Common use of University strategies Clause in Contracts

University strategies. Our aspirations and major priorities for research performance and capability The University of Sydney is a comprehensive research-intensive university with a breadth and depth of research excellence across the disciplinary range. In the 2012 Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA) initiative, all of the two-digit fields of research for which we submitted portfolios were rated at or above world standard. We aim to maintain our ERA 2012 result of having 100 percent of our disciplines rated at or above world standard, while we will continue to increase the share of our fields of research rated ‘above’ or 'well above’ world standard. In broad terms, our 'one university' vision for research is disciplinary excellence that enables innovative, cross-disciplinary research of high impact. Fundamental changes in the research environment, both in Australia and internationally, require new approaches to achieve and sustain research excellence in Australia's universities. While our researchers must remain free to pursue the research path they choose, strategic focus is needed to enhance the quality and impact of both our disciplinary and cross-disciplinary work. We will build upon our existing research strengths and respond to community priorities, ensuring our research has the needed scale, scope, and sustainability required to be globally competitive. Our plans Our 2011-15 Strategic Plan, White Paper and 2011-13 Compact Agreement set out our vision and objectives for the University's research agenda. We have made considerable progress since our 2011-13 compact and have reported on this regularly. Over the course of the 2014-16 compact we will continue to implement an integrated package of strategies focussed on enabling us to sustain disciplinary excellence, while developing new multidisciplinary approaches to address important societal problems. Fostering disciplinary excellence While our ERA 2012 results are strong and improved significantly between the 2010 and 2012 exercises, there remains room for improvement. We will continue to enhance the quality of our disciplinary research through strategies that include the following. Transforming our overall approach to research management and support. We will build on the major reforms we have made to our Research Portfolio over the last four years toward implementing a whole-of-University framework for research resource and infrastructure planning, management and support. Promoting focus and excellence in our faculties. We will use our 'research compacts' with each of our 16 faculties to provide customised packages of additional services and funding designed to assist each faculty to focus and strengthen its research strategy, while also fostering research excellence across the university. We will monitor and review performance through the compacts. Targeting Commonwealth resources. We will invest Commonwealth research block funding so as to reward excellence. For example, most Sustainable Research Excellence (SRE) funding will be distributed to faculties through a formula similar to that used by the Commonwealth to distribute these funds to institutions. A proportion will be held for distribution to faculties through the compact process in order to build or focus excellence in agreed priority areas, including potential emerging strengths. Taking a more strategic approach to major bid development. We will continue to take a more strategic approach to the development of bids for major Commonwealth research grant and infrastructure schemes, and ensure that our bids align with institutional and national strategic priorities as set out in the National Research Investment Plan and Strategic Research Priorities. Enhancing our data management capacity. Our research strategies and decisions will be underpinned by an enhanced capacity to capture, manage and report ERA and other research performance data, so that our approach is based on robust evidence of our strengths and weaknesses compared to international benchmarks. Focussing our effort and resources. We will seek to enhance the scale, efficiency and impact of our disciplinary research effort by delivering strategic initiatives such as the Australian Institute for Nanoscience and by implementing reforms in response to the Xxxxx Review of our Health and Medical Research activities undertaken in 2012-13. Fostering the highest standards of research integrity. All of our strategies are underpinned by a commitment to constant improvement of our research practice and processes, for example through the comprehensive suite of face-to-face and online professional development programs we offer in research integrity, research management and other fields. Promoting cross-disciplinary excellence To have visible impact in addressing the complex problems facing our nation and the world, we must harness our disciplinary expertise by providing structures and incentives for cross- disciplinary research and education. We will create an environment that promotes and facilitates cross-disciplinary collaborations of high social impact, and groundbreaking new research and teaching programs, through clear governance structures, and targeted and transparent investment in visionary initiatives. For example, the Xxxxxxx Xxxxxxx Centre will address the individual and societal burden of obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease, for which we have demonstrable research strength across many relevant disciplines. The centre is building a new understanding of these metabolic conditions and the degree to which individual behaviour, culture and societal systems can contribute to and mitigate their impacts. In this way, the centre can develop strategies to improve prevention, treatment and health outcomes worldwide. Our China Studies Centre will be a vehicle through which the University's considerable disciplinary strengths relevant to China can be focussed, coordinated and mobilised strategically to enhance engagement and understanding between Australia and our most important trading partner. Our Sydney Southeast Asia Centre will bring together university expertise to understand and engage with Southeast Asia. This work is increasingly important, given the region’s vital importance to Australia, in geopolitical and strategic terms, for our economic and environmental wellbeing. Our Centre for Carbon, Water and Food will focus on basic and applied research, especially the long-term research, needed to underpin sound policy for management of rural land – both public and private – to ensure environmentally sustainable food security. Through our planned Sydney Environment Institute, we will bring together sustainability researchers from across the University, with a focus on understanding and enabling the positive adaptation of people and societies to environmental change. These new cross-University initiatives will build on the experience of established collaborative centres and networks such as the Brain and Mind Research Institute, the United States Studies Centre, the Centre for Disability Research and Policy, our Cancer Research Network, and the Sydney Health Policy Network. See Section 1.2 (The University’s Mission and Strategic Priorities) and the links above for further details about some of our new cross-disciplinary centres. Supporting cross-disciplinary networks In addition to establishing a small number of dedicated cross-disciplinary centres, an important part of our strategy is to support the potential next generation of centres through our Sydney Research Network Scheme (SyReNS). We currently support six networks through the scheme, collaborating around the themes of social justice; climate change and society; infectious diseases and biosecurity; sciences and technologies of learning; health and work research; and energy storage. Each network is required to demonstrate its potential to develop xxxxxxxx xxxx to transform its area of research to create a medium to large-scale, cross-faculty, multidisciplinary collaborative program of research and research training. Over the course of the compact we will build on the early successes of SyReNS to strengthen existing networks and seed new collaborations.

