Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA) Initiative Fact Sheet 

KEY POINTS

• The Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA) initiative was developed by the Australian Research Council (ARC).
  ERA will evaluate research activity in Australian higher education institutions at a discipline level using a combination of indicators and expert review. Evaluations will be undertaken across eight clusters of disciplines.
• The 2009-10 Budget included an allocation of $35.8 million for the development and implementation of ERA.
• A trial of ERA was beingwas conducted in 2009. The trial evaluated the Physical, Chemical and Earth Sciences (PCE) and the Humanities and Creative Arts (HCA) clusters. A total of 39 institutions participated in the PCE trial, and 41 participated in the HCA trial.
• Outcome Reports for the two clusters were released in November and December 2009.
• The full ERA process, will commence in June 2010.
• ERA will inform the performance component of the Sustainable Research Excellence (SRE) Program from 2012. The eligibility of institutions for funding from the SRE Program will be contingent on their participation in ERA.
• More information about ERA is available at the ARC's ERA website.