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Science
FACULTY OF SCIENCE PLAN
20132017
Overarching goal
Within the coming five years our overarching goal is to lift the performance of the constituent disciplines within the
Faculty so that we are collectively recognised to be within the top 3 science faculties in Australia. This will occur in a
context of accelerating change within the higher education sector both nationally and internationally. In addition it
will occur in a climate of reducing government funding.
To be successful we will need to be more entrepreneurial and to act with urgency in our implementation our
competitors are not idle and we can assume that in the future, resources will become more focused on a smaller
number of universities/individuals that are perceived to be operating at the highest quality level. If we do not move
rapidly to improve our national ranking we risk being left behind.
Focus
We should expect funding to become increasingly difficult to obtain in the future. This requires us to operate at
maximum efficiency. It also requires us to focus our activity if we are to invest to improve ourselves. This requires
discipline and a willingness to stop undertaking some activities so that current commitments can be redirected to
areas where we can have greater impact. Implicit in the need for focus is the understanding that we are prepared to
be less comprehensive in our activities.
Our priorities
Focusing requires us to prioritise and this plan makes explicit how that prioritisation will occur. After considerable
discussion it has been agreed for the next five years the overarching priority areas within the Faculty will be:
1. Research Strengthening
2. Increased industry engagement
3. Improving the student experience
4. Improving our physical infrastructure
These priority areas will provide a lens to evaluate all our activities. If activities dont align with our stated priorities
they will be less likely to be resourced or undertaken.
Based on our Faculty priorities, and the planning work already undertaken within our Clayton based schools, the
following strategies have been agreed upon by senior managers within the Faculty. They represent the method by
which we will achieve our goals. Unlike our overarching priorities these strategies should be considered dynamic and
will change from year-to-year as our context changes.
Research

Increase research performance and esteem by developing key initiatives at different scales and use these
as a vehicle for targeted recruitment and investment.
Develop within Schools clear priority areas for future recruitment linked to new initiatives, future Centres
of Excellence, faculty research centres and school strategic plans.
Example School Initiatives such as MAXIMA, Synchrotron Geoscience, 2D Materials and Ecological
Genomics.
Each school will develop at least one initiative within the next 12 months with a clear vision of how this
will improve research standing, the resourcing required to be successful, partners secured and business
case developed to indicate expected return on investment and positive impact on School budget. Faculty
investment into these initiatives will be staged over 2 years.




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Package School initiatives into Faculty research centres where appropriate as a vehicle for faculty
investment as well as building profile. At least 3 new faculty research centres will be established by Dec
2013.
Develop a number of ARC Centres of Excellence within the faculty. Convert faculty centres and/or School
initiatives into ARC Centres of Excellence. A target of 4 CoE proposals in 2013 has been set.
Utilize the Monash talent enhancement scheme to put in place 15-20 research fellows over the next two
years (MPF and Larkins combined) that will underpin designated school initiatives opportunistic uses of
these schemes will be reduced and faculty prioritization will be influenced by School budget
performance.
Example School of Geosciences synchrotron cluster hire.
Actively pursue external fellowship schemes, particularly ARC fellowships (DECRA, DORA, Future
Fellowships, Laureate Fellowships). Particular emphasis to be placed on the external recruitment of new
staff into these schemes through targeted recruitment. Target of 1 Laureate Fellowship application per
school per year.
Start the development of 1-2 very large interdisciplinary initiatives in 2013/14 $10-20M
investments, heavily partnered inside and outside university, centre of gravity will be within the faculty .
Example National initiative in Synthetic Biology.
Develop initiatives that encourage collaboration between schools and with other faculties
Maximize opportunities available through Monashs international alliance(s), and presence in Asia.

Develop our existing staff, particularly new recruits, to ensure they reach maximum potential as quickly as
possible.
Develop strategies for junior academic staff development including formal mentoring schemes, workload
management, leadership pathways, reward structures such as rapid promotion to recognize
performance.
Target initiative funding to junior academics where possible to ensure they are equipped and have access
quickly to HDR students. Ensure that new recruits have sufficient setup funding to become productive as
soon as possible. Initiate a limited number of schemes to ensure existing junior academics are resourced
so that the major impediment to their success is their own intrinsic ability rather than external factors
that they do not control.
Expand our applied research base through enhanced industry engagement and use this to increase income to
the faculty.
Develop functioning industry advisory boards in all schools by Jan 2013. Utilize industry boards in a range
of activities including strategy development and curriculum design.
Engage with key alumni as part of advisory boards but also through separate targeted activities that aim
to enhance our existing relationships with known alumni and to rapidly expand our base of engaged
alumni.
Develop strategies to communicate our capability to industry and to build industry linkages for
academics, particularly junior academics.
Develop a government engagement strategy for each school.
Increase the quantity and quality of industry grants. Double our LP income every two years. Double
industry overheads to faculty every two years.





