Australian researchers are given greater exposure to international arenas

Feb 16, 2016  |  News  
by The Learning Press staff

Forty Australian research centres have joined a global initiative to lift the visibility of the discoveries made by their 47,000 researchers.

The Open Researcher and Contributor ID (ORCID) provides a unique 12-digit identifier for every researcher so their work can be tracked anywhere in the world.

The initiative will make it easier for industry to seek out researcher expertise relevant to a particular area - and for individuals to maintain a record of research activity throughout their career.

The consortium of research organisations includes 36 of the nation’s 39 universities, the Heart Research Institute, CSIRO, the Australian Research Council and the National Health and Medical Research Council.

"This is a tremendously important initiative for researchers and for the nation," said Universities Australia Chief Executive Belinda Robinson.

"By bringing together a researcher's intellectual property - patents, research studies, publications and grants - into one place, regardless of where they're employed or where they live, the visibility and profile of their work is greatly elevated.

"Universities Australia has been heavily involved in the development of this initiative because we recognise the importance of maximising the impact of Australian research.

"Australia's universities are seizing every opportunity to make their world-leading research and innovations more accessible to industry and the broader community, and adopting ORCID is a critical part of this effort.”

ORCID is an international not-for-profit organisation created in 2010 to solve the problem of name ambiguity in research.