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Research

During the five year period from 2007 to 2011, Charles Sturt University staff will conduct strategic and applied research of an international standard. Key drivers for our research activities are quality and excellence with an emphasis on the creation of new knowledge for the advancement of fields of study and the enhancement of the society in general. All academic staff at CSU are expected to make a contribution to the creation of new knowledge in their relevant discipline area.

The University will focus strategically on our areas of research strength. These areas are listed in the University’s Strategic Plan as agricultural sustainability (including agricultural innovations, land, water and society, and wine and grape science), applied philosophy and public ethics, public and contextual theology, complex systems, and professional practice. In addition to supporting these areas of competitive edge and strategic advantage, the University will continue to foster a strong research culture and will identify and resource emerging research groupings that demonstrate potential to grow into areas of future research strength. The University’s research strengths predominantly address issues associated with an environmentally sustainable Australia. 

The University’s approach to research development over the 2007 – 2011 period will focus on clearly identifying significant problems or issues that are best addressed by the scholarly and intellectual endeavours of disciplinary and transdisciplinary teams and on implementing the best structures and resourcing strategies to facilitate high-quality outcomes and answers for these problems and issues. Trandisciplinary, integrative research aims to transcend disciplinary boundaries and creates research solutions that are derived from an integrated perspective. This approach will provide the opportunity for research teams to collaborate with industry and other agencies to seek significant program funding from government and research funding agencies and from other sources to address these important problems. The development of global alliances and key national and local partnerships with other researchers and agencies that are focussed on addressing the same or similar problem or issue will be strongly encouraged and supported. Charles Sturt University is committed to providing high-quality research training and supervision for its higher degree research students. During the 2007-11 period we want to attract high-calibre students to study in our areas of existing or potential research strengths and strategies to facilitate this objective will be implemented. These students will form an important part of the transdisciplinary teams working to solve the clearly identified significant problems and/or issues. 

By 2011, CSU will have achieved international recognition for its research addressing key challenges faced by the regions and the global society. Ethical and theological issues and water, ecological and agricultural problems will have been addressed from a holistic perspective, ensuring an understanding of the impact of competing perspectives on all stakeholders. The application of disciplinary and  transdisciplinary approaches to investigating complex problems in animals, psychology, health, business, communication and education will have generated innovative solutions for practitioners and advanced the specific disciplines informing CSU’s undergraduate and postgraduate courses. New courses will have emerged that prepare students for participation in an increasingly complex and globalised world.

CSU’s emphasis on strategic and problem-based research will have produced outcomes published in high-quality academic publications. The impact of the research outcomes will have been evidenced through advances in the disciplines, the changing practices of those implementing the solutions, and improvements in the quality of life, economic viability, agricultural production and the environment of the national and international constituencies CSU serves. 

Research Centres Accredited by the Australian Research Council (ARC).

Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics
The Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics constitutes the largest concentration of philosophers working on applied philosophy and public ethics in Australia, and one of the largest such concentrations internationally. The largest centre of its kind in the world, the Centre is a national special research centre that brings together the strengths of Charles Sturt University, the University of Melbourne and the Australian National University. Research areas are criminal justice ethics, business and professional ethics, computer ethics and the ethics of nanotechnology, biotechnology, welfare and political violence.
www.cappe.edu.au

Centre of Excellence in Policing and Security
The Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence in Policing and Security aims to achieve excellence in policing and security research to drive local and global policy and practice reform strengthening the security and wellbeing of Australia.
http://www.griffith.edu.au/arts-languages-criminology/centre-excellence-policing-security

Centres of Research Excellence Accredited by the CSU Council.

Institute for Land, Water and Society
The Institute is an internationally recognised provider of integrated research that contributes to enhanced social and environmental sustainability in rural and regional areas. The Institute combines the expertise of over 100 environmental scientists, hydrologists, social researchers and economists, plus 80 PhD students to address critical sustainability issues in inland Australia. The five research themes are; Ecology and Biodiversity; Economics and Regional Development; Human Dimensions of Environmental Management; Rural and Social Research, Water Systems and an emerging theme of Arts Culture and Communications. www.csu.edu.au/research/ilws

EH Graham Centre for Agricultural Innovation
The Centre is developing innovations for profitable and sustainable agricultural systems through integrated and collaborative research, extension, education and training, and is speeding up the delivery of new information to land managers. The EH Graham Centre for Agricultural Innovation has an international reputation as a centre of excellence for integrated agricultural research and extension in mixed farming systems.
www.csu.edu.au/research/grahamcentre

Research Institute for Professional Practice, Learning and Education
The Centre focuses on understanding and developing professional practice in a range of professions including education, occupational therapy, speech pathology, nursing, accountancy, management and other professions. Researchers are working on problems including attracting and retaining professionals in rural and regional Australia and responding to increased diversity in the professions through initial and continuing education and research.
www.csu.edu.au/research/ripple

