About the HERDC
The Higher Education Research Data Collection (HERDC) comprises of research income and research publications data submitted by universities each year. Each year, the department updates the HERDC specifications in consultation with universities and other relevant stakeholders. The HERDC specifications control the collection of higher education research data and are designed to ensure the Australian Government’s research block grants are allocated in a fair and transparent way and to support the policy intent of the funding.
Data collected will be used, along with data from the Higher Education Student Data Collection, for determining allocations to universities for the following programs:
Note: The JRE replaced the Institutional Grants Scheme (IGS) from 2010.
2013 HERDC Specifications
The 2013 HERDC Specifications for the collection of 2012 data [
PDF 414KB] [
DOC 473KB] are now available.
The department has revised the 2013 HERDC Specifications taking into account the work undertaken by the Higher Education Research Data Committee's HERDC Publications Review Working Group, as well as comments received from the sector. The 2013 HERDC Specifications were endorsed by Universities Australia (via its Pro and Deputy Vice-Chancellors (Research) (P-DVC-R) Committee) on 3 May 2013.
For enquiries relating to the specifications of the collection, please email: RBGrants@innovation.gov.au with "HERDC" as the subject line.
Historical Information - HERDC Specifications
2012 Specifications
2011 Specifications
2010 Specifications
2009 Specifications
2008 Specifications
2007 Specifications
Further Information