Attachment D: New programmes for research and research training to be administered by the Department of Education, Training and Youth Affairs

Institutional Grant Scheme

The Institutional Grant Scheme is intended to provide block funding to institutions to support flexibility and quality of research and research training in each institution.

It is envisaged that all institutions undertaking research and research training, including Bond University and University of Notre Dame Australia, would be eligible to receive block funding on the condition that they furnish an acceptable Research and Research Training Management Plan and are listed on the register of bodies for the Australian Qualifications Framework.

Under the proposed framework, the Institutional Grant Scheme would include all of the funding derived from the current Research Quantum and Small Grants Schemes. It would also include approximately $210 million derived from the notional Research Training Component of operating grants.

It is proposed that funds would be allocated to institutions in accordance with a formula consisting of two components The first of these, possibly weighted at 60 per cent, would be the share of actual equivalent full-time research places. Places in high-cost research fields, such as agriculture, dentistry, engineering, medicine, science, surveying and veterinary science would be expected to be weighted more heavily than those in lower-cost fields.

The second element would reflect the value of research-related income. It would include the value of income from National Competitive Grants, other public sector funding, industry and other research funding, which is currently collected as input data for the Composite Index. In addition, it would include consultancy income for activities related to research and research training which contribute to the national innovation system. Research- related income from all sources would be equally weighted.

To enable institutions to adjust to their desired research and research training profile, it is proposed to phase in the formula progressively. The formula would be expected to be applied twice yearly to take account of variations in the number of higher degree research places. All research income data would be subject to audit for accountability purposes.

Australian Postgraduate Research Student Scheme

The Australian Postgraduate Research Student Scheme is intended to support high quality research training which is responsive to the needs of students and the broader community. Under the proposed scheme, the Commonwealth would provide institutions with scholarships for students. The scheme is intended to enable students to exert a greater influence over what, how and where they study and enable student choice to more directly influence funding allocations. Increased competition for students should ensure that institutions support their students as important partners in the research enterprise.

Most of the funding for the scheme would be derived from a share of the notional Research Training Component of the operating grant. The scheme would also absorb the existing Australian Postgraduate Awards Scheme and the International Postgraduate Research Scholarships Scheme. It is intended that the proposed changes to allocating resources for research training would be based on the agreed distribution of resources for the year 2000 in accordance with the Higher Education Report for the 1999 to 2001 Triennium, issued by the Minister for Education, Training and Youth Affairs.

All institutions offering research training would be eligible to receive funding for research students in receipt of scholarships. However, this is only on the condition that they furnish an acceptable Research and Research Training Management Plan and are listed on the register of bodies for the Australian Qualifications Framework.

It is intended that the scholarships would be HECS-exempt and not subject to further tuition fees. Scholarships would be available to Australian citizens, permanent residents of Australia or New Zealand citizens for study leading towards the award of higher degrees by research (masters or doctorates) offered by an approved institution. Students may enrol on a part-time basis or defer study for up to one year (subject to the approval of the institution), in which case payments to the institution would be adjusted on a pro rata basis. To qualify as a research degree, at least two-thirds of the assessable component of the degree must comprise research. It is proposed that the maximum period of support for full-time doctoral study would be three and a half years and two years for masters students. This is consistent with existing Australian Postgraduate Award provisions. Institutions may `carry' students whose entitlement has expired or choose to charge fees without additional funding.

Students may elect to study overseas at approved institutions for a period of up to one year, transferring with their scholarship. Australian institutions would be expected to enter into reciprocal study-abroad arrangements with institutions overseas and testify to the Department of Education, Training and Youth Affairs as to the quality of the research training environment of the institutions with which they have arrangements.

All scholarships could be expected to have a common annual value of approximately $13 736, irrespective of the course or field of study. Research students who accept an offer of a scholarship would effectively own their place until the completion of their course, or they discontinue studies or the value of their scholarship is fully expended. Students who transfer from one institution to another would take the residual value of their scholarship with them to their new institution.

