In Australia, 09 Engineering and 11 Medical and Health Sciences both demonstrated strength in applied research, together being responsible for more than half of the patents registered in the three-year reference period that were submitted to ERA 2018. The 11 Medical and Health Sciences attracted the greatest investment from industry and reported the most research commercialisation income, which includes income generated from patents. However, 09 Engineering attracted the greatest share of CRC income.
The chart shows the two-digit FoR codes which have patents as an applied measure ordered by number of patents. It also shows the Higher Education Research Data Collection (HERDC) Category 3 and 4 income, and the research commercialisation for these codes. See Section 4 for a more detailed breakdown.
Note: HERDC also includes data collection of 'HDR Fees for domestic students' and 'International C: HDR fees for international students'. Institutions do not report these two subcategories (of student fees) for ERA.
Patents and applied income sources by FoR code
Engineering—patents and income from applied sources
At the four-digit level within 09 Engineering, Electrical and Electronic Engineering (0906) was responsible for the highest share of patents (48 per cent) and also producing high levels of research commercialisation income (41 per cent) while attracting moderate levels of support from industry and other research income sources (10 per cent) and CRC research income (five per cent).
In contrast, Biomedical Engineering (0903) accounts for a 14 per cent share of patents however this field also reported a high proportion of the research commercialisation income (31 per cent), though it had lower investment by industry and other research income sources (seven per cent) and CRC research income (one per cent).
Medical and health sciences—patents and income from applied sources
At the four-digit level within 11 Medical and Health Sciences, Pharmacology and Pharmaceutical Sciences (1115) produced the largest share of patents (22 per cent). This discipline was responsible for a 20 per cent share of the reported research commercialisation income, five per cent share of income from industry and other research income sources, and four per cent share of CRC research income.
Clinical Sciences (1103) reported the greatest amount of research commercialisation income, comprising 41 per cent of that income type for all of the 11 Medical and Health Sciences. It also reported a 15 per cent share of patents and a 21 per cent share of income from industry and other research income sources.