Summary of MQ ERA 2015 Outcomes In ERA 2015 Macquarie University submitted data in 21 2-digit Field of Research Codes (FoRCs) and 55 4-digit Field of Research Codes. By comparison, in Macquarie University submitted data in 20 2-digit FoRCs and 56 4-digit FoRCs. Table 1: ERA 2015 s by number and proportion 5 4 3 2 1 Total # at 2-digit level 3 9 9 0 0 21 % of 2-digit level 14% 43% 43% 0% 0% 100% # at 4-digit level 14 19 20 2 0 55 % of 4-digit level 25.5% 34.5% 36% 4% 0% 100% Macquarie achieved 3 5s at 2-digit level: Physical Sciences Environmental Sciences Agricultural and Veterinary Sciences Macquarie achieved 14 5s at 4-digit level: Pure Mathematics Astronomical and Space Sciences Optical Physics Quantum Physics Atmospheric Sciences Physical Geography and Environmental Geoscience Environmental Science and Management Ecology Evolutionary Biology Genetics Plant Biology Clinical Sciences Neurosciences Oncology and Carcinogenesis Macquarie achieved 9 4s at the 2-digit level: Mathematical Sciences Earth Sciences Biological Sciences Medical and Health Sciences Psychology and Cognitive Sciences Law and Legal Studies Language, Communication and Culture History and Archaeology Philosophy and Religious Studies Macquarie achieved 19 4s at the 4-digit level: Statistics Analytical Chemistry Geochemistry Geology Geophysics Ecological Applications Microbiology Zoology Computation Theory and Mathematics Electrical and Electronic Engineering 1 Cardiovascular Medicine and Haematology Psychology Law Communication and Media Studies Linguistics Literary Studies Historical Studies Applied Ethics Philosophy
Table 2: ERA ratings amalgamated Outstanding performance well above world standard (5s) Performance above world standard and above (4s + 5s) Performance at world standard and above (3s + 4s + 5s) Performance below world standard (2s) # at 2-digit level 3 12 21 0 % of 2-digit level 14% 57% 100% 0% # at 4-digit level 14 33 53 2 % of 4-digit level 25.5% 60% 96% 4% The above table illustrates that in ERA 2015, 96% of our research is rated as being at world standard and above. This exceeds the target of 95% that was set for 2024 in the MQ Strategic Research Framework (page 62). At the 2-digit level, it is 100% of our research that is rated as being at world standard and above. This was not a claim that all Go8 universities could make in. Table 3: Comparison of to ERA 2015 Metric Number 2 ERA 2015 Number % ERA 2015 % 2-digit FoRCs rated 5 3 3 15% 14% 2-digit FoRCs rated 4 5 9 25% 43% 2-digit FoRCs rated 3 9 9 45% 43% 2-digit FoRCs rated 2 3 0 15% 0% 2-digit FoRCs rated 1 0 0 0% 0% 4-digit FoRCs rated 5 9 14 16% 25% 4-digit FoRCs rated 4 12 19 21% 35% 4-digit FoRCs rated 3 27 20 48% 36% 4-digit FoRCs rated 2 7 2 13% 4% 4-digit FoRCs rated 1 1 0 2% 0% 2-digit FoRCs rated 5 3 3 15% 14% 2-digit FoRCs rated 4 + 5 8 12 40% 57% 2-digit FoRCs rated 3 + 4 + 5 17 21 85% 100% 4-digit FoRCs rated 5 9 14 16% 25% 4-digit FoRCs rated 4 + 5 21 33 38% 60% 4-digit FoRCs rated 3 + 4 + 5 48 53 86% 96%
Table 3 on the previous page illustrates Macquarie has achieved an overall lift in the quality of its research between 2012 and 2015. We have retained the number of 5s at the 2-digit level although one area has lost the rating of 5 (Earth Sciences) and one new area has been awarded the rating of 5 (Agricultural and Veterinary Sciences). The proportion of 5s at the 2-digit level has fallen slightly from 15% to 14% because we submitted in 21, rather than 20, FoRCs at the 2-digit level. The proportion of disciplines rated 4 (above world standard) has increased greatly from 25% to 