The University’s research strength in areas such as quantum science and technology has been affirmed with the appointment of five Macquarie staff to ERA evaluation committees.

Some of Macquarie’s most highly regarded academics have been selected as members of the Research Evaluation Committees (REC) for the Australian Government’s Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA) 2018.

ERA is a comprehensive evaluation that examines the output of Australian universities’ research efforts and identifies areas of research excellence. The Macquarie representatives are among 140 distinguished researchers (from 500 nominated) appointed to REC panels.

In the last ERA evaluation in 2015, 100 per cent of Macquarie’s two-digit fields of research (FoRs) were rated as performing at world standard or higher. Three of our two-digit FoRs were rated at the maximum 5 (indicating research well-above world standard) in the key disciplines of physical sciences, environmental sciences, and agricultural and veterinary sciences.

The Macquarie REC members (and their respective panels) for 2018 are:

• Professor Amanda Barnier (Medical and Health Sciences)
• Professor Stephen Crain (Humanities and Creative Arts)
• Professor Annabelle McIver (Mathematical, Information and Computing Sciences)
• Professor Martina Möllering (Humanities and Creative Arts)
• Professor Jason Twamley (Physical, Chemical and Earth Sciences)

This is Professor Möllering’s fourth consecutive appointment to an ERA REC – demonstrating her enduring expertise and reputation in language studies, linguistics and the humanities.

Australian Research Council (ARC) Chief Executive Officer, Professor Sue Thomas, said the REC members represent the pinnacle of expertise in their fields, and highlighted a notable improvement in the gender balance of this year’s panels.

“These committee members represent a wonderful depth and breadth of expertise and backgrounds, including a great deal of experience from previous ERA rounds,” said Thomas.

“I am pleased that, with female members making up 38 per cent of ERA 2018 REC members, we have a significantly higher level of representation of women than we had in the previous ERA round. I am grateful to the universities across the sector for putting forward many excellent female candidates and I hope to see the trend continue.”

Links to biographies and publications for each of the REC members are available via the ARC’s media release.

Find out more about Macquarie’s participation in ERA 2018.