Strategic Research Partnerships

UniSA’s Strategic Research Partnerships brings together expert minds from across a spectrum of disciplines in academia, government, private enterprise and the community to address big issues in novel ways.

This cross-fertilisation of insights from completely disparate viewpoints can sometimes suggest solutions to problems no-one foresaw at the start of the project, leading to quantum leaps of thinking and genuine breakthroughs.

Clusters provide the opportunity for collaboration in creating the ideas that will change the way we live.

About Clusters

What is a Cluster?
What do Clusters do?
Why might you wish to become involved?
Are you interested in starting a multidisciplinary Interest Group on a particular theme or issue?

Are we more concerned with solutions than problems?

Research is usually performed by individuals or a closely related group working to solve a clearly defined problem. It’s a clean-cut, structured and methodical way of working that focuses on relentlessly pursuing a goal: the single, elegant solution. But this preoccupation with solutions can sometimes create its own problems. A lot of people can find themselves working in parallel – often without reference to others within their discipline, let alone people in other disciplines – to find their solution.

Working outward from the problem.

Sometimes, this leads to frustration, a waste of time and resources. It also means the problem at hand is not getting a rigorous, 360-degree examination. The question has to be asked: what could we be missing in the bigger picture? A health issue, for example, may face a cultural or societal barrier that will never be addressed by a wonder drug. So, instead of making a solution the aim, what if you were to examine the problem without supposing the result? By focussing purely on the problem and inviting holistic examination, a team can form around it, drawn from within UniSA across the complete spectrum of disciplines as well as others in academia, government, private enterprise and end-users. That’s a Research and Innovation Cluster.

One plus one equals three.

This cross-fertilisation of insights from completely disparate viewpoints can sometimes suggest solutions to problems no-one ever foresaw at the start of the project. That can lead to quantum leaps of thinking and genuine breakthroughs that the group can then start to put into action. By their nature, Clusters are informal alliances that do not employ anyone. Through careful management and coordination from the Strategic Research Partnerships team alongside each individual Cluster’s group, the multidiscipline teams have total freedom to explore every aspect of its agenda without risk of losing focus, becoming unwieldy or counterproductive.

Engage with some of the finest minds available.

Right now, UniSA has three active Clusters and several thematic interest networks and partners. So we encourage participants to add insights to the Human Rights and Security, Research in Regions and Healthy Kids Clusters to create great outcomes. Or you can suggest your own agenda that would benefit from a Cluster approach. This is your invitation to meet other great minds, collaborate on creating the ideas that will change the way we live and share in the outcomes that will surely follow. Don’t deny yourself the opportunity to engage with us.