The Australian Research Council (ARC) is currently undergoing review and AAANZ is encouraging submissions from our members on the experiences and concerns of researchers working in art history, practice-led research and related fields. Members from non-university institutions may like to make a submission reporting on how Linkage schemes can support the goals of their work in partner instiutions.
The terms of reference are as follows:
- whether the role and purpose of the ARC as set out in the legislation remains relevant, including consideration of the contribution the ARC can make to identifying reforms to its programs to actively shape the research landscape in Australia and better align with comparable research agencies;
- the ARC governance model and management functions and structures to ensure they are contemporary, fit for purpose, and meet the needs of stakeholders;
- opportunities to improve the legislation to better facilitate globally competitive research and partnerships, reduce unnecessary administrative and legislative burden and increase agility; and
- how the legislation could be revised to reflect the breadth of functions of the ARC and its evolution, including the measurement of the impact and excellence of Australian research and advise on contemporary best practice for modernising and leveraging these measures.
The submissions must be made via this website and according to a specific format. Please see this webpage for further information. https://www.education.gov.au/higher-education-reviews-and-consultations/review-australian-research-council-act-2001
Some areas of consideration for Art History, practice-led and curatorial research may include:
- Success rates in relevant schemes for our disciplines and equity concerns related to this
- Representation in expert panels and governance for expertise from the Humanities and from the Arts and Art History specifically
- The challenges of grant preparation, resources required, and support for this work (impacts on casual, sessional and non FTE staff)
- Issues related to standardised grant templates across STEM and HASS
- Rankings of Art History journals and publications and NTROs (and impacts of a data-driven approach to these rankings)
- The possibility of separating funding schemes into distinct STEM and HASS schemes
- The role of Linkage and LIEF schemes for work with communities and institutions, the value of this, and barriers to doing it
- The need for smaller grant programs in humanities (see an argument for this here)