University strategies. Our aspirations and major priorities for contributing to the national innovation system We aspire to be an international leader in delivering economic, social and environmental benefits from our education and research performance activities. We will engage strategically with industry, government agencies and capability The University communities, providing high quality technology and knowledge transfer services focussed on maximising impacts from the work of Sydney is a comprehensive researchour staff and students. We will monitor our success in contributing to innovation by measuring the revenue we generate from the adoption of our work and technology, and also by considering the diverse ways in which our activities contribute to the public good. Our plans Over the course of our 2014-intensive university with a breadth and depth of research excellence across the disciplinary range. In the 2012 Excellence 16 compact we will focus our efforts in Research for Australia (ERA) initiative, all support of the twonational innovation system by pursuing strategies in four interdependent areas. Growing our levels of technology transfer and knowledge exchange We will create the highest possible value for our industry and other external partners by better understanding their needs, ensuring any work we undertake that has strong commercial potential is identified and assessed quickly, and by marketing our applications and inventions to prospective end-digit fields of research for which we submitted portfolios were rated at or above world standardusers. We aim will expand the volume and variety of opportunities for university/end-user engagement by continuing to maintain influence and shape the environment for collaboration and through professional management of the knowledge transfer process. This will serve to deepen and broaden our ERA 2012 result client relationships, facilitate understanding of perspectives and imperatives, and strengthen opportunities to develop long-term partnerships. We will manage our intellectual property portfolio effectively, focussing our efforts on a select number of projects and opportunities assessed as having 100 percent the greatest potential for commercial success. We will collaborate closely with, and leverage, the resources of funding schemes and other partners who can assist us to progress our disciplines rated at or above world standardresearch outputs and intellectual property towards commercial outcomes. We will emphasise and build collaboration around industry-led research initiatives and schemes provided by the Australian Government, while we such as the Australian Research Council Linkage Program, the Industrial Transformation Research Program, Cooperative Research Centres Scheme, and the recently announced industry innovation precincts program (once it is established). We will continue to increase leverage the share work of our fields of research rated ‘above’ or 'well above’ world standard. In broad terms, our 'one university' vision for research is disciplinary excellence that enables innovative, cross-disciplinary research of high impact. Fundamental changes in the research environment, both in Australia and internationally, require new approaches to achieve and sustain research excellence in Australia's universities. While our researchers must remain free to pursue the research path they choose, strategic focus is needed to enhance the quality and impact of both our disciplinary and cross-disciplinary workcentres to develop partnerships in Asia and elsewhere in the areas that align with Australia's strategic research priorities. Implementing policies and processes that facilitate collaboration with end-users We will continue to reform our systems, processes and incentive structures to remove barriers to engagement between our staff, students and the end-users of research. Our integrated approach in delivering efficient and effective service to our researchers will form the platform upon which we base our collaborations with end-users. This will be underpinned by a set of complementary policies and principles. As an example, our Research Agreements Policy provides transparency and clear direction on the threshold positions we will take in negotiations with third parties about research collaborations. To complement this policy, the University’s Intellectual Property Rule is being reviewed to develop a new policy covering staff, students and visitors. The outcome will reflect changes in the intellectual property environment, and further encourage researchers to engage in collaboration with end-users. We will build upon on our existing work in educating and training research strengths staff to utilise these policies, and respond navigate the internal and external intellectual property environment to community priorities, ensuring maximise the benefit to our research has the needed scale, scope, and sustainability required to be globally competitive. Our plans Our 2011-15 Strategic Plan, White Paper and 2011-13 Compact Agreement set out our vision and objectives for the University's research agenda. We have made considerable progress since our 2011-13 compact and have reported on this regularly. Over the course of the 2014-16 compact we will continue to implement an integrated package of strategies focussed on enabling us to sustain disciplinary excellence, while developing new multidisciplinary approaches to address important societal problems. Fostering disciplinary excellence While our ERA 2012 results are strong and improved significantly between the 2010 and 2012 exercises, there remains room for improvementsociety in general. We will continue to enhance work with our academic and industry partners to develop and harmonise our framework for intellectual property management and translation, aimed at a set of standardised and simplified contracts that will support collaboration across and between sectors. Stimulating entrepreneurship and early stage commercialisation At a high level, we will expand the quality scale of our disciplinary research through strategies that include the following. Transforming entrepreneurial activities by targeting our overall approach available resources to research management and support. We will build on the major reforms we have made to our Research Portfolio over the last four years toward implementing a whole-of-University framework for research resource and infrastructure planning, management and support. Promoting focus and excellence in our faculties. We will use our 'research compacts' with each of our 16 faculties to provide customised