Research News: Updates from the Division of Research

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S25+ consultation - time to reflect on solid performance to date.

Professor Nicholas Fisk, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research)

Welcome to this edition of Research News. With recent results affirming our ERA performance, we now look through this S25+ exercise to reflect on what has worked, and what could be improved in our strategic countdown to 2025.

In the QS World University rankings UNSW ranked 43^rd in the world, and in the ARWU subject rankings, UNSW has again topped the nation for subjects ranked number #1 in Australia. Further solid results in the Nature Index and National Taiwan University (NTU) ranking validate the earlier nationally-leading success in the Excellence for Research in Australia (ERA) and Engagement and Impact (EI). Achieving at this level takes real dedication - I congratulate all staff on a tremendous effort.

Thus it's timely now to reflect on the achievements of the first three years of UNSW's Strategy 2025, and against this background acknowledge its challenges and consider modifications and new opportunities. This revised strategic framework, known as S25+, is set out in the Vice Chancellor's consultation document. The Division has been hosting a series of focus groups and meetings to coordinate feedback, but I encourage everyone of you to have your say on the 31 strategic questions posed, or on any other S25 matter.

Finally take a look at the new UNSW Research Code of Conduct https://www.gs.unsw.edu.au/policy/documents/researchcode.pdf, revised to reflect the new national code. UNSW promotes the highest standards of research conduct, so please familiarise yourself with the new principles and responsibilities.

My regards,
Nick Fisk

How did UNSW fare in recent rankings?

In the latest QS World University rankings UNSW rose two places from 45th to 43rd, our highest ever global ranking. The report also showed an increase of 17% in one year in citations per faculty member, both outcomes to be proud of.

In the Nature Index annual league tables, UNSW ranked 89th globally among academic institutions, up from 108th last year. Publishing in the world's leading science journals is enormously challenging yet UNSW staff authored 395 papers in leading publications in 2018 compared to 324 in 2017.

The National Taiwan University (NTU) ranking, which compares the quality and quantity of university publications worldwide over six fields and 24 selected subjects also reported a rise in UNSW's position. Results showed an increase from 64th position in 2018 to 58th position in 2019.

UNSW excelled in the 2019 ARWU subject rankings scoring the most subjects ranked first in Australia for the second year in row. Globally it was again listed as having the most number of subjects ranked, with 52 out of 54, for the third year in row.

Three UNSW subjects have been ranked in the top 10 globally and 22 subjects in the top 50. Top UNSW performers are Water Resources which was ranked 7th, Mining and Mineral Engineering ranked 8th and Civil Engineering at 9th.

2018 Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA) and Engagement & Impact (EI) Assessment

The 2018 ERA and EI reports highlighted that UNSW Sydney has emerged as the leader among Australian Universities in research impact and quality. Full details can be found via the following links:

2018 EI National Report,
2018 ERA National Report.

Check out the video for a summary of the report highlights.

Promoting High Quality Research Papers Scheme - 2019 Round 1

The Division is set to release the next round of the 2019 Promoting High Quality Research Papers (PHQRP) Scheme. Successful researchers and research groups will receive award notifications within the next month. We are pleased to announce that a list of intramurally selected top 1% HASS journals has now been included in the PHQRP scheme. The inclusion of these journals will increase the number of incentive awards for HASS researchers.

You can find information, including frequently asked questions, about the PHQRP scheme on the website.

NEW - BORIS - Searchable Journal Metrics

A new feature, Searchable Journal Metrics, is now available in BORIS. It provides a one-stop shop for academics to search for journals across subject areas in both Scopus and Web of Science, and Fields of Research codes in the ERA 2018 journal list. From the search results, academics can compare key metrics such as CiteScore, SNIP, SJR, and JIF, and find potential collaborators. This will help enable academics to more easily identify the world’s top journals, and to make an informed decision as to where to best direct their publishing efforts. Furthermore, ORCIDs and Google Scholar IDs are now available within BORIS and allow academics to easily link through to their external profiles.

Login to https://boris.unsw.edu.au/ to access this new functionality and for any enquiries please contact BORIS.RADAR@unsw.edu.au.

2019 Celebration of Research Excellence
Prof Ana Deletic, Prof Hugh Durrant-Whyte, Scientia Prof Lousia Degenhardt, Prof Rosemary Rayfuse, Prof Ian Jacobs.

This year's Celebration of Research Excellence took place on 16 May at the Roundhouse. The prestigious event was hosted by Pro-Vice Chancellor (Research) Professor Ana Deletic. UNSW's President and Vice-Chancellor Professor Ian Jacobs opened the event with Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) Professor Nick Fisk highlighting UNSW's exceptional performance in both ERA and EI, as well as the success of some of UNSW's most accomplished researchers: namely our elected Fellows of the Australian Learned Academies, our Highly Cited Researchers and recent SHARP academics, 2018 international and national award winners, and select researchers who achieved outstanding funding success.

The event included a keynote by the esteemed NSW Chief Scientist and Engineer, Professor Hugh Durrant-Whyte, as well as engaging presentations by Highly Cited Researcher Scientia Professor Louisa Degenhardt and recently elected Learned Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia Professor Rosemary Rayfuse. The occasion proved a marvelous opportunity to celebrate our research community's success with a most enjoyable evening.

A new principles-based Research Code of Conduct is now in effect at UNSW.

The new Research Code of Conduct applies to all researchers and to all types of research undertaken at UNSW.

For further information about the Research Code of Conduct and responsible conduct of research at UNSW, speak to the Research Integrity Advisor in your Faculty or visit https://research.unsw.edu.au/responsible-conduct-research.

How to add the Google Scholar Profile link to your Researcher Profile

The Google Scholar database was estimated to contain around 389,000,000 documents in January 2018(1), making it the world's largest academic search engine. At least three times as many searches are done using Google Scholar compared to Scopus or Web of Science. We strongly encourage researchers to create a Google Scholar profile and ensure that it is linked to your UNSW Researcher profile. This will help increase your academic profile and your citations. You can link the profiles by using the following instructions:

- Navigate to Researcher Profiles:
https://research.unsw.edu.au/
- Login to your Researcher Profile with your UNSW zPass/zID
- Select 'Edit'
- Select 'Social Media' tab
- Enter the link to your Google Scholar Profile
- Save the Profile

The Google Scholar Profile link will now appear on your Researcher Profile page.

Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems Procedure

The Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems Procedure has recently been published and is now available on the UNSW Research Ethics & Compliance Support website. This Procedure sets out the responsibilities governing the use and maintenance of remotely piloted aircraft systems (in short; drones) at UNSW. The Procedure applies to all staff and students at UNSW and affiliated centres and institutes using drones for university purposes in Australia and overseas.

For further information, please visit the website or contact Research Ethics & Compliance Support: drones@unsw.edu.au.

Poisons and Therapeutic Substances (S4D, S8 and S9)

Researchers are reminded that storage, record keeping and disposal of Schedule 4D (Pentobarbitone Sodium e.g. Lethabarb), Schedule 8 & Schedule 9 substances must comply with the Poisons and Therapeutic Goods Regulation 2008. The Research Ethics & Compliance Support website provides further guidance to researchers on the process for obtaining an authority from NSW Health for S8 and S9 drugs, maintaining a drug register, disposal requirements and other relevant information for these substances.

For further information, please visit the website.

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