Funding to support breakthrough research into fires is due to run out before Australia’s next bushfire season kicks in, despite the research being recognised for its social, environmental and economic…
Professor Ian Chubb has been commissioned byt the government to draft a strategy for research investment.
AAP/Alan Porritt
Chief Scientist Ian Chubb has launched new guidelines for Australian research investment. The National Research Investment Plan, released yesterday, sets out a whole-of-government approach to the way research…
The Australian Catholic University supports the creation of a new funding body.
ACU International
Australia’s peak body for higher education, Universities Australia, has been debating the relationship universities have with government. Last week, a proposal to introduce a “buffer” body to act between…
An In Conversation between federal coalition MP Andrew Robb and the director of the Waler and Eliza Hall Institute, Doug Hilton.
AAP Image/Alan Porