Excellence in Research for Australia

Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA) is national assessment exercise managed by the Australian Research Council (ARC), which aims to identify and promote excellence across the full spectrum of research activity occurring within Australia's higher education institutions.

The vision of ERA is "That rigorous and transparent research assessment informs and promotes Australian universities' pursuit of research that is excellent, engaged with community, industry and government, and delivers social, economic, environmental and cultural impact."

What are the objectives of ERA?

ERA aims to:

• Promote excellence: Rigorously assess research quality to promote pursuit of excellence across all fields and all types of research.
• Inform decisions: Provide a rich and robust source of information on university research excellence and activity to inform and support the needs of university, industry, government, and community stakeholders
• Demonstrate quality: Provide government and the public with evidence of the quality of research produced by Australia’s universities
• Enable comparisons: Allow for comparisons between Australian universities and against world standard for all discipline areas.

How are the disciplines defined?

For ERA, the ARC defines disciplines as two-digit and four-digit Field of Research (FoR) codes using the Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification (ANZSRC).

When is it?

The ARC will collect submission data for ERA 2023 for the following reference periods:

Data we use

The ERA submission uses retrospective data accessed from Charles Sturt University's various systems and repositories.  For example, information relating to research outputs is sourced solely from the CRO repository.

How we prepare submissions

ERA submissions are prepared over many months with input from multiple sources. Information on research publications, researchers, and research income are collated using an ERA-specific module in CRO.  Data collection and optimisation are conducted by academic and non-academic staff from across the University. All ERA activities are overseen by a Steering Group chaired by the DVC (Research)that ensures the integrity and quality of the submission.

Your role

The ERA process requires accurate Field of Research (FoR) data. In this regard, researchers should ensure that FoR codes and apportionments (%) are present and accurate on personal profiles, research outputs and other information stored in CRO.

Find out how to edit and update CRO in the FAQ

FoR classification

Past ERA evaluations

The ARC provides reports on past ERA evaluations.