Research achievements

Sydney’s outstanding success in the latest rounds of research funding from the major Australian peer reviewed research bodies strongly confirms its position as Australia’s leading research university.

Sydney researchers scored the “research double” topping both the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) and the Australian Research Council (ARC) for the number and dollar value of new, peer-reviewed, researcher-driven research projects commencing in 2009.

This funding includes $63.8 million for NHMRC Project and Program Grants, $53.9 from ARC Discovery and Linkage Grants.

Over the years, The University of Sydney has consistently outperformed other Australian universities in the measure of research performance used by the Commonwealth Government to allocate funds under its block grants.

Sydney not only leads the Nation, it achieved a personal best by attracting record amounts of funding from both the ARC and NHMRC for research projects starting in 2009.

The numbers are impressive, but what really matters is the research this funding supports. This exceptional outcome is testament to the breadth, depth and scale of Sydney’s research enterprise and demonstrates the superior quality of Sydney researchers in the eyes of their research peers.

Attracting funding for research

The receipt of competitive grants based on peer review from peak funding agencies provides an important measure of the University's innovation, research achievements and infrastructure as well as the intrinsic quality of its research endeavour.

The University has received more funding than any other Australian university for new grants from the Australian Research Council in 8 of the last 10 years.

Research activities generated $370.6 million for the University in 2007, including $14.7 million from consultancy projects, royalties, trademarks and licences. In 2007 the University received only $127 million in DEST block grants based on research performance (against a budget of more than $1.3 billion), so Sydney invests in alternative revenue-generating strategies and initiatives. Income from private sources, including investment income, contributions from external organisations and commercial activities, represented $307 million in 2007.

The University of Sydney has 171 research centres and institutes.

Technology transfer

In the most recent national survey of research commercialisation, the University of Sydney ranked first among Australian universities in regard to licenses, option and assignments executed, and in the number of start-up companies launched.

The University of Sydney spins off an average of six companies each year, compared with the average of just over two for US-based institutions. A total of 29 companies have been founded since 2001, and the University has equity in five more.

The survey also revealed that the University is in the top three Australian universities for invention disclosures, patent applications filed in the US and Australia, and the value of its equity holdings.

This level of performance is well above the average of Australian universities and approaches that of the highest performers in the US and UK.