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Social science research centre launched into the community

March 28, 2006

CARSS.thumb.JPGA research centre officially launched yesterday at The University of New England will give both government and non-government organisations easier access to UNE expertise in social science research.

The New England Centre for Applied Research in Social Science (CARSS), established in January 2005, has already generated external research income of more than $200,000. Yesterday's launch, attended by representatives of government and community organisations as well as by CARSS members and supporters, introduced the Centre to the New England community.

The Vice-Chancellor of UNE, Professor Alan Pettigrew, launched the Centre, saying it represented “a great opportunity for UNE”. Professor Pettigrew said he believed the Centre could attract the support of the Australian Government as part of the new Commonwealth focus on research quality and collaboration. He commended the multidisciplinary nature of the Centre, and emphasised “the crucial importance of the social sciences”.

CARSS aims to maximise research networking in the social sciences across the University. It brings together an interdisciplinary team of 23 researchers in the fields of sociology, demography, geography, economics, criminology, environmental regulation, political science, social statistics, and professional ethics. One research project for the Australian Government already under way at CARSS is a major study for the Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs. Professor Kerry Carrington, the Director Designate of CARSS, said the Centre was currently involved in tendering for more government research contracts.

Professor Carrington, from UNE’s School of Social Science, has a background in Government-sponsored research, having headed the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare in Canberra. Such experience, she said, gave her an insight into the Government’s research requirements and funding strategies.

The Centre has an established network of contacts and collaborators at regional, State, national and international levels. Associate Professor Tony Sorensen, the Deputy Director of CARSS, pointed out that the Centre had national connections through the involvement of some of its members in a “Network for Spatially Integrated Social Science” funded by the Australian Research Council. Other national connections are with the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, the Australian Bureau of Statistics, and the Australian Research Alliance on Children and Youth. There is an international connection with the Centre for Time Use in the UK.

Associate Professor Jeff Archer, who has been the Director of CARSS for the past year (and will shortly hand the position over to Professor Carrington), said: “I see it as the start of a new era in applied social science at UNE.”

The photograph displayed here, taken at yesterday's launch, shows (from left) Associate Professor Jeff Archer, Professor Alan Pettigrew, Professor Kerry Carrington, and Associate Professor Tony Sorensen.

Posted by Jim Scanlan at March 28, 2006 11:34 AM