Ten Australian universities are performing “above the world standard” for research, including four performing “well above” world standard, according to an evaluation of Australian research.

The Excellence in Research for Australia 2012 National Report, published on December 6, shows there has been a 24 percent increase in the research undertaken since the previous exercise in 2010. There is also a 16 percent increase in the number of patents and a 9 percent rise in the number of researchers employed. “Language, communication and culture” and “biological sciences” were the subjects in which the largest numbers of universities were rated as world standard or better — 28 out of 41 institutions.

An analysis of the results done by The Australian found that the University of Melbourne had the highest proportion of top-rated research, with 85.5 percent of its research fields given four or five stars — where four means “above world standard” and five is “well above world standard”. The University of Sydney was a close second at 84.5 percent, rising from fifth in 2010. The Australian National University and the University of Queensland came joint third at 80 percent.

The ERA (Excellence in Research for Australia) exercise, carried out by the Australian Research Council (ARC) applies to research published between January 1, 2005 and December 31, 2010. Evaluation is based on indicators including citation analysis, research income and patents, alongside expert review.

Chris Evans, Australia’s science and research minister, says the government will undertake the next round of evaluations in 2015, with ARC consulting the sector on the inclusion of measures of the impact of research, to help better track university performance.

Results from ERA will inform the allocation of a small but growing proportion of universities’ block grants for research. The data is also intended to help universities and the government in strategic planning.

(Excerpted and adapted from Times Higher Education)