1. Intranet
  2. Staff
  3. UniSA Research Office
  4. Establishing Your Project
  5. UniSA Research Contracts
  6. Research Contract Support
  7. Is it research?

Is it research ?

How to identify if your activity is research

UniSA defines research as:

creative work undertaken on a systematic basis in order to increase the stock of knowledge, including knowledge of humankind, culture and society, and the use of this knowledge to devise new applications. Such activity necessarily involves an appreciable element of novelty (innovation), uncertainty with respect to outcomes, the potential for publication of outcomes in peer-reviewed scholarly media and/or a high level of technical risk.

UniSA defines University consultancy as:

the provision of the professional services of staff to an external party for a fee or other consideration through the application of pre-existing knowledge (know-how) rather than the creation of new knowledge (intellectual property). University Consultancies will be undertaken in the name of the University and may involve the resources of the University. University Consultancies include surveys, the provision of reports, testing, training, professional tutoring or lecturing, the provision of products and other services, secondments to other organisations and involvement with committees, companies and other bodies for profit.

In Australia, there are four categories of research funding/income-associated research activities: 

  • Category 1: Australian competitive grants
  • Category 2: Other public sector R&D income 
  • Category 3: Industry and other R&D income
  • Category 4: Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) R&D income.  

The Higher Education Research Data Collection (HERDC) is an annual Australian Government reporting requirement for higher education providers. Complete and accurate collection of UniSA research data is critical to ensure UniSA maximises its allocation of research block grants from the Australian Government.

For UniSA to report an activity as research to HERDC, the activity must comply with the HERDC definition of research:

  1. To be aimed at new findings (novel),
  2. To be based on original, not obvious, concepts and hypotheses (creative),
  3. To be uncertain about the final outcomes (uncertain),
  4. To be planned and budgeted (systematic), and
  5. To lead to results that could be possibly reproduced (transferable and/or reproducible).

For more information about understanding and maximising HERDC income, see https://i.unisa.edu.au/staff/research/in-development/research-contracts-pages/frequently-asked-questions/

If you establish that your activity is research rather than consultancy, all parties must agree to a research contract/agreement relevant to the activity. This must be signed by the authorised signatories of  all parties. This is necessary so that UniSA can accept research funding/income.

 

Please submit any related contract/agreement and any associated documents or emails to the Research Contracts Team via the Request for Contract review or advice online form – Research Contract Online Form 

 

 

If you establish that your activity is consultancy rather than research, you likely need a Consultancy Services Agreement from your Academic Unit. If you are still not sure about where you should go for support, check this link 

If ANY of the above items are ‘YES’ ,

The activities may be defined as ‘Research’ (pending internal audit for HERDC). 

Research means creative work undertaken on a systematic basis in order to increase the stock of knowledge, including knowledge of humankind, culture and society, and the use of this knowledge to devise new applications. Such activity necessarily involves an appreciable element of novelty (innovation), uncertainty with respect to outcomes, the potential for publication of outcomes in peer reviewed scholarly media and/or a high level of technical risk.

 

Please submit your request including any related contracts, agreements, associated documents or emails to the Research Contracts Team via the online Contract Request form.

Research Contracts Request Form 

If ALL answers are ‘NO’

The activities are not defined as ‘Research’ and could be classified as Consultancy.

University Consultancy is the provision of the professional services of staff to an external party for a fee or other consideration through the application of pre-existing knowledge (know-how) rather than the creation of new knowledge (intellectual property). University Consultancies will be undertaken in the name of the University and may involve the resources of the University. University Consultancies include surveys, the provision of reports, testing, training, professional tutoring or lecturing, the provision of products and other services, secondments to other organisations and involvement with committees, companies and other bodies for profit. University Consultancies do not include Research, Award or Fee-Paying Non-Award Courses or services provided by one part of the University to another. Services provided by one part of the University to another should be governed by mutually agreed arrangements. University Consultancies do not include Personal Risk Activities which are governed by the Personal Risk Activities Guidelines.

In this case, please contact the Academic Unit Research Support team for further support.

(Definitions as per UniSA Research and Consultancy guidelines- 2001 attached here )

Further information is available via the UniSA Research Intranet site – https://i.unisa.edu.au/staff/research