Studies would be commissioned to investigate the cost of research training in different research fields and by different research methods taking account of the changing use of technology in the humanities and social sciences as well as in the natural sciences, to acquire a better understanding of the interaction between research teaching and infrastructure costs. The use of a single value scholarship initially would reduce the administrative burdens of transition from the current to the new system and give institutions flexibility to diversify their research training offerings to better reflect student choice. As a transitional measure, block funding to institutions would include an allowance to recognise additional infrastructure requirements for laboratory and field research.

It is envisaged that research places for commencing students would be allocated to institutions in accordance with a formula that could include the following components:

These components would provide incentives for institutions to be responsive to student choice, provide institutions with a measure of stability, encourage the provision of research training in research rich environments and promote student mobility.

The formula would also allocate current funding for the Australian Postgraduate Awards with stipend and International Postgraduate Research Scholarships, by allocating whole numbers of these awards and devolving management more fully to institutions. A single stipend rate could be introduced for both elements (around $16 000 per annum).

Research and Research Training Management Plans

As a means of placing greater focus on the strategic management by institutions and to facilitate the transfer of good practice across the system, it is proposed that institutions be required to develop Research and Research Training Management Plans (RRTMPs). They would serve three purposes:

• to encourage institutions to develop their own strategies in the context of a changing global climate for research and innovation;
• to serve as a key statement of an institution's role in the national research and innovation system

by clarifying within an institution itself precisely what this role is; and

informing postgraduate research students, industry, the wider research community, government and research users generally; and

• to encourage effective and efficient management of research and research training by institutions and their accountability for the use of public resources.

RRTMPs would be public documents and would form the basis for strategic discussion between institutions and the Commonwealth on the strategies adopted by institutions to manage research and research training and institutions' performance. It is expected that such discussion would take place in the context of the profiles process. RRTMPs are intended to ensure that institutions take a comprehensive view of their capacity, priorities and strategies for research and research training. There is no single preferred research model to which RRTMPs should aspire; rather such plans should reflect the diverse strengths of institutions.

All institutions would be required to have an RRTMP to receive research funding under the Australian Postgraduate Research Student Scheme and the Institutional Grant Scheme. RRTMPs are primarily based on self-assessment by institutions. It is envisaged that the first drafts of RRTMPs would be valid for one year, until institutions have an opportunity to incorporate self-assessment into their plans. Thereafter, institutions would have considerable flexibility to determine the life-span of their RRTMPs, allowing for adjustments for annual reporting on outcomes for self-assessment purposes.

RRTMPs should have certain minimal requirements—i.e. the RRTMP would need to:

• demonstrate links to an institution's strategic plan and distinctive mission statement;
• provide auditable performance indicators which allow for institutions to compare themselves with the higher education research and research training system as a whole;
• allow for self-assessment against these indicators demonstrating how well an institution has met its strategic objectives;
• demonstrate that there are clear quality assurance mechanisms in place; and
• be both concise and publishable either in hard copy and/or on the Internet.

Links to a strategic plan and mission statement

An RRTMP would need to demonstrate how an institution's research and research training management links to its strategic plan and mission statement. Institutions would, for example, be expected to specify attributes expected of postgraduates, areas of research specialisation and concentration, and key aspects of research training environments.

Performance indicators

RRTMPs should indicate an institution's preferred performance indicators for research and research training, against which an institution can progress in achieving its strategic objectives. Institutions should also include sufficient performance indicators to permit system-wide comparison:

• research student completions;
• research outputs (publications, patents, consultancies);
• research impact (citations, successful innovation and commercialisation);
• collaboration (cross-disciplinary, cross-institutional, with industry, regional, national, global); and
• research income, including consultancies for activities related to research and research training and which contribute to the national innovation system.

Self-assessment

RRTMPs should provide for an institution's own assessment against its preferred performance indicators—i.e. a comparison of targets against actual achievements and reporting on actual outcomes. This would not be required until the second year following the introduction of the RRTMP. Self-assessment could be carried out annually and indicator data should be auditable.

Quality assurance mechanisms

RRTMPs would need to demonstrate that there are quality assurance mechanisms in place and provide an outline of:

• the policies and practices that an institution has in place to assure quality;
• effectiveness of assurance procedures for evaluation and monitoring research outcomes; and
• priorities for improvement.

Publication

RRTMPs should be published to ensure that prospective postgraduate students and all users and potential users of research are fully informed.

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