The University of Canberra (UC) has officially joined the Innovative Research Universities (IRU) network, a group of universities committed to inclusive excellence in teaching, learning and research in Australia.
Vice-Chancellor and President of UC, Paddy Nixon said that IRU represented a group of world-ranked, research intensive universities with considerable global standing and UC’s inclusion affirmed its position as a national and global leader.
Professor Nixon said the IRU aimed to be at the constructive centre of Australian university policy making, influencing political development beyond an individual university’s capacity to do so.
He said the impact of the network was both local and global with a focus on advancing communities through education, resources, opportunities, translational research and enterprise.
“IRU is at the forefront of higher education and research policy, and is a strong voice on the future direction of the sector,” Professor Nixon said.
“The collective effort across teaching, research and community impact is impressive and we look forward to what the University of Canberra brings to the network as the only member from the nation’s capital.”
Professor Nixon said the characteristics of UC strongly aligned with those of the IRU universities.
“Our purpose is very much linked to the community in which we are located and serve,” he said.
“We are relatively young, just 31 years old as a university, we are inclusive and have a strong commitment to equity and raising participation, and we have ambitious plans for the future including industry partnerships and campus development.”
Chair of the IRU, Carolyn Evans said UC’s inclusion brought the network’s membership to eight and achieved its goal of having a footprint in all of mainland Australia.
