Swinburne University of Technology - Melbourne Australia

World view shapes a clever ambition

Story by Brad Collis

Ambition could be regarded as a 'given' for anybody embarking on university studies, but it is not a trait usually ascribed to the institution itself. Nonetheless Melbourne-based Swinburne University of Technology, under the direction of Vice-Chancellor Ian Young, is boldly setting out to become an internationally recognised education brand.

By any definition, especially in a competitive global education market, it is an ambitious quest for a comparatively small university that emerged just 15 years ago from its technical college origins, but it is one that has been carefully thought out and set on track.

The university is redesigning its undergraduate curricula and has been working purposefully in recent years to lift its standing internationally for leading-edge research. Now it is investing strategically in the infrastructure and faculty staff needed to similarly lift its reputation for teaching excellence.

Professor Young draws a straight line between quality research and quality teaching, observing that all of the world's best-known universities are those synonymous with advanced research. It is this that shapes the calibre and reputation of a university's teaching and its degrees. Consequently, research - principally applied research for industry - will form the basis of Swinburne's anticipated elevation.

In late 2007, after four years of consolidating the university's academic and financial foundations, Professor Young unveiled a seven-year program to take Swinburne from one of Australia's mid-ranked tertiary institutions to a place in the top quartile.

It is an ambition that will require a 10 per cent per year across-the-board performance lift, under a range of established higher education criteria, from now until 2015. It is a goal that has been built around recruiting key personnel with the reputations and acumen to attract increased research funds and alliances and, in turn, high-achieving students and graduates.

An example of the search for faculty staff with international presence is the recruitment of designer Professor Ken Friedman, a seminal figure in the Fluxus movement, which in recent decades has been one of the major influences on contemporary design.

His appointment embodies the intention to build excellence by concentrating on core areas that reflect Swinburne's unique duality, having both university and TAFE (Technical and Further Education) arms. In explaining his Swinburne 2015 vision, Professor Young emphasises the university's commitment to remaining a university of technology with a strong focus on engineering and applied science, and working closely with both domestic and global industry.

Professor Young says this will not be achieved by mirroring the conventional university model. "We can't be all things to all people. We don't attempt to cover the range of academic pursuits that others offer, from the arts to law, medicine, and so forth. The big universities have been able to establish excellence across a broad field because they have had 120 years in which to make incremental advances. We have to achieve this in a different way; by being more specialised."

A measure of just how big a step Swinburne has already taken in this endeavour is seen in the last round of the Australian Research Council's Discovery Grants where Swinburne ranked in the top 10 of research universities - somewhat remarkable for a university that just 12 years ago did no research. This culture of research is driven and enhanced by the fact that in addition to his role as Vice-Chancellor, Professor Young remains an active researcher in his own field of speciality, coastal and ocean engineering.

However, despite strong growth in research activity and student numbers in recent years, the decision has been made to speed this up; to secure the university's future by making a determined bid to become an international institution.

"We have defined the 10 to 12 fields in which we believe we can establish an international reputation for world-class quality and we are recruiting high-profile staff into these areas," Professor Young says. "We are also investing $250 million in buildings and equipment to ensure people can actually achieve what they are coming to Swinburne to do."

The 'step-change' being sought includes a drive to actively stimulate a culture of excellence across the faculties and administration by rewarding people's success through financial incentives built into employment and salary structures, and to move industry research alliances into the international arena.

Professor Young says that as the university builds the quality of what it can offer, a critical part of its success will be determined by its ability to engage with global industry.

"While multi-national companies now source their research input from around the world, you can't attract them to your research institution with rhetoric. You must have demonstrable runs on the board; you must earn an international reputation if you are seriously going to cut it with international business."

For Professor Young there are striking parallels between the course Swinburne has chosen and decisions that face Australia: "This is a broader issue than just one university. It is about being a clever country, about asking where the Australian economy is going and can we do more than dig holes and ride a minerals boom. And just as Swinburne is a small university, Australia is a small economy. It can't invest across every area of R&D so there are choices to be made and they entail some big challenges in a global marketplace."

Given the scale of its ambition, it would be easy to liken Swinburne to 'the mouse that roared', but Professor Young's confidence is well considered. There are no illusions: "The only opportunities are those that we make ourselves," he says.

But he notes that in science and technology Australia has a proud history of 'punching above its weight'.

"Australians are a 'can do' people who have chased visions and achieved excellence in many fields. It makes me very positive about what we are doing, and what Australian research can achieve."