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Faculty Research Enablers
Strengthen the capability of the BDM activity within faculty to support academic fundraising and industry
engagement.
Activate our advancement function to support raising of revenue for key priority areas.
Develop fund-raising champions at school level.
Develop a clear collaborative framework between BDM, advancement and communications teams to
maximize success.
Develop faculty research office to provide high-level research analysis as well as support to research
development activities of schools and researchers.
Develop a fabrication platform to help consolidate workshop operations and facilitate faculty and
university research. Develop additional platform initiatives to facilitate research and recruitment.
Example Analytical Platform, Ecoinformatics Platform
Provide support to schools to develop key initiatives with seed funding and/or BDM support.
Provide enabling support to young investigators including grant and paper writing skill development as
well as general mentoring
Identify limited areas of activity that will take precedence for application of resources. All strategic
resourcing schemes will be reviewed with a view to doing fewer activities with more funding to maximize
impact. All schemes will utilize measures of quality and excellence to prioritize application of resources.
We will remove the expectation of strategic investment being permanent.

Education

Improve the student experience outside of the classroom to provide a richer and more rewarding
university experience.
Invest into strategies that will facilitate the seamless transition of students from School to University and
out to future careers.
Work to develop a sense of belonging for students to both the campus and the disciplines within the
faculty. Prioritize resources around cohort experiences for students as well as a series of student centred
physical spaces.
Actively facilitate the development and resourcing of student social networks.
Develop initiatives that support students personal growth and develop career readiness.
Review our major programs with a goal of improving our pedagogy and so improve the quality of our
graduates.
Use the cycle of School and course reviews to closely examine our programs of study with the goal of
providing the most innovative and effective pedagogy and to constantly improve our offerings.
Actively support practical and field experience in our teaching - to the extent we can afford - to provide a
rich learning experience.
Initiate new teaching innovations in all schools, and maximize opportunities offered through the Monash
Blended Model.




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Prioritize minor works spending on student learning spaces that support innovative learning and teaching
approaches.
Grow our enrolment base and so ensure that both our teaching and research aspirations can be funded.
Develop new programs both award and non-award to maximize revenue.
Develop a marketing strategy to promote our major programs. Showcase our innovations prominently in
our marketing.
Undertake targeted outreach with secondary schools to nurture our enrolment pipeline.
Maximize opportunities available through the Monashs international alliance(s), and presence in Asia.
Broaden the HDR experience so students have access to more interdisciplinary thinking and leave with a
broad set of competencies.
Develop Doctoral Training Centers as a mechanism to provide a thematic approach to HDR programs as
well as nurture interdisciplinary thinking and grow enrolments.
Develop a suite of coursework that will underpin the PhD and provide core interdisciplinary skills (eg
effective communication, project management, etc.)
Faculty Education enablers
Develop/expand a set of Education strategic initiatives at Faculty level, as we have in the research area
that will facilitate the development of new education initiatives.
Develop a marketing/communications strategy to support our education mission and properly fund it.
Appoint a student experience/transition position to develop student non-classroom initiatives.
Utilize BDM capability to connect students to industry.
Develop and implement a school engagement strategy; use JMSS to test and refine strategy.
Develop BDM capabilities for Education.
People
Build and maintain communication forums and channels that allow FoS staff to be informed, connect,
collaborate, be heard and celebrate success and innovation internally and externally.
Reward, recognize and communicate the important outcomes and achievement of our people
Develop strategies to encourage interaction and social engagement of staff within schools and across the
faculty.
Develop and implement initiatives that improve the health and well being of our people.
Develop effective strategies that promote inclusion and diversity to prevent discrimination and promote
inclusiveness
Promote a safety first culture amongst faculty staff and students that creates a safe working
environment for everyone
Infrastructure

To improve the physical environment of the faculty for students and staff
Redevelop our spaces to provide support for the student experience outside of the classroom. To
prioritize the development of interaction space for students that will facilitate transition to university,




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group learning and informal interaction. Spaces that are both discipline neutral and aligned with
particular schools will be developed.
Prioritize the refurbishment of teaching spaces where it is aligned with improvements to pedagogy and
innovation in teaching and learning.
Equip our teaching spaces to facilitate a high quality practical experience for our students.
Facilitate the acquisition of state of the art equipment to underpin the highest quality research of
individual investigators, particularly junior academics and new recruits.
Double our LIEF grant applications to help equip the research efforts of the faculty.
Commit to the development of public spaces both within and outside buildings to provide a safe,
cohesive, high quality and modern built environment for students and staff.
Processes and finance

Maintain an administrative system that facilitates the goals of the faculty, its constituent units and
academics and that balances efficiency through a minimization of paperwork and process with a suitable
level of risk management.
Develop and implement a Dashboard of performance indicators that can be used to readily evaluate the
performance of the faculty and schools in relation to key priorities.
Provide sufficient support to key managers within the faculty (eg Heads of Schools) so that they have
access to critical information to inform management decisions.
Develop a fully transparent financial system that facilitates effective decision-making that is aligned with
external income and cost drivers.
Develop a budget system and associated incentives that will facilitate financial self-reliance, increase
efficiency of operations, and reward management that aligns performance with goals of strategic plans.
Develop suitable policy and procedures around the costing of research contracts and consultancies,
including suitable overhead charging and distribution.