Former Australian Research Council Chair Professor Vicki Sara has used the occasion of her recent installation as UTS's third Chancellor to champion research being conducted at universities throughout Australia.

Before more than 350 guests including the Governor of New South Wales Professor Marie Bashir, visiting university vice-chancellors, academics and students, Professor Sara said the preservation of core values of universities had to be maintained within current debate about their future.

She said research was the very heart of a university, creating a vibrant intellectual environment of curiosity, questioning and debate, informing curriculum and ensuring students developed new skills based on the latest advances in their area and innovative problem solving.

She also stressed that Australia's economic future was no longer based on land and natural resources as it once was, but on the ideas and skills of its people.

"Knowledge is the essence of universities which are the source of what we know about ourselves and the world we live in," Professor Sara said. "At their heart is the building and discovery of new knowledge through research."

"Over 96 percent of patents from Australian industries have been derived from research at publicly funded organisations, almost half from universities.

"It has been conservatively estimated that for every dollar invested in university research, at least $1.84 is returned to the Australian community. Evidence such as this has led Governments around the world to recognise that knowledge will drive the economies of the future. Australia must do the same. This will require a major commitment and investment in education and research."

While citing examples of world-impacting Australian university research including the development of the bionic ear, solar cell technology and lately, driver fatigue warning systems, Professor Sara also cautioned that constant pressure on researchers and universities for short-term commercial outcomes must be resisted.

"Research from universities brings benefits greater than technology innovation and company formation - understanding of cultures and societies, improvement in education such as online services for indigenous education, early childhood crime prevention, online legal libraries, future housing solutions, environmental remediation to name but a few contributions from Australian universities," she said.

In closing, Professor Sara said it was competition between all universities that helped drive excellence in research and fostered major breakthroughs in niche areas of inquiry.

"It is up to each university to develop its own unique mission and direct its research investment in building the scale and focus needed to be competitive," she said.

"Government regulation will not achieve excellence, access to open competition will. Without fundamental curiosity-driven research we will bankrupt our innovations of the future."

The complete speech is available online.