Innovative Research Universities
Innovative Research Universities, formerly Innovative Research Universities Australia, is a network of eight comprehensive universities in Australia.
The main purpose of the group is to undertake advocacy on issues related to higher education policy, research and university students.
The IRU has eight university members: Charles Darwin University, James Cook University, Griffith University, La Trobe University, Flinders University, Murdoch University, Western Sydney University and the University of Canberra. Between them, the universities enrol over 238,000 students including around 55,000 international students.
The IRU is one of the four main university groupings in Australia. The other groups are Australian Technology Network, Group of Eight and Regional Universities Network.
History
In 2003, a group of universities sharing common origins established the Innovative Research Universities a collaborative network to enhance the outcomes of higher education. The members were established as research-intensive universities during the 1960s and 1970s.The founding six universities were: Flinders University, Griffith University, La Trobe University, Macquarie University, Murdoch University and The University of Newcastle. James Cook University joined in 2007, followed by Charles Darwin University in 2009. These additions were balanced as first Macquarie and then Newcastle left the group to pursue their future independently. In 2017, Western Sydney University joined, followed by the University of Canberra in 2021.