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ARC College of Experts

Fact Sheet (PDF 412KB)

To support the advancement of knowledge and contribute to national innovation, the ARC College of Experts plays a key role in identifying research excellence.  Its members are experts of international standing drawn from the Australian research community which includes higher education, industry and public sector research organisations.

The ARC seeks nominations from suitably qualified and experienced individuals, including senior academics and end-users across the private, public and not-for-profit sectors, with peer review and research leadership experience.

The ARC Board is responsible for appointing members to the ARC College of Experts. 

ARC College of Experts nominations are called for annually. The ARC appoints the College members for a term of three years.

The College of Experts assists the ARC by:

  • assigning external assessors
  • assessing and ranking ARC grant applications that have been submitted under the National Competitive Grants Program (NCGP)
  • moderating external assessments
  • providing recommendations for fundable applications
  • assisting with recruiting through the nomination of new assessors
  • providing advice for peer review reforms, and
  • providing strategic advice to the ARC on emerging disciplines and cross-disciplinary developments.

The ARC is required to maintain a high standard of professionalism and ethical conduct in its operations. The ARC Conflict of Interest and Confidentiality Policy is designed to ensure that all members of the ARC College of Experts are aware of the confidentiality obligations associated with activities and that conflicts of interest are identified and addressed in a rigorous and transparent way. The ARC requires members of the ARC College of Experts to provide assurances to the ARC that they will abide by the ARC's confidentiality requirements and will disclose to it any conflicts of interest related to their official duties as members.

ARC College of Experts Nominations for 2026 are now open

The ARC is seeking nominations from suitably qualified and experienced individuals, including senior academics and end-users across the private, public and not-for-profit sectors, with peer review and research leadership experience. Researchers with multi-disciplinary and cross-disciplinary expertise are strongly encouraged to apply. We especially welcome nominations from women, particularly those from the STEM disciplines, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Nominees should have strong institutional support to meet the commitment required of ARC College of Experts members. 

The ARC is committed to improving the diversity of membership on the ARC College of Experts and encourages qualified people from a broad range of groups to nominate. This includes but is not limited to:

  • Gender diversity

  • People of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander origin

  • Academia, Industry and Public sector organisations

Areas of Interest

The ARC is calling for nominations for all discipline fields but has identified the discipline areas listed below as priorities for 2026. High priority discipline areas are shown in bold text in the below table.

3004 Crop and pasture production

4405 Gender studies

3009 Veterinary sciences

4406 Human geography

3101 Biochemistry and cell biology

4407 Policy and administration

3102 Bioinformatics and computational biology

4408 Political science

3103 Ecology

4410 Sociology

3104 Evolutionary biology

4501 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture, language and history

3105 Genetics

4502 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander education

3107 Microbiology

4504 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health and wellbeing

3108 Plant biology

4505 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, society and community

3109 Zoology

4507 Te ahurea, reo me te hitori o te Maori (Maori culture, language and history)

3204 Immunology

4508 Matauranga Maori (Maori education)

3209 Neurosciences

4510 Te hauora me te oranga o te Maori (Maori health and wellbeing)

3301 Architecture

4511 Nga tangata, te porihanga me nga hapori o te Maori (Maori peoples, society and community)

3303 Design

4513 Pacific Peoples culture, language and history

3304 Urban and regional planning

4514 Pacific Peoples education

3402 Inorganic chemistry

4516 Pacific Peoples health and wellbeing

3403 Macromolecular and materials chemistry

4518 Pacific Peoples society and community

3406 Physical chemistry

4519 Other Indigenous data, methodologies and global Indigenous studies

3407 Theoretical and computational chemistry

4599 Other indigenous studies 

3507 Strategy, management and organisational behaviour

4602 Artificial intelligence

3509 Transportation, logistics and supply chains

4603 Computer vision and multimedia computation

3603 Music 

4604 Cybersecurity and privacy

3703 Geochemistry

4605 Data management and data science

3704 Geoinformatics

4608 Human-centred computing

3705 Geology

4611 Machine learning

3706 Geophysics

4701 Communication and media studies

3709 Physical geography and environmental geoscience

4704 Linguistics

3801 Applied economics

4705 Literary studies

4003 Biomedical engineering

4902 Mathematical physics

4004 Chemical engineering

4903 Numerical and computational mathematics

4005 Civil engineering

4904 Pure mathematics

4006 Communications engineering

4905 Statistics

4008 Electrical engineering

5001 Applied ethics

4009 Electronics, sensors and digital hardware - new code

5002 History and philosophy of specific fields

4011 Environmental engineering

5003 Philosophy

4012 Fluid mechanics and thermal engineering

5101 Astronomical sciences

4014 Manufacturing engineering

5102 Atomic, molecular and optical physics

4016 Materials engineering

5104 Condensed matter physics

4017 Mechanical engineering

5107 Particle and high energy physics

4018 Nanotechnology

5108 Quantum physics

4019 Resources engineering and extractive metallurgy

5110 Synchrotrons and accelerators

4106 Soil sciences

5201 Applied and developmental psychology

4203 Health services and systems

5202 Biological psychology 

4207 Sports science and exercise

5203 Clinical and health psychology

4402 Criminology

5204 Cognitive and computational psychology

4404 Development studies

5205 Social and personality psychology

 

5299 Other psychology

Important Dates

Activity

Date

Nominations Open

Monday 3 March 2025

Nominations Close

Thursday 17 April 2025

Resources

Submission

Nominations must be certified by the nominee’s primary employer (for a list of approved nominators or delegates, see the table below) and submitted in RMS no later than 5pm (AEST), Thursday 17 April 2025. 

Nominations will not be accepted directly from nominees, except those submitting as self-employed. 

Nominees who hold an honorary or adjunct appointment with a higher education institution are eligible to apply through that institution.

Approved nominators:

Primary Employer

Approved Nominators

Higher education institution

Vice-Chancellor/Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) or equivalent 

Industry or business  

Chief Executive Officer or equivalent  

Government

Agency Head / Deputy Secretary or equivalent   

Self-employed  

Self-nominate

Please contact the ARC at college@arc.gov.au with any queries.

It is anticipated that outcomes will be announced in September/October 2025. 



ARC College of Experts 2025

A complete list of the ARC College of Experts membership can be found below.

There are currently 374 members on the ARC College of Experts.

Selection meeting panels will be drawn from the ARC College of Experts as necessary.

ARC College of Experts members

(*indicates a new member in 2025)


Previous Years College of Expert Members

2024 College of Expert Members

2023 College of Expert Members

2022 College of Expert Members

2021 College of Expert Members

2020 College of Expert Members

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