achieved

Analysis of performance

ANU has excelled against this performance criterion, showing progressive improvement in each ERA exercise undertaken by the Australian Government.

The results reflect growth in the proportion of disciplines at ANU receiving ratings of 4 and 5, with the ANU proportion of assessed fields ‘above or well above world standard’, leading the nation at 96 per cent. Achieving outstanding results in ERA demonstrates the strength and calibre of the academic environment at ANU.

Further information on ANU ERA performance is available at dataportal.arc.gov.au/ERA/Web/Outcomes and dataportal.arc.gov.au/ERA/NationalReport/2018/.