Strategic Research Centres Accredited by the CSU Council

The National Wine and Grape Industry Centre
The National Centre undertakes research which contributes to the sustainability of grape and wine production across NSW’s wine production areas and across Australia. The Centre is composed of teaching and research staff from the University, NSW Department of Primary Industries and NSW Wine Industry Association. Its key research themes represent the areas identified by the wine industry in its analysis of research and development needs.
www.csu.edu.au/nwgic

Centre for Public and Contextual Theology
This research group breaks new ground in the theological scene in Australia. Traditionally, theology has been undertaken within an ecclesiastical environment, which can narrow its scope and not account for wider contexts. The focus of this group is the concern for questions and issues relevant in contemporary society, placed within the Australian setting. Public theology needs be concerned with the engagement, via dialogue, of faith tradition with wider social and intellectual concerns of the day. Contextual theology in Australia must take account of our pluralist, multicultural society, in order to remain relevant to our diverse population, across the scope of our wide land. The context created by Aboriginal settlement, colonisation and progress to nationhood provides a perspective which influences the various strands of theology, to provide a unique resource for the tasks of theology today.
www.csu.edu.au/faculty/arts/theology/pact

Centre for Research in Complex Systems
The Centre for Research in Complex Systems carries out world-class research in complex systems theory and applications. The many projects in the group cover a range of themes, from fundamental analysis of cellular automata to virtual environments.
http://silica.csu.edu.au/CRICS/

International Centre of Water for Food Security
The Centre is an international centre for excellence in strategic research, smart technologies and applied training in integrated water resources management to secure and improve food production, environmental sustainability and communities’ well-being through advanced research, enhanced technical and scientific cooperation, and knowledge transfer in related topics at both regional and international levels.  The Centre is the Australasian host of the UNESCO's Hydrology for the Environment, Life and Policy (HELP) initiative under the International Hydrology Program (IHP) .
http://www.icwater.org/

COOPERATIVE RESEARCH CENTRES

Cooperative Research Centre for Future Farm Industries
The Centre is a unique co-investment between meat, grains and wool industry research corporations, the Landmark agribusiness company, and the combined research power of CSIRO, six state agencies and four universities, including Charles Sturt University. The aim of the CRC is to transform agricultural systems across southern Australia by developing Profitable Perennials™, and applying perennial plant technologies to innovative farming systems that increase productivity of existing livestock and grain industries, develop new regional industries through investment, reduce the risk of natural resource degradation, including dryland salinity, and improve conservation of biodiversity and water resources.
www.futurefarmcrc.com.au/

Cooperative Research Centre for Irrigation Futures
The Centre’s mission is to facilitate cooperative research and training networks and programs which continuously improve irrigation policy, tools, practices and processes to double irrigation water use efficiency, improve profitability for commercial irrigation, protect soil and water condition and the dependent ecosystems. Charles Sturt University is a program leader for the System Harmonisation and Regional Irrigation Business Partnerships. The System Harmonisation Program aims to develop strategies to improve cross-organisational communication and system-wide management while improving production and environmental outcomes.
www.irrigationfutures.org.au

Cooperative Research Centre for Spatial Information
The Centre works to develop the concept of a Virtual Australia, uniting research and commercial innovation in spatial information. The Centre will harness Australia’s recognised research and commercialisation strengths in spatial information technologies to create new opportunities and increased prosperity for all Australians.
www.crcsi.com.au

Cooperative Research Centre for Plant Biosecurity
The CRC Plant Biosecurity’s vision is to be a world leader in the generation, development and delivery of plant biosecurity science and education. The mission is to foster scientific collaboration and engage stakeholders to deliver plant biosecurity technologies that will reduce risk to, and ensure sustainability of, Australia ’s plant industries.
http://www.crcplantbiosecurity.com.au/index.php

Cooperative Research Centre for Pork
Charles Sturt University is a supporting participant in the Centre.  The Centre aims to enhance the international competitiveness of the Australian pork industry by providing and adopting new and novel technologies that reduce feed costs, improve herd feed conversion efficiency and increase the range and functionality of pork products.  The Centre is focussed on breakthroughs in pig and plant biology to advance knowledge and facilitate the development of technological innovations for the pork industry.
http://porkcrc.com.au/html/about_us.html

Cooperative Research Centre for Cotton Catchment Communities
The Centre undertakes collaborative research, education and commercialisation activities to provide innovative knowledge that is adopted for the benefit of the Australian cotton industry, regional communities and the nation.
www.cotton.pi.csiro.au

Problem Focussed Research Groupings
A Problem Focused Research Grouping is led by an established Research Leader, usually at the professorial level and is comprised of a discipline or trans-disciplinary group of academic and general staff and research students. Each Group has identified a significant problem or issue on which to focus their research. The Problem Focused Research Groupings include: