Futures Framework

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• Overview
• Core business areas

Benchmark Areas

• Indigenous participation & relevance
• Pathways for learning
• Professional, globally oriented education & training
• Knowledge to solve complex problems
• Expanding capacity through partnerships

Academic Units' Directions

Breakthrough Objectives
(internal access only)

Bold Initiatives
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Knowledge to solve complex problems of importance to the communities of our regions

Rationale

Charles Darwin University (CDU) has in the short time since its establishment, through the attraction of key staff and a focus on ‘relevance’ built on its strengths in Indigenous, desert and tropical knowledge to become the national focus for work on tropical rivers and coastal knowledge and the National Accelerated Literacy Program as well as Indigenous health and health services. The grant income per academic staff member is now number five in Australia and the grant income adjusted for the ‘research active’ staff is now number one in Australia.

Key areas in which research is expected to play a critical role in meeting local, regional, national and international aspirations in the future are:

• The economy - promoting long term growth and new jobs in knowledge intensive products and services, relevant to our region and drawing on both western and Indigenous knowledge bases
• The society - developing increasingly sophisticated health, commerce, communication and education systems - understanding and addressing emerging social issues arising from rapid economic change while enhancing our understanding of the role of cultural and historical perspectives
• The environment - understanding and managing environmental systems to provide sustainable economic growth and environmental amenity.

And through judicious development and partnering, the University aims to strengthen its current areas of excellence and build expertise required in northern and central Australia and its near neighbours. This will require initiatives to further enhance research student outcomes through:

• Undertaking applied research that is of direct relevance to the Northern Territory
• Undertaking primarily cross-disciplinary research
• Training students to think and act in that way that is applied
• Developing good examiners for multidisciplinary research projects.

Key Elements

Over the next 10 years, CDU will achieve the following:

• Undertaking research that is focussed on the important and critical needs of our regions thereby contributing to improved social, cultural, economic, environmental and public health outcomes (2010)
• An institutional research environment that is designed around our strengths making it attractive to researchers and research students (2010)
• Research and consultancy capacity being expanded in order to deliver outcomes to address the unique and complex problems experienced in our regions (2013).

Enabling Objectives

In order to achieve the Key Elements, CDU will:

• Expand the research outputs and impact through focused effort on the highest priority themes of benefit to our broader region and stakeholders within its research capacity, the currently identified research strengths being (R):
  • Natural and Cultural Resource Management
  • Human Health and Well-being
  • Teaching, Learning and Living
  • Community, Development and Identity
• Expand the level and nature of cross-disciplinary research activities (R)
• Improve the attractiveness of the University to researchers and research students (R).

Trend Indicators

Over the next 10 years, CDU will measure success by:

• Improving trend in accepted research performance measures with particular emphasis on the impact of quality research both regionally and internationally
• Improving numbers and capacity of postgraduates research students including enhanced strengths in the analysis of issues relevant to our region.

Expanding demand for contract research services.