Last Tuesday, the University community came together to share an update on Macquarie University’s steadily increasing research performance and success in world-leading research with world-changing impact.

Professor Sakkie Pretorius, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) referenced the 2015-24 Research Framework targets and elaborated on the academic objectives underpinning the University’s research priority areas. These include accelerating our world-leading research performance; preparing world-ready HDR candidates; engaging as a world-recognised collaborator of choice; and delivering research with world-changing impact. Professor Sakkie highlighted the importance of continuing our outstanding academic work in alignment with our long-term vision, while remaining adaptable to global and national change.

The focus of the 2018 update was on impactful and innovative research stories from Macquarie University’s past, research underway in the present and leading initiatives for the future.

Macquarie University’s continuing and unparalleled strength in HDR completions is highlighted by our sixth-place ranking for 2017 out of all Australian universities, and first place when these completions are normalised for total number of academics. Professor Pretorius highlighted this as a success story we can be proud of.

Professor Pretorius presented data on Macquarie’s gradual increase in the number of research publications but again instilled the importance of striving to achieve the highest quality of publication possible, rather than focusing on the quantity of publications produced.

Last, and arguably most importantly, Professor Pretorius instilled in our Macquarie University research community, that in order for us to build on our strengths from the past, continue our work in the present with clarity, and secure our future with confidence, we must work collaboratively.

He also offered that if researchers send their research impact ‘story-on-a-slide’ to him, he will use these to communicate the research success stories of Macquarie University far and wide.

“No one can whistle a symphony, it takes an orchestra to play it” – Halford Luccock

Click below to see a recording of his presentation, including his slides.