The Australian Research Council has appointed members to the new Excellence for Research in Australia evaluation committees. Back when ERA was the major research measure close scrutiny of committee memberships provided conspiracy theorists with hours of fun but not so much now that engagement and impact are included. Even so, the spread of membership still says something about where research strengths are – which is pretty much everywhere.

The institutional spread by committee is:

Biology and biotech: Chair: Eleanor Mackie (UniMelbourne). Members from: Murdoch, 2. Deakin, 1. Sunshine Coast, 2. UNE 1. Adelaide, 1. UNSW, 1 LaTrobe, 1. Imperial College London, 1. UTas, 1. RMIT, 1. UniSydney 2. UTS, 1.

Economics and commerce: Chair: Flavio Mendes (UoQ). Members from: UniSA, 2. UniSyd, 1. ANU, 1. Deakin, 2. Griffth, 1. Curtin U 2. La Trobe, 1. UWA, 1. UoQ, 2 (one plus chair). UTS, 1. UNSW, 1. UniWollongong, 1

Engineering and environment: Chair: Rose Amal (UNSW). Members from: UniAdelaide, 1. UoQ, 2. Nottingham Trent U, 1. UNSW, 2 (one plus chair). UWA, 1. UNE, 1. Curtin U, 2. UniCanberra, 1. UniNewcastle, 1. Deakin U, 1. UniSA, 1. UTas, 1. UniSydney, 1. Monash U, i.

Eduction and human society: Chair: Brenda Cherednichenko (Deakin).  Members from: UniNewcastle, 1. UniMelbourne, 1. Uni Amsterdam, 1. UTas, 2. La Trobe, 2.UTS, 2. Southern Cross U, 1. UNSW, 1. UoQ, 1. QUT, 1.  Flinders U, 1. Western Sydney U, 2. Monash U, 2. UWA, 1.

Humanities and creative arts: Chair: Graeme Turner (UoQ). Members from:  UniAdelaide, 2. UWA, 2. Monash U, 1. UniMelbourne, 1. UniNewcastle, 1. Macquarie U 2. Deakin U 2, UniSydney, 1. Griffith U, 1. UoQ 2, (one plus chair). Murdoch U, 1. RMIT, 2. La Trobe U, 1. U Tasmania, 2. James Cook U, 1. UniCanberra 1.

Medical and health sciences: Chair: David Badcock (UWA). Members from: Macquarie U 1. Uni Southern Queensland, 1. UniSA, 2. UniSydney, 3. Uni Adelaide, 2. Monash U, 1. James Cook U, 1. Uni Newcastle, 1. QUT, 2. La Trobe U, 1. Flinders U, 1. Griffith U, 1. U Tasmania, 2. UTS, 1. Uni Sunshine Coast, 1.

Math, info and computing science: Chair: David Green (Monash U).  UniTas, 1. UWA, 1. UniSydney, 2. La Trobe U, 1. Griffith U, 2. Monash U 2 (one plus chair). Western Sydney U, 1. Macquarie U, 1. RMIT, 1. UniSA, 1. UniWollongong, 1. ANU, 1, Deakin U 1.

Physical, chem and earth science: Chair: John O’Connor (UniNewcastle). Deakin U, 2. James Cook U, 1. Flinders U, 2. Uni Southern Queesland, 1. Monash U, 1. Curtin U, 1. ANU, 1. UWA, 1. Uni Sunshine Coast, 2. UoQ, 1. Uni Oslo, 1. Uni Sydney, 1. UniMelbourne, 1. Macquarie U, 1.

If these appointments are a proxy for research leadership then it is distributed across the university-system. The two universities with the most REC representatives are Deakin U and University of Sydney with ten each, followed by the University of Tasmania with nine and Monash University and the University of Queensland with eight.