Impact of university research rising compared with world average

Universities New Zealand has welcomed a new government report which found that the academic impact of research by New Zealand’s universities has been rising compared with the world average. 

According to an Education Ministry report, the rate of citation of research, produced between 2010 and 2014, was 1.26 times that of the world average.

Chris Whelan, Executive Director of Universities New Zealand, says “These results show that New Zealand’s university researchers are producing quality, relevant work that is being used both here in New Zealand and internationally.”

The report found the percentage of indexed publications cited has also been increasing; 73% of the publications produced by New Zealand’s universities between 2010-2014 were cited. 

New Zealand was also found to have high rates of collaboration between research institutions nationally and internationally.

The key fields of study for PhD’s are Natural and physical sciences (28% of completions), Society and culture (22%), Engineering and related technologies (14%) and Health (also 14%).

The report also found that 52% of students enrolling for their doctoral degree are women.  45% are international students attracted by government fee settings that aim to attract the best and brightest to New Zealand’s universities and go on to join our workforce.

The number of Māori enrolled in doctoral study has increased significantly and was 14% higher than in 2010, while Pasifika enrolments were 20% higher.

Chris Whelan says much of this rising impact can be attributed to the government’s increased investment in research funding in recent years which has made a difference to rankings and contributed to these strong results.

New Zealand eight universities spend over $800 million on research annually, which is about 33% of the country’s R&D expenditure. Universities are commercialising more of their research which now generates over $500 million annually.

A copy of the report can be found at http://www.educationcounts.govt.nz/publications/series/profile-and-trend...