This report presents the results from a survey conducted by Queensland University of Technology’s Faculty of Law as part of the Legal Framework for e-Research Project, funded by the Australian Commonwealth Department of Education, Science and Training (DEST), under the Systemic Infrastructure Initiative (SII), Research Information Infrastructure Framework for Australian Higher Education, as part of the Commonwealth Government’s Backing Australia’s Ability - An Innovation Action Plan for the Future (BAA). This report presents initial results from a national survey undertaken as part of the Legal Framework for e-Research Project. The survey was designed to explore the nature of e-Research and collaborative research in the Australian context. It should be noted that results presented are initial findings and an analysis of the legal context and the development of strategies will be included in a more detailed Project report due for release in early September 2007. The survey aims to explore the nature of research collaborations and to identify common legal and project agreement problems encountered in forming research collaborations in order to form strategies to facilitate and streamline the process of e-Research in the Australian context. Specifically, the aims of the survey were to: • Identify e-Research activities and levels of engagement; • Understand the nature of the collaborative research landscape; • Investigate characteristics of informal collaborations and agreements; and • Explore legal issues related to data and databases
