UTS Law on a high

The results are in on Australia’s first ever assessment of how universities engage outside academia and how they translate their research into benefits for society.

UTS Law has scored in the highest band for all three categories of the Australian Research Council’s EIA assessment review – engagement, impact and approach to impact.

Forty-two universities were part of the inaugural review and UTS Law was one of only 6 to receive the grade of high across all categories in the discipline of law.

This comes on top of the latest Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA) evaluation which continues to rate our Law research above world standards.

Associate Dean (Research), Professor Brian Opeskin says the outstanding EIA assessment is welcome recognition for the work of our Law academics and our supporting professional staff:

In many ways the result is not a surprise since it reflects what we value, how we work, and who we are. But as this ARC process was a first, it is pleasing to have this external confirmation.

Often the impact of academic research is a ‘slow burn’. For example, one of the UTS Law projects included in the EIA was the research conducted over many years on laws governing the use and destruction of IVF embryos.

Conducted by professors, Jenni Millbank, Anita Stuhmcke and Isabel Karpin, the research report identified 57 recommendations for changes to law, policy and practice in this area. It covered matters such as storage limits, use after the death of a partner and embryo donation for reproduction.

Professor Opeskin says the benefit of this kind of research is ongoing:

UTS Law is committed to undertaking legal research that contributes to debate, policy and law-making, and produces positive social change. That requires continuing engagement with different communities so we can understand their legal needs and be responsive to them.  

UTS Law publishes a monthly ‘snapshot’of some of our academic research on the Faculty website