Research and Enterprise at ACU

A message from Interim Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research and Enterprise) Professor James McLaren: The expanded Research and Enterprise Portfolio will lead an excellence agenda that embraces the full spectrum of research-related activity.

ACU has reached an important juncture in its development as a leading international Catholic university. We clearly have much to celebrate as a result of the university’s commitment to excellence in fundamental research and in designated priority areas. The recent Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2022 saw ACU maintain its position in the top 300 globally. This is a remarkable achievement for a university that did not appear in the top 800 just over six years ago. We now have the opportunity to build on those achievements and to bring into sharp focus a public-facing orientation to our research and enterprise activities.

The expanded Research and Enterprise Portfolio will lead an excellence agenda that embraces the full spectrum of research-related activity. We will promote and support excellence across the board, from knowledge creation to its translation and application towards real-world outcomes that provide for social, cultural and economic benefit.

A fundamental feature of our purpose as a Catholic university is to ensure that we address the challenges and issues that are meaningful and relevant to wider society. Our research impact must demonstrate our commitment to human dignity and to the common good. To achieve this, we need to ensure we develop meaningful partnerships with stakeholders, with industry, with federal and state levels of government, and with community groups that provide opportunities for mutual and sustainable benefit. An initial and essential step in that process will be a recalibration of the way we profile our research expertise; to move from discipline-based descriptions to broad, mission-driven programmatic themes that can be readily understood by end-users and the wider community. That adjustment also brings with it a renewed focus on the development of research capability, especially among graduate and early career researchers.

We are at an exciting stage in the life of this university and it is a privilege to be working with you on developing ACU’s research and enterprise agenda.