The Research Committee is a university-wide 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
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The committee meets at least 4 times a year.
2026 meeting dates
Monday 2 March (planning)
Wednesday 6 May
Wednesday 24 June
Wednesday 26 August
Monday 19 OctoberTime: 10am
Venue: Chancellery boardroom -
The length of committee membership terms will be 2 years for staff and one year for students, consistent with the term of membership for elected members of Academic Board, including for co-opted members.
Composition Membership Term Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) as Chair Professor Kate McGrath ex officio Deputy Chair (a staff member nominated from committee membership) Melita Grant 2 March 2026 to 31 December 2026 Chief Data Officer, or nominee Craig Napier ex officio Chief Information Officer, or nominee Pascal Tampubolon ex officio Pro Vice-Chancellor (Higher Degree by Research), or nominee Professor Penny Martens ex officio Director, Research Office, or nominee Dr Tania Bezzobs ex officio Two associate deans (research) or equivalent, nominated by and from the cohort of associate deans (research) (which includes Jumbunna and Institute for Sustainable Futures), with membership terms to be staggered such that one member concludes their term each year Professor Isa Hafalir 1 July 2026 to 30 June 2028 Melita Grant 27 February 2026 to 31 December 2027 One participant from the UTS Indigenous community, to be appointed by the Chair following a call for expressions of interest Dr Lauren Booker 6 February 2025 to 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 Esther Mirjam Girsberger 1 January 2026 to 31 December 2027 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 Mehdi Soltanian 29 January 2026 to 31 December 2026 Co-opted members on the basis of their skills and experience as appropriate 1. Elected members (with no more than 2 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 faculty representation.
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- 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
- Low-Risk Biosafety Committee Terms of Reference
- Indigenous Research Advisory Panel Terms of Reference
- Human Ethics Standard Operating Procedure, and
- Human Ethics Risk Framework.
- research risk management, assessing and monitoring risks to the research activities, and reporting on these risks
- research commercial activities
- establishment of Cooperative Research Centres (CRCs) established through UTS as the lead party.
- research data management, including the DATA Scheme. 2
- 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 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 Graduate Research Board (GRB) has responsibility for matters relating to higher degree by research (HDR) student training, supervision, candidature and policy. The Research Committee will work with GRB to provide governance oversight of the activities related to HDR students and supervisors.
- The Research Committee will provide annual reports to the Audit and Risk Committee.
2. The Data Availability and Transparency Act 2022 (DAT Act) establishes a new, best practice scheme for sharing Australian Government data: the DATA Scheme. It includes a focus on increasing the availability and use of Australian Government data to support world-leading research and development.
- 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:
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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.