The Research Centre is designed to be the primary field facility for University researchers and their research partners, students and guests while working in Siem Reap/Angkor and in Cambodia generally. Its funding comes primarily from the Robert Christie Foundation.

One of the main functions is the provision of residential space for field teams working in Siem Reap / Angkor. There are five heavily subsidised residential units available for rental at a nominal cost. These will be made available to field teams on an as-needs basis, and will otherwise be made available to researchers staying in Siem Reap longer term (e.g. postgraduates conducting extended field surveys). Communal areas will be used for meals for field crews and meetings, and will provide a focal point for collaborative work on field programs instead of having crews scattered in accommodation across Siem Reap.

The Centre will also provide core infrastructure for all researchers in Siem Reap (whether or not they are resident in the Centre itself). Services will include fast wireless internet access, a common file server which mirrors that of the Archaeological Computing Laboratory in Sydney, workspaces, meeting and seminar facilities, storage space for samples, a collection of all University resources relating to Angkor, and a GPS base station to provide precision spatial data to field teams conducting surveys.

The Centre and its staff will also have a key administrative and outreach role. The Centre will be responsible for maintaining high-level contacts within the APSARA Authority, the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts and other agencies and organisations. The Centre will provide administrative oversight for existing projects and will also pursue and develop new collaborative research programmes with Cambodian and international partners. A staffed office providing a single point of contact will result in better managed relationships with key people, and allow us to be more effective in terms of administration, for example to facilitate the timely acquisition of permits, passes and written agreements. Engaging with visitors to Siem Reap will be a crucial aspect of our work at the Centre, and includes everything from liaising with visiting media crews and organising public lectures to hosting key supporters of our research activities when they visit Angkor.

In addition to major funding from the Christie Foundation, funding for the opening event, and for the continuing operation of the Centre, has also been provided by the Australian Embassy in Phnom Penh, and by the Faculties of Arts and Science and the School of Philosophical and Historical Inquiry at the University of Sydney.