packages of additional services and funding designed to assist each faculty to focus and strengthen its research strategy, while also fostering research excellence across the university. We will monitor and review performance through the compacts. Targeting Commonwealth resources. We will invest Commonwealth research block funding so as to reward excellence. For example, most Sustainable Research Excellence (SRE) funding will be distributed to faculties through a formula similar to that used by the Commonwealth to distribute these funds to institutions. A proportion will be held for distribution to faculties through the compact process in order to build or focus excellence in agreed priority areas, including potential emerging strengths. Taking a more strategic approach to major bid development. We will continue to take a more strategic approach to support the development of bids for major Commonwealth the initiatives that are most likely to maximise research grant and infrastructure schemes, and ensure that our bids align with institutional and national strategic priorities as set out in the National Research Investment Plan and Strategic Research Priorities. Enhancing our data management capacity. Our research strategies and decisions will be underpinned by an enhanced capacity to capture, manage and report ERA commercialisation and other research performance data, so that our approach is based on robust evidence of our strengths and weaknesses compared to international benchmarks. Focussing our effort and resourcesknowledge transfer outcomes. We will seek will, for example: use our Incubate program to enhance xxxxxx the scale, efficiency next generation of entrepreneurial leaders by providing higher degree by research students with an entrepreneurial framework in their early career development provide proof of concept funding to support early stage commercial development and impact of our disciplinary research effort by delivering strategic initiatives such as the Australian Institute for Nanoscience and by implementing reforms in response support to the Xxxxx Review establishment of our Health potential start-up companies assess the opportunity to establish at least two special purpose investment funds or innovation foundries, which will provide pre-seed and Medical Research activities undertaken seed funding for spin-out projects in 2012-13. Fostering the highest standards of research integrity. All of our strategies are underpinned by a commitment to constant improvement of our research practice and processescollaboration with corporate ventures, for example through the comprehensive suite of face-to-face and online professional development programs we offer in research integrityangel funders, research management venture capitalists and other fieldsregional, national, or international funding schemes. Promoting cross-disciplinary excellence To have visible impact As outlined in addressing the complex problems facing our nation Sections 3.2 (Industry and the world, we must harness our disciplinary expertise by providing structures Skills) and incentives for cross- disciplinary research and education. We will create an environment that promotes and facilitates cross-disciplinary collaborations of high social impact, and groundbreaking new research and teaching programs, through clear governance structures, and targeted and transparent investment in visionary initiatives. For example, the Xxxxxxx Xxxxxxx Centre will address the individual and societal burden of obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease, for which we have demonstrable research strength across many relevant disciplines. The centre is building a new understanding of these metabolic conditions and the degree to which individual behaviour, culture and societal systems can contribute to and mitigate their impacts. In this way, the centre can develop strategies to improve prevention, treatment and health outcomes worldwide. Our China Studies Centre will be a vehicle through which the University's considerable disciplinary strengths relevant to China can be focussed, coordinated and mobilised strategically to enhance engagement and understanding between Australia and our most important trading partner. Our Sydney Southeast Asia Centre will bring together university expertise to understand and engage with Southeast Asia. This work is increasingly important, given the region’s vital importance to Australia, in geopolitical and strategic terms, for our economic and environmental wellbeing. Our Centre for Carbon, Water and Food will focus on basic and applied research, especially the long-term research, needed to underpin sound policy for management of rural land – both public and private – to ensure environmentally sustainable food security. Through our planned Sydney Environment Institute5.2 (Research Training), we will bring together sustainability researchers from across the University, with a focus on understanding encourage and enabling the positive adaptation of people and societies to environmental change. These new cross-University initiatives will build on the experience of established collaborative centres and networks such as the Brain and Mind Research Institute, the United States Studies Centre, the Centre for Disability Research and Policy, facilitate our Cancer Research Network, and the Sydney Health Policy Network. See Section 1.2 (The University’s Mission and Strategic Priorities) and the links above for further details about some of our new cross-disciplinary centres. Supporting cross-disciplinary networks In addition to establishing a small number of dedicated cross-disciplinary centres, an important part of our strategy is to support the potential next generation of centres through our Sydney Research Network Scheme (SyReNS). We currently support six networks through the scheme, collaborating around the themes of social justice; climate change and society; infectious diseases and biosecurity; sciences and technologies of learning; health and work research; and energy storage. Each network is required to demonstrate its potential to develop xxxxxxxx xxxx to transform its area of research to create a medium to large-scale, cross-faculty, multidisciplinary collaborative program of research coursework and research training. Over the course of the compact we will build on the early successes of SyReNS students to strengthen existing networks undertake work-based training in industry, business, government and seed new collaborationscommunity settings during their studies to gain skills in entrepreneurship, commercialisation and community engagement.