Edith Cowan University is on a recruitment drive to fill 12 newly created professorial chairs, as part of a strategy to position itself as a research university.
Edith Cowan University is on a recruitment drive to fill 12 newly created professorial chairs, as part of a strategy to position itself as a research university.
ECU has previously struggled to compete with WA’s other public universities when it comes to research funding.
The research chairs, which have been created through a redistribution of funding and some internal restructuring, will cover a range of disciplines including education and preventative health care.
ECU deputy vice-chancellor research and operations, Patrick Garnett, said the new roles were part of a recently endorsed plan by the university’s council to become a centre of research excellence.
“What we’re trying to do is build on the development of our research capacity and to do that you need to focus on recruiting high quality people,” he said.
Professor Garnett said ECU’s approach was to develop its research capabilities in specific areas rather than having a broad base of expertise, with the intent to deliver practical benefits to the community.
“(This approach) has the potential to have a high impact – it’s less esoteric and more about how what we do has an actual impact in the community,” professor Garnett said.
Education will be the focus of three of the 12 chairs – school improvement and innovation, school leadership and behaviour management and student engagement.
“We have one of the biggest education schools in the country and we want to continue to build the capacity of that school,” professor Garnett said.
The university’s other area of focus is preventative medicine, having created a chair in diabetes management as well as critical care nursing and emergency care.
“We’re not opposed to the medical model, but the preventative side is important,” professor Garnett said.
Other chairs have been created in economics, mechanical engineering and practice development.
ECU is funding the new positions from its existing $250 million budget, with individual faculties contributing the bulk and its central budget providing some supplementary funds.
Professor Garnett said ECU hoped to fill some of the posts by Christmas, although the recruitment drive was expected to continue until mid-2008.
