Research centres and other research activities web presence standard

This standard applies to all research activity web presences. This may include centres, projects, collectives, groups, labs, or similar. 

Overview

UQ has committed to creating a greatly improved user experience for everyone who interacts with our external web channel. This will result in a significant consolidation of our web presence. 

Given this, in most circumstances, new websites are not being approved. 

The standard supports the endorsed direction of UQ’s web governance, the Research Centres and Research Networks Policy and the Digital Presence Procedure. 

Benefits 

• Improved SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) 
• Improved discoverability of content 
• Consistent brand alignment 
• Reduced maintenance effort/costs 
• Overall improved user experience 

Requirements 

Location, design and structure 

Research activity web presences should: 

• be created within their school, institute or faculty site. Where a research activity’s members are not from a single faculty, the web presence should be built within the lead researcher’s faculty, institute or school site 
• use a consistent landing page and navigational structure, determined by Marketing and Communication. 

Where a web presence has technical requirements crucial to the operation of the research activity that cannot be supported within the institute, faculty or school site, those aspects alone may be hosted elsewhere, with the remaining aspects to follow this standard. 

Maintenance 

All web presences must comply with the Digital Presence Procedure. 

A research activity web presence must only be built where: 

• an identified staff member is trained and available to maintain the web presence in line with UQ styles and standards 
  • this may be an activity member, or an institute, faculty or school web author if agreed 
• content will be reviewed at least every 12 months, kept up to date, and decommissioned when no longer relevant. 

Site decommissioning 

A site continuation review date must be agreed before the site is established, usually aligned with the funding end date. At this time, a new date may be nominated if funding is extended, or the site should be decommissioned. 

Exceptions to this standard 

Exceptions to the above requirements may be granted in limited circumstances. If a research activity desires a stand-alone web presence, an exception request should be submitted to Marketing and Communication (digital-governance@uq.edu.au) outlining why this is needed.  

Marketing and Communication will seek advice from the Office of the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research and Innovation), who will consult with the relevant Associate Deans (Research) or Deputy Directors (Research). Generally, exceptions will only be considered for major funding initiatives (typically $30M or higher), or where required by the rules of a competitive grant scheme (e.g. ARC Centre of Excellence).  

Please talk to your local Digital Presence Coordinator in the first instance. 

See the list of Digital Presence Coordinators