As anticipated government research block funding will be driven by research income and higher degree by research student completions from 2017. While transitional arrangements will be in place until 2020, the government’s calculation methodology confirms that “research publication counts have been removed from the funding formulae along with HDR student load and the SRE funding moderators—Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA) ratings and transparent costing”.
Indigenous and non-Indigenous student completions will attract different weightings as will research doctorates and Masters which are categorised as high and low cost.
The calculation methodology is explained in detail on the DET web site but in summary will be calculated on the basis of % of total funding pool for weighted research student completions; competitive grant income (cat 1) and engagement income (cat 2, 3 and 4)