By Craig Batty
Welcome to this penultimate edition of NiTRO for 2022 which has been expertly curated by Dr Alejandra Canales and her colleagues at The Australian Film, Television and Radio School (AFTRS). The year is certainly accelerating towards its end, and I know most of you are in dire need of a good rest. But there’s no rest for the wicked, and DDCA work continues. The Executive Board and peak body members meet in Melbourne in a couple of weeks for a special presentation by the Reset collective, the AGM, and a strategic development workshop with Dr Diana Newport-Peace of Outside Opinion as part of the DDCA’s self-evaluation and future strategy planned (as advised in the last issue).
With the Australasian Consortium of Humanities Researchers and Centres (ACHRC), we are also part of a national panel about what a data-driven future of non-traditional research output (NTRO) assessment might look like. With a new Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA) model currently under development, it is crucial that the DDCA is actively involved in having a voice at the strategy table. In this seminar, we will talk about the status of non-traditional research outputs (NTROs) in Australia and how we might lift their status across the sector, particularly at a time when big-data is set to drive the way research is assessed and incentivised.
The DDCA is also currently preparing a submission to the review of the Australian Research Council (ARC) Act. Again, there is a real chance here for the DDCA to help shape the future of the ARC, which includes aspects such as research funding, ERA, and sector leadership and succession planning. If you would like to be part of this submission, please liaise with your Dean, Head of School or equivalent, or email admin@ddca.edu.au for more details.