43%. The number of 2-digit disciplines rated 3 (at world standard) remained steady but decreased slightly as a proportion of the total. Of note is the achievement of 100% of our areas of research being rated at or above world standard with no 2-digit FoRCs receiving a rating of 2 or 1. The story of trending towards higher quality is clearer at the 4-digit level with the proportion of areas rated 5 increasing from 16% to 25% and areas rated 4 increasing from 21% to 35% with a decrease in areas rated 3 or 2 and an elimination of ratings of 1. Areas of change at the 2-digit level Four disciplines achieved increased ratings in 2015 over 2012: o Mathematical Sciences (from 2 to 4) o Medical and Health Sciences (from 2 to 4) o Psychology and Cognitive Sciences (from 3 to 4) o Commerce, Management, Tourism and Services (from 2 to 3) Macquarie entered one discipline for the first time and it received a rating of 5: o Agricultural and Veterinary Sciences One discipline received a lower rating in 2015 than in 2012: o Earth Sciences (from 5 to 4) All other disciplines retained the rating they received in 2012 Areas of change at the 4-digit level 16 disciplines achieved increased ratings in 2015 over 2012: o 10 areas increased their rating by 1: Optical Physics 5 Ecology 5 Plant Biology 5 Zoology 4 Information systems - 3 Electrical and Electronic Engineering 4 Cardiovascular Medicine and Haematology 4 Psychology 4 Literary Studies 4 Applied Ethics 4 o Three areas increased their rating by 2: Pure Mathematics 5 Statistics 4 Atmospheric Sciences 5 o Two areas increased their rating by 3: Genetics 5 Clinical Sciences 5 o One area increased its rating by 4: Neurosciences 5 3
Macquarie entered three disciplines in 2015 that it did not enter in 2012, these are: o Oncology and Carcinogenesis 5 (1 st time submitted) o Biomedical Engineering 3 (1 st time submitted) o Film, Television and Digital Media 3 (submitted in 2010 and rated at 3) Five disciplines received a lower rating in 2015 than in 2012: o Geochemistry (from 5 to 4) o Geology (from 5 to 4) o Geophysics (from 5 to 4) o Ecological Applications (from 5 to 4) o Specialist Studies in Education (from 4 to 3) All other disciplines retained the rating they received in 2012 All changes at both the 2-digit and 4-digit FoRC level can be seen at a glance in Appendices A and B. Highlights 96% of research at Macquarie is rated at world standard and above at the 4-digit FoRC level (up from 86% in ) 100% of research at Macquarie is rated at world standard and above at the 2-digit FoRC level 57% of research at Macquarie is rated above world standard and higher at the 2-digit FoRC level Macquarie has maintained consistently excellent performance in Physical Sciences and Environmental Sciences with these areas achieving the highest possible rating (5) in ERA 2010, 2012 and 2015 One 2-digit area entered for the first time, Agricultural and Veterinary Sciences, achieved a rating of 5 One 4- digit area entered for the first time, Oncology and Carcinogenesis, achieved a rating of 5 The largest increase in ratings was achieved at the 4-digit level in Neurosciences which increased from a rating of 1 to a rating of 5 A significant proportion (55.5%) of the areas that attracted a rating of 4 (performance above world standard) at the 2-digit level are in the Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (Philosophy and Religious Studies, History and Archaeology, Language, Communication and Culture, Law and Legal Studies, and Psychology and Cognitive Sciences) Two 2-digit FoRCs increased by 2 points to