Victoria University strives for internationally-recognised research success, especially in quality research outcomes aligned with our research focus areas.

We partner and collaborate with institutions and industry groups across the globe. Our researchers use these opportunities to undertake joint research projects, and further their research activities overseas. Global issues are often a focus of our research, particularly as we enter the Asian Century.

In addition to the collaborative research undertaken with education partners in Asia and across the globe, we also work in partnership with local and global organisations. These include the World Health Organization and our long-standing alliance with Timor-Leste.

With many research disciplines ranked above world standard in the Excellence in Research Australia (ERA) assessments, Victoria University offers world-class research opportunities.

Our research community, much like our student community, is rich and diverse. We host international researchers from different countries and cultural backgrounds, many of whom achieve great success.

Industry & community development

Our collaborative and commercial research activities have real world applications and aim to find evidence based solutions to important contemporary challenges in Australia, Asia and globally.

At VU, we rate highly for our research excellence, performing strongly in the citations pillar of the Times Higher Education World University Rankings from 2023 in which we rank in the top 3% of universities worldwide.

Victoria University has provisioned education assistance to Timor-Leste through education and scholarship opportunities, a specialised training course delivered in-country, and joint conferences focussing on the development of the independent nation.

Many of these activities are the result of our association with institutions such as the Dili Institute of Technology and the Universidade Nacional Timor Lorosa’e.

In 2009, Victoria University admitted the degree of Doctor of the University honoris causa to His Excellency Dr José Ramos-Horta, President of The Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste. The award recognised his contribution to the establish the independence of Timor-Leste.

Dr José Ramos-Horta

Dr José Ramos-Horta speaking at a VU seminar on preventing conflicts, ending wars and building peace in 2015.

We are a leader in sport education and research. Our Institute for Health & Sport (IHES) undertakes research activities in collaboration with Australian sporting bodies including the Australian Sports Commission and the Australian Institute of Sport.

In April 2017, we became a signatory to the India-Australia Sport Partnership. We're sharing our sport expertise, research and experience with India as it establishes its first national sport university.

Our global approach to sports research (with IHES research programs) focuses on:

  • international sport policy and success
  • sporting excellence in India working with the Australia-India Council
  • Sports Tech Incubator (Start Up Village) India
  • socio-cultural and tourism dimensions of the Olympic Games.

In 2015 we received the highest ERA rating of 5 (well-above world standard) in human movement and sports science, and a rating of 4 (above world standard) in medical physiology.

In partnership with the World Health Organization (WHO), researchers from our Program of Applied Informatics recently developed the eSTEPS 2.0 software, a handheld computer-based data collection system.

The system aims to transform the paper-based STEPS questionnaire into an electronic form. eSTEPS can run from a PDA, incorporating automatic skips, valid range checks and automatic assigning of ID numbers, and other functions for data collections.

Four people sitting outside the UNTL campus

VU & Timor-Leste

The University has been engaged with Timor-Leste continuously for over 30 years and has close links with the Timor-Leste National Government and its various departments.

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Joint research opportunities

At Victoria University, we take a multidisciplinary approach to our research and strive to develop innovative technologies that benefit students, industry and the broader community. We inspire and support research students to set new standards and make a substantial contribution to their field.

Whether our researchers are working alongside pre-school teachers, Olympic athletes, Timor-Leste farmers, or in collaboration with the Chinese Government, we consider our international partnerships to be long-term, mutually beneficial collaborations.

Establish a research partnership

Find out more about establishing an international research partnership with Victoria University including research exchange, joint international PhD programs and establishing a collaborative research project.