A UQ Business School Professor has been appointed to a panel of experts responsible for assessing the quality of academic research in Australia.

Professor Victor Callan as a member of the Australian Research Council’s Research Evaluation Committee will be helping to rate the country’s higher education institutions on research quality as part of the 2012 Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA) initiative. He will be sitting on ERA’s Economics and Commerce Committee along with two colleagues, Professor Prasada Rao and Professor Simon Grant, from UQ’s School of Economics.

It is the second time Professor Callan has taken up this important role for the ARC. Professor Callan again brings to this role an international reputation in business research and has completed industry consultancy and research for the Federal and State Governments, as well as for many of Australia’s best known businesses.

Professor Rao was the founder of UQ’s Centre for Efficiency and Productivity Analysis. He is an advisor to the World Bank and on the Council of the International Association for Research in Income and Wealth. Professor Grant’s research interests are in the area of economic theory, in particular the development of models of decision making under uncertainty.

Professor Iain Watson, Executive Dean, Faculty of Business, Economics & Law, said: “According to ERA, only distinguished and internationally-recognised researchers are invited to take part in these research assessments. Therefore, the appointments recognise the high esteem in which Professors Callan, Rao and Grant are held.”

About UQ Business School

The University of Queensland Business School is independently ranked as one of the top business schools in Australia and amongst the leading institutions worldwide. Based in Brisbane, it brings together over 130 subject experts with over 7,000 students and offers undergraduate and postgraduate degree programs and executive education across the range of business disciplines.

UQ Business School is renowned internationally for the quality of its research and also provides contract research and consultancy services to organisations throughout the world. The teaching – research – consultancy loop is central to its success, ensuring that the school maintains its position at the forefront of academic knowledge while staying closely attuned to modern business requirements. For further information see www.business.uq.edu.au

Fast facts

• UQ Business School was the first in Australia to meet the standards of the world’s two most influential accrediting bodies - the US-based AACSB International and Europe’s EQUIS.
• It is ranked in the world’s top 50 universities for executive education by the Financial Times.
• Its MBA program is rated in the top 50 worldwide by The Economist and in the top two in Australia by the AFR’s BOSS Magazine.
• The MBA course has been awarded the highest possible rating of five stars for seven years running by Australia’s most influential rating body, the GMAA.
• The school was classed as above world standard in its 4 major fields of business research in the Australian government’s ERA assessment