Why UNSW is one of the 15 ‘fast moving’ research universities

UNSW Sydney’s deputy vice-chancellor (research) Bronwyn Fox explains why her institution is one of the 15 ‘fast moving’ research universities.

UNSW Sydney is one of the 15 “fast moving” research universities.

Societal impact is front and centre of research at UNSW Sydney, says deputy vice-chancellor (research) Bronwyn Fox, as the university is in the midst of developing its new long-term strategic plan.

Universities have many ways of quantitatively measuring the impact of their research through numbers of papers published and the citations they attract.

“But we’re also looking more purposefully at how we know whether we’re really helping society and the communities that we serve,” says Fox.

“You might have some researchers who are really performing exceptionally well in doing something that’s really important for society, but maybe they don’t have the traditional research metrics. So it’s really important to have the processes, the promotion processes, to make sure that you recognise and reward excellence in all of the many forms that it comes in.”

Fox, who joined UNSW this year from her former role as CSIRO chief scientist, says an impressive feature of the university is its centralised approach to research infrastructure. The Mark Wainwright Analytical Centre manages equipment and instrumentation housed in several laboratories across the university, and also trains and supports researchers who use the facilities.

Fox says the expert staff of the centre act as “connective tissue” for UNSW researchers, breaking down the silos.

“They can say, ‘Hey, you’re working on carbon. Do you realise that someone down the corridor is actually doing a very, very similar experiment to you, and you might want to get together and compare techniques?’ “