As well as extra funding for research beyond what has been announced in the budget for 2021, Australia must take half-a-dozen further steps to put the research sector back on a sound footing.
While some progress has been made toward gender equality in the research world, the coronavirus pandemic has reminded us that the old models are never far away and can re-emerge.
We estimate the reduction in international student fees will lead to a loss of 5,100 to 6,100 researchers by 2024, with some universities more affected than others.
Australia’s research workforce will be severely impacted by the pandemic, with the effects likely to be felt for years, if not decades.
Public health numbers are shown on a screen as Deputy Chief Public Health Officer Howard Njoo listens to Chief Public Health Officer Theresa Tam speak during a news conference in Ottawa.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld
As Canadians yearn for a return to normal life, experts will rely on the latest data to determine the safest ways to come out of the coronavirus pandemic. Making that data transparent is essential.
The climate emergency requires the full mobilisation of scientific institutions, but the persistent compartmentalization between disciplines and difficulties of adaptation hinder their action.
Public support for higher education has waned in recent years.
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In order to regain public confidence, universities must take steps to show citizens that investments in higher education are well-spent, an education professor and university professor argue.
Amber Miller, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
Today many Americans see universities negatively. But, as the dean of USC Dornsife argues, academia has a unique capacity to solve society’s problems. Yes, astrophysicists can help law enforcement.
Canola, the first ‘made-in-Canada’ crop, was a product of university research and became a huge economic boon to the country. In this 2016 photo, riders and their horses pass through a canola field near Cremona, Alta.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh
Canola is an example of an innovation that sprung from university research and became a major economic boon to Canada. It should be happening more often.
Africa is urbanising quickly, as growth in cities like Cairo, Egypt, shows.
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How can African research universities be more responsive to African countries’ needs? And how can these universities work together to leverage funding for research informed by African realities?
What’s the best way to measure research impact?
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This move to measure the impact of university research on society introduces many new challenges that were not previously relevant when evaluation focused solely on academic merit.
Academic innovators are learning to question project commercial viability and to shift their focus to solutions for which there is a demand.
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Financial incentives alone won’t increase research collaboration between universities and business. Academics say they need time, support and an environment encouraging of engagement.
There has been an increase in research grants going to high-profile applicants.
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What are the key policy challenges facing the new Turnbull government in terms of economic growth and budgets, cities, transport, energy, school education, higher education and health?
Biomedical scientist Dong Pyou-Han was sentenced to 57 months in prison for falsifying data in HIV vaccine trials.
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Honorary Enterprise Professor, School of Population and Global Health, and Department of General Practice and Primary Care, The University of Melbourne