CDU / Menzies research rated “above world standard”

Australia’s peak body for evaluating research today gave Charles Darwin University a ringing endorsement for the quality of work undertaken by its researchers.

The Australian Research Council reaffirmed CDU / Menzies’ reputation as among the very best in Australia for medical and health services with a score of five, the maximum that can be achieved under the Excellence for Research in Australia (ERA) ratings system.

A score of five reflects evidence of outstanding performance well above world standards against a suite of indicators.

Pro Vice-Chancellor Research Professor Lawrence Cram said the ERA report was a comprehensive evaluation of the quality of Australian university research against world standards. 

“We have powered ahead in health and medical sciences and have maintained our exceptional strength in environmental and ecological sciences,” Professor Cram said.

“The report also identified other areas – engineering and education – as areas where we have the scale and scope to be our next achievements.”

CDU was assessed in nine broad fields of research and a further 12 specific disciplines in the ERA State of Australian University Research 2015-16 report, which encapsulated more than 2460 units of evaluation and 67,000 researchers across Australia’s 41 universities.

CDU was rated at world standard or above world standard in five of the broad fields of research and in nine of the specific disciplines.

“Charles Darwin University has done exceptionally well for our relatively small size in a nation that achieves an extraordinary breadth of outstanding research performance,” Professor Cram said.

Several independently published university rankings have highlighted the quality of research at CDU for the past several years.

Times Higher Education this year ranked CDU 48th in the world on its list of universities under 50 years old, and among the top 2 per cent of all universities. CDU has risen in the ranks of Australia’s universities to 10th.