Research Committee

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.

_{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.

1. 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:
   1. research governance arrangements, including developing, monitoring and reviewing research policies and their effectiveness
   2. research integrity, including providing advice on policy issues related to the Australian Code for the Responsible Conduct of Research
   3. 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.
   4. research risk and opportunity management, assessing and monitoring risks to the research activities, and reporting on these risks
   5. research translation and commercial activities
   6. establishment of Cooperative Research Centres (CRCs) established through UTS as the lead party.
2. The committee is responsible for assuring the integrity of our research operations, including monitoring and making recommendations to improve practice across:
   1. research strategy and planning
   2. research training and capabilities 
   3. research quality, impact and performance aligned with the Field of Education
   4. research culture, communications and profile
   5. intellectual property management
   6. research finance arrangements
   7. university consulting
   8. CRCs, and
   9. offshore research activities.
3. 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.

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.

Minimum of four scheduled meetings per year.

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.