achieve a rating of 4: Mathematical Sciences and Medical & Health Sciences In addition to research quality, Macquarie University shows great breadth, submitting in 21 of the 22 2-digit FoRCs No areas received a rating of 1 in ERA 2015 Areas for improvement Two 4-digit areas received a rating of 2 in ERA 2015: Marketing and Accounting, and Auditing and Accountability One 2-digit and five 4-digit areas received lower ratings in 2015 than in 2012 Curious 2-digit FoRC 11 Medical and Health Sciences - was rated at 4, yet of the four 4-digit FoRCs within this code that Macquarie submitted in, three received a rating of 5 and the fourth received a rating of 4. 4
Appendix A Changes at 2-digit FoR Code between and ERA 2015 2-Digit FoR Code Description ERA 2015 Change against As a % of each At World Standard and Higher Above World Standard and Higher 02 Physical Sciences 5 5 05 Environmental Sciences 5 5 07 Agricultural and Veterinary Sciences - 5 New ERA 5 14% 01 Mathematical Sciences 2 4 04 Earth Sciences 5 4 06 Biological Sciences 4 4 11 Medical and Health Sciences 2 4 17 Psychology and Cognitive Sciences 3 4 18 Law and Legal Studies 4 4 ERA 4 43% ERA 5 & 4 57% 20 Language, Communication and Culture 4 4 21 History and Archaeology 4 4 22 Philosophy and Religious Studies 4 4 ERA 3, 4 & 5 100% 03 Chemical Sciences 3 3 08 Information and Computing Sciences 3 3 09 Engineering 3 3 12 Built Environment and Design 3 3 13 Education 3 3 14 Economics 3 3 ERA 3 43% 15 Commerce, Management, Tourism and Services 2 3 16 Studies In Human Society 3 3 19 Studies In Creative Arts and Writing 3 3 Key: Improved from Same as Declined from 5
Appendix B - Changes at 4-digit FoR Code between and ERA 2015 4-Digit FoR ERA 2015 Title Code 0101 Pure Mathematics 3 5 0201 Astronomical and Space Sciences 5 5 0205 Optical Physics 4 5 0206 Quantum Physics 5 5 0401 Atmospheric Sciences 3 5 6 Change against As a % of each 0406 Physical Geography and Environmental Geoscience 5 5 0502 Environmental Science and Management 5 5 ERA 5 0602 Ecology 4 5 25% 0603 Evolutionary Biology 5 5 0604 Genetics 2 5 0607 Plant Biology 4 5 1103 Clinical Sciences 2 5 At World or Higher Above World And Higher 1109 Neurosciences 1 5 1112 Oncology and Carcinogenesis - 5 New ERA 3, 4 & ERA 5 & 0104 Statistics 2 4 5 4 0301 Analytical Chemistry 4 4 96% 60% 0402 Geochemistry 5 4 0403 Geology 5 4 0404 Geophysics 5 4 0501 Ecological Applications 5 4 0605 Microbiology 4 4 ERA 4 0608 Zoology 3 4 35% 0802 Computation Theory and Mathematics 4 4 0906 Electrical and Electronic Engineering 3 4 1102 Cardiovascular Medicine and Haematology 3 4 1701 Psychology 3 4 1801 Law 4 4 2001 Communication and Media Studies 4 4 2004 Linguistics 4 4
2005 Literary Studies 3 4 2103 Historical Studies 4 4 2201 Applied Ethics 3 4 2203 Philosophy 4 4 0601 Biochemistry and Cell Biology 3 3 0801 Artificial Intelligence and Image Processing 3 3 0805 Distributed Computing 3 3 0806 Information Systems 2 3 0903 Biomedical Engineering - 3 New 1205 Urban and Regional Planning 3 3 1301 Education Systems 3 3 1303 Specialist Studies In Education 4 3 1402 Applied Economics 3 3 1502 Banking, Finance and Investment 3 3 1503 Business and Management 3 3 1601 Anthropology 3 3 1604 Human Geography 3 3 1606 Political Science 3 3 1608 Sociology 3 3 1902 Film, Television and Digital Media - 3 N/A in 2012 1904 Performing Arts and Creative Writing 3 3 2002 Cultural Studies 3 3 2003 Language Studies 3 3 2101 Archaeology 3 3 ERA 3 36% 1501 Accounting, Auditing and Accountability 2 2 ERA 2 1505 Marketing 2 2 4% Key: Improved from Same as Declined from 7