Performance-Based Research Fund (PBRF)
The University of Otago is New Zealand's most research intensive university 1.
It is also the top-ranked university for research quality 2.
The top eight quality rankings as released by TEC
| Tertiary Education Organisation | Quality score |
|---|---|
| University of Otago | 4.23 |
| University of Auckland | 4.19 |
| University of Canterbury | 4.10 |
| Victoria University of Wellington | 3.83 |
| University of Waikato | 3.73 |
| Massey University | 3.05 |
| Lincoln University | 2.96 |
| Auckland University of Technology | 1.86 |
PBRF: the facts
PBRF was introduced in 2003 to encourage and reward research excellence in New Zealand's tertiary education sector.
It is managed by the Tertiary Education Commission (TEC) and it has progressively replaced a student numbers-based model for supporting research.
Any Tertiary Education Organisation (TEO) which is approved to teach degree programmes is eligible to take part in the PBRF.
PBRF provides criteria for evaluating research performance. The most significant of these is the quality evaluation (60 per cent weighting).
The quality evaluation process comprises a peer review assessment of evidence portfolios submitted by tertiary institutions to TEC. The portfolios describe eligible staff members' research outputs and their contributions to the research environment as well as peer esteem.
This quality evaluation enables TEC to calculate an aggregate quality score for each TEO. This gives stakeholders reliable information about the quality and level of research in the tertiary education sector.
Altogether, 31 TEOs participated in the 2006 PBRF quality evaluation. Of those, the University of Otago received the highest quality score.
Tertiary Education Commission (TEC) sources:
- PBRF Evaluating Research Excellence 2006 Report (PDF format)
Footnotes
- Ministry of Research, Science and Technology. Research and Development in New Zealand. (Wellington, 2006)
- Tertiary Education Commission. PBRF Quality Evaluation 2006 . (Wellington, 2007)
