Universities will have to be more resilient, self-reliant and enterprising, and governments should step in to help them financially as the pandemic's effects on research grow worse, says the Centre for the Study for Higher Education at Melbourne University.

Universities face a shortfall of up to $7.6 billion for research, which will result in the loss of up to 6100 jobs, or 11 per cent of the research workforce, between now and 2024, according to a CSHE report published on Monday.