Research Committee
The Research Committee (the committee) is a pan-university committee established by Academic Board to consider matters relating to research governance and risk, and to provide assurance on the integrity of our research operations.
Contact
Elbreg Zwaan
Senior Governance Support Officer
telephone 02 9514 9811
email Elbreg.Zwaan@uts.edu.au
Committee details
2025 meeting dates
Monday 3 March (planning meeting)
Wednesday 21 May
Wednesday 20 August
Wednesday 22 October
Time: 10am
Venue: Chancellery boardroom, except for the planning meeting, which will be held in Boardroom 130
Composition and membership
Composition | Membership | Term |
---|---|---|
Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) as Chair | Professor Kate McGrath | ex officio |
Deputy Chair (a staff member nominated from committee membership) | Vacant | Until 31 December 2025 |
Chief Information Officer, or nominee | Pascal Tampubolon | ex officio |
Dean, Graduate Research School, or nominee | Professor Helene de Burgh-Woodman | ex officio |
Director, Research Office, or nominee | Tania Bezzobs | ex officio |
Two associate deans (research) or equivalent, nominated by and from the cohort of associate deans (research) (which includes Jumbunna, Institute for Sustainable Futures and Institute of Public Policy and Governance), with membership terms to be staggered such that one member concludes their term each year | Professor Angela Dawson | 12 February 2023 to 31 December 2025 |
Vacant | Until 31 December 2026 | |
One participant from the UTS Indigenous community, to be appointed by the Chair following a call for expressions of interest | Vacant | Until 31 December 2026 |
One member elected by and from the professoriate and associate professoriate (level D and E) of the university1 | Professor Shui Yu | 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2026 |
One member elected by and from the academic staff (levels A, B, C) of the university1 | Unnikrishnan Kuzhiumparambil | 1 January 2024 to 31 December 2025 |
One professional staff member, elected by and from professional staff members of the university1 | Kumudika de Silva | 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2026 |
One graduate research degree student, elected by and from graduate research degree students of the university1 | Rhys Evans | 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025 |
Co-opted members on the basis of their skills and experience as appropriate |
1. Elected members (with no more than two from any one faculty), with academic staff membership terms to be staggered such that one member concludes their term each year.
On the recommendation of the chair, the committee has the power to approve the co-option of members on the basis of their skills and experience as appropriate.
Terms of reference
- The committee provides governance oversight for research at UTS on behalf of Academic Board. The committee is responsible for considering the following matters and providing assurance and making recommendations or providing advice to the applicable decision-making authority:
- research governance arrangements, including developing, monitoring and reviewing research policies and their effectiveness
- research integrity, including providing advice on policy issues related to the Australian Code for the Responsible Conduct of Research
- research ethics, including providing advice on policy issues related to the National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Human Research 2023, Animal Research Act 1985 and legislation in relation to biosecurity and biosafety and approval of:
- Health and Medical Research Ethics Committee Terms of Reference
- Human Research Ethics Committee Terms of Reference
- UTS Animal Care and Ethics Committee Terms of Reference
- UTS Biosafety Committee Terms of Reference
- Lower Risk Ethics Review Panel Terms of Reference
- Indigenous Research Advisory Panel Terms of Reference
- Human Ethics Standard Operating Procedure, and
- Human Ethics Risk Framework.
- research risk and opportunity management, assessing and monitoring risks to the research activities, and reporting on these risks
- research translation and commercial activities
- establishment of Cooperative Research Centres (CRCs) established through UTS as the lead party.
- The committee is responsible for assuring the integrity of our research operations, including monitoring and making recommendations to improve practice across:
- research strategy and planning
- research training and capabilities
- research quality, impact and performance aligned with the Field of Education
- research culture, communications and profile
- intellectual property management
- research finance arrangements
- university consulting
- CRCs, and
- offshore research activities.
- The Higher Degree Research Committee (HDRC) has responsibility for matters relating to higher degree by research (HDR) student training, supervision, candidature and policy. The Research Committee will work with HDRC to provide governance oversight of the activities related to HDR students and supervisors.
Membership term
The length of committee membership terms will be two years for staff and one year for students, consistent with the term of membership for elected members of Academic Board.
Number of meetings
Minimum of four scheduled meetings per year.
Quorum
The quorum shall be one-half of the current members of the committee. If one-half is not a whole number, the next higher whole number shall be used.
Vacant positions on the committee do not count toward the total membership of which one-half is required to reach a quorum.