Summary

At the University of Western Australia (UWA), research infrastructure had become both essential and overwhelming. Rising costs, restricted funding, and fragmented processes made it difficult to balance academic ambition with institutional sustainability. Partnering with Research Strategies Australia, UWA transformed its approach — treating strategy as a verb, not a noun. The result was a living strategy process that delivered clearer governance, energised leadership, and tangible tools to sustain world-class research capacity.

Background

As a comprehensive research-intensive university, UWA’s infrastructure spanned everything from digitisation centres in the humanities to advanced microscopy, engineering facilities, and hospital-linked medical equipment.

Historically, investment decisions were driven bottom-up by academics seeking to advance discovery. This model worked when funding was abundant and flexible. But as costs rose and regulatory pressures tightened, the old approach strained against financial realities. Infrastructure risked becoming fragmented, under-utilised, and invisible at the executive level.

The Challenge

UWA wasn’t without strategy — but its approach was implicit and unarticulated. As Professor Andrew Page, Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research), reflected:

It’s not that we didn’t have a strategy… but it wasn’t clearly articulated. Rising costs and restricted funding meant we had to make hard choices

The university needed to:

• Create a coordinated, institution-wide strategy without stifling academic initiative.
• Balance breadth of research with financial sustainability.
• Build governance structures that gave transparency and confidence to executives, researchers, and professional staff alike.

‍

The Solution

Research Strategies Australia brought a distinctive approach: strategy-in-motion. Rather than producing a static report, RSA embedded a dynamic, iterative process where strategy was something the university did, not something it filed away.

Key features included:

• Deep sector understanding: RSA came in with a working knowledge of how universities operate, avoiding the usual “training the consultant” phase. Instead, RSA was suggesting new possibilities from day one.‍
• Engaging workshops: Academics and staff described the process as enjoyable and energising — with people feeling listened to, respected, and involved.‍
• Iterative testing: Ideas were trialled, refined, and re-tested, creating confidence that the strategy would work in practice.‍
• Governance redesign: Committees were re-imagined, shifting from passive forums to active drivers of vision and accountability.

As Professor Page noted:

What Research Strategies Australia delivers is a strategy that’s a process, not just an outcome. If you’re willing to go on that journey, you’ll find yourself in a place where you no longer need them — you’ll just have a strategy you are implementing.

Results

The changes were both cultural and practical:

• Cultural transformation: Trust in the process replaced scepticism. A once-frustrated research facilities committee became an energised leadership group, now driving a 20-year vision for infrastructureAs Page put it:
• Practical tools: A costing and pricing calculator helped researchers plan sustainable equipment use; a university-wide booking system replaced four separate platforms; work began on a comprehensive asset management system.
• Stronger governance: Clear policies and procedures gave executives, finance, and planning leaders visibility of infrastructure needs — raising research infrastructure onto the institutional agenda for the first time.

As Professor Page puts it:

The biggest win is the degree to which research infrastructure has been put on the agenda. Strategy became not just something written down but something we do, every day.

The Outcome

By embracing strategy as a verb, UWA transformed the way it governs and invests in research infrastructure. The university now benefits from:

• Clarity: Policies, governance, and costing frameworks are streamlined and transparent.
• Ownership: Leaders, academics, and professional staff feel invested in shaping the future.
• Sustainability: Tools and processes ensure resources are allocated where they create greatest impact.
• Embedded capacity: UWA continues to implement and evolve its strategy without external dependency.

In short, Research Strategies Australia helped UWA turn its research infrastructure puzzle into a foundation for long-term success - proving that the right strategy is not just written, but lived.