As defined in relevant legislation, Plant Breeder's Rights are proprietary rights held by breeders of certain new varieties of plants and fungi. Such rights are legally enforceable and give exclusive commercial rights to market a new variety or its propagating material for the duration of the Plant Breeder's Rights.

Plant Breeder's Rights are granted where a new variety of plant can be demonstrated:

• to be distinct from any other existing variety of common knowledge;
• to be uniform and stable;
• not to have been sold outside the allowable period; and
• to have a suitable name

For ERA purposes, Plant Breeder's Rights are those granted under the Plant Breeder's Rights Act 1994 or their international equivalents, as listed in international Plant Breeder's Rights equivalents below:

• countries or intergovernmental organisations listed as Members of the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV);6
• the Plant Patent and Utility Patent systems of the United States of America (as far as they apply to plant varieties); and
• such other countries or intergovernmental organisations as are from time to time assessed by IP Australia as having legislation compliant with the UPOV Convention.

ERA applied measures include a grant of Plant Breeder's Rights, but do not include circumstances where varieties are only covered by provisional protection. Only Plant Breeder's Rights which became enforceable within the applied measures reference period are eligible. For Australian Plant Breeder's Rights, this means that the right must have been granted within that period.

To be eligible, Plant Breeder's Rights must have been granted in the applied measures reference period to an eligible researcher, the institution, an institution owned subsidiary, and/or a spinoff company that is associated with the institution. Institutions may submit Plant Breeder's Rights where the research behind the Plant Breeder's Rights is clearly identifiable as meeting the definition of research. The ARC may request the submitting institution to justify this inclusion.

If the same Plant Breeder's Rights were issued in multiple jurisdictions, the Plant Breeder's Rights should be submitted separately for each country or type. Institutions are required to identify those Plant Breeder's Rights that are essentially the same Plant Breeder's Rights registered in more than one country. Where individual Plant Breeder's Rights are submitted that do not relate to any other submitted Plant Breeder's Rights, the Plant Breeder's Rights family name should be the same as the individual Plant Breeder's Rights name.

As defined in relevant legislation, a patent is a right granted for any device, substance, method or process which is new, inventive and useful. It is legally enforceable and gives the owner the exclusive right commercially to exploit the invention for the life of the patent.

ERA applied measures include Australian standard patents and their international equivalents, but not Australian innovation patents.

Only patents which became enforceable within the applied measures reference period are eligible. For Australian patents, this means that patents must have been sealed within that period. Where a series of triadic patents is submitted, then if the same patent was issued in different years in different jurisdictions, it must be submitted against the year in which it was granted provided that the relevant year falls within the applied measures reference period.

To be eligible, patents must have been granted in the applied measures reference period to an eligible researcher, the institution, an institution owned subsidiary and/or a spinoff company that is associated with the institution.Institutions may submit patents only where the research behind the patent is clearly identifiable as meeting the definition of research. The ARC may request the submitting institution to justify this inclusion.

If the same patent was issued in multiple jurisdictions, the patent should be submitted separately for each country or type. Institutions are required to identify those patents that are essentially the same patent registered in more than one country.

As defined in relevant legislation, a registered design is a right granted for new and distinctive designs. Once a registered design has been examined and certified, the owner has an exclusive right to use, license and/or sell the registered design, and to enforce it against an infringer. In this context design refers to features which, when applied to a product, render it unique in appearance. This may include shape, pattern or ornamentation.

To be eligible, registered designs must have been granted in the applied measures reference period to an eligible researcher, the institution, an institution owned subsidiary and/or a spinoff company that is associated with the institution. Institutions may submit registered designs where the research behind the registered design is clearly identifiable as meeting the definition of research. The ARC may request the submitting institution to justify this inclusion.

Institutions are required to report research commercialisation income at the four-digit level and must be assigned to a relevant year.

Institutions may provide information on research commercialisation income, which includes income resulting from licences, options and assignments (LOAs), including running royalties, cashed in equity and other types of income. This includes only LOAs negotiated on full commercial terms, granting access to institutional intellectual property (patented or otherwise) in return for royalties or licence fees.

Research commercialisation income earned by institution owned subsidiaries and spin off companies is eligible for inclusion in ERA provided that the institution can account for this income in its audited financial statements. Research commercialisation income does not include:

• commercial income from other sources such as research contracts and consultancies ,commissioned works, student fees, the renting of space at universities or any other source; or
• CRC Research Income

Guidelines endorsed by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) are eligible for inclusion in ERA submissions. NHMRC endorsed guidelines include those on population health, clinical practice, and ethics. Such guidelines may be produced by groups external to the NHMRC, or else developed by NHMRC with the assistance of expert working groups.

Externally developed guidelines are approved by the NHMRC only if they meet NHMRC requirements and standards which are set out in legislation and in a series of NHMRC publications on the development, implementation and evaluation of guidelines. These requirements and standards are designed to ensure that the end product is based on the best available scientific evidence and presented in creative, innovative and, most importantly, effective ways.

To be eligible for inclusion in ERA, NHMRC endorsed guidelines must:

• meet the definition of research;
• have been published by the NHMRC within the applied measures reference period; and
• have one or more eligible researchers listed as an author of, and/or contributor to, the guidelines

As with research outputs and esteem measures, NHMRC endorsed guidelines follow the eligible researcher(s) named on the guidelines. If the researcher named was at one institution when the guidelines were published by the NHMRC and at another institution at the staff census date (31 March 2011), the latter institution may claim the guidelines and the former institution may not.

Where more than one eligible researcher from the same institution is an author of the same set of guidelines, that institution may claim only one applied measure for that set of guidelines. Where staff from different institutions are authors of the same set of guidelines, each institution may claim that set of guidelines as an applied measure.

In certain disciplines (identified in the ERA 2012 Discipline Matrix), editorship of a prestigious work of reference is a valid indicator of esteem. In those disciplines only, institutions may identify eligible researchers who, within the esteem measures reference period, have held the role of editor of any of the prestigious works of reference listed below:

• The Australian Dictionary of Biography;
• The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography;
• The Oxford Companions and Handbooks series;
• Cambridge Companions and Handbooks series;
• Blackwell Companions;
• Oxford and Cambridge Encyclopaedias;
• Routledge Encyclopaedias;
• Dictionary of the Middle Ages;
• The Routledge Worlds series; and
• Encyclopaedias of Philosophy (Stanford Online, Routledge and Macmillan)

.

Where an institution submits an editorship of a prestigious work in relation to an eligible researcher, that editorship can be submitted only once, regardless of how long and how many times that editorship was held by that researcher during the reference period.

Institutions are required to submit details regarding eligible researchers' fellowship of the following Learned Academies:

• the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia;
• the Australian Academy of the Humanities;
• the Australian Academy of Science; and
• the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering.

Institutions are also required to submit details regarding eligible researchers' membership of the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS).

For the purposes of this esteem measure, 'fellowship' and 'membership' refer to eligible researchers who have:

1. been elected to fellowship/membership of the relevant academy or institute during the esteem measures reference period; and/or
2. held an ongoing fellowship/membership of the relevant academy or institute for any period within the esteem measures reference period.

Fellowship of a learned academy or membership of AIATSIS should be submitted only once for each eligible researcher who is a fellow or member during the reference period, regardless of whether the researcher was a fellow or member for one or more years of the reference period.

The term 'nationally competitive research fellowship' refers to a fellowship awarded during the esteem measures reference period to an eligible researcher under a Category 1 program listed on the Australian Competitive Grants Register. Such fellowships are characterised by:

• a highly competitive process open to applicants from any Australian State or Territory;
• a strong element of peer review; and
• a minimum tenure of two years full time equivalent.

Only fellowships in the following programs are eligible:

• ARC Discovery-Australian Laureate Fellowships;
• ARC Discovery-Federation Fellowships;
• ARC Discovery-Future Fellowships;
• ARC Discovery-Indigenous Researchers Development;
• ARC Discovery-Projects (including Australian Professorial Fellowships, Queen Elizabeth II Fellowships, and Australian Postdoctoral Fellowships);
• ARC Linkage-International;
• ARC Linkage-Projects (including Australian Postdoctoral (Industry) Fellowships);
• NHMRC Practitioner Fellowships (Formerly Practitioner Fellowships Scheme);
• NHMRC Research Fellowships Scheme;
• NHMRC Australia Fellowship (Formerly Australia Fellowship Scheme);
• NHMRC Career Development Fellowships (Formerly Career Development Awards);
• NHMRC Early Career Fellowships (Formerly Postdoctoral Training Fellowships); and
• NHMRC Sir MacFarlane Burnett Fellowship.

Institutions are required to submit details of eligible fellowships for which they have been administering/host organisation at any time during the esteem measures reference period, regardless of the recipients' place of employment as at the staff census date. A nationally competitive research fellowship should be submitted once for the reference period regardless of when in the reference period it was awarded, or the duration of the fellowship.

In certain disciplines ERA 2012 Discipline Matrix , membership of recognised statutory committees is a valid indication of esteem.

Statutory committees are legislative working groups established by statute. In the relevant disciplines, institutions must submit memberships of statutory committees relating to eligible researchers, where those statutory committees are recognised by the following bodies:

• Commonwealth Government agencies, including the National Health and Medical Research Council; and
• the United Nations, including the World Health Organization.

As there is no exhaustive list of such statutory committees available, institutions should check with the agencies concerned (for example, by reviewing the relevant websites) as to whether the committees nominated by eligible researchers of the institution are in fact statutory committees recognised by the above bodies.

Each membership of a statutory committee should be submitted only once for each eligible researcher, regardless of how long or how many times the researcher was a member of the committee during the reference period.

Eligible Australia Council grant and fellowship programs are characterised by a strong element of peer review, are open to applicants from any State or Territory, have a minimum tenure of two years full time equivalent and are awarded to an individual.

Institutions are required to submit information about the following grants and fellowships held by eligible researchers:

• Fellowships-Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Arts, Dance, Literature, Music, Theatre and Visual Arts and Australia Council fellowships;
• Project Fellowships-Music;
• Residencies-Literature, Inter-Arts;
• Residency Albers Foundation-Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Arts;
• Skills and Arts Development Studio Residencies-Visual Arts;
• ArtLab-Inter-Arts;
• Synapse-Inter-Arts; and
• Research Program-Research and Strategic Analysis.

For each Australia Council grant awarded during the esteem measures reference period to an eligible researcher, institutions may submit only one per institution, regardless of whether one or more eligible researchers at that institution were involved in the grant. Where a grant involves a group of individuals from a number of institutions, each such institution may count the grant (but each may count it only once, regardless of the number of eligible researchers involved from any given institution). An Australia Council grant or Australia Council fellowship should be submitted only once for the reference period regardless of when in the reference period it was awarded, or the duration of the grant or fellowship. The list of eligible Australia Council grant and fellowship schemes is provided as a Code Table as part of the ERA–SEER 2012 Technology Pack.