Research Contracts - Home

Definitions

Monash University has adopted the OECD[1] definition of research as follows:

Creative work undertaken on a systematic basis in order to increase the stock of knowledge, including knowledge of man, culture and society, and the use of this stock of knowledge to devise new applications.

“Research” includes:

Any activity characterised by originality; it should have investigation as a primary objective and should have the potential to produce results that are sufficiently general for humanity’s stock of knowledge (theoretical and/or practical) to be recognisably increased.  Most higher education research work would qualify as research.

Pure basic research, strategic basic research, applied research and experimental development.

Activities that support research and meet the definition of research include:

• provision of professional, technical, administrative or clerical support and/or assistance to staff directly engaged in research
• management of staff who are either directly engaged in research or are providing professional, technical or clerical support or assistance to those staff
• activities of students undertaking postgraduate research courses
• development of postgraduate research courses
• supervision of students undertaking postgraduate research courses.

The following activities are deemed not to support research and are therefore excluded from the definition of research:

• preparation for teaching
• scientific and technical information services
• general purpose or routine data collection
• standardisation and routine testing
• feasibility studies (except into research and experimental development projects)
• specialised routine medical care
• commercial, legal and administrative aspects of patenting, copyright or licensing activities
• routine computer programming, systems work orsoftware maintenance (research and experimental development into applications software, new programming languages and new operating systems would normally meet the definition of research).[1]

There are numerous inclusions and exclusions to the criteria shown above.  For more information, see the Higher Education Research Data Collection guidelines.

A Research Contract is an externally commissioned research funding arrangement under which, typically, specific outcomes or deliverables will be expected.  Generally a project to be conducted under a Research Contract is developed by the funding agency or jointly by the funding agency and the researcher.

An Agreement is the legal document to be signed by both parties that governs the terms and conditions of the research. 

The parties in the case of Research Contracts are Monash University and the external funding body. 

Agreements are executed by delegated authorities, which are formally nominated by the Vice-Chancellor. 

(See the full list of Monash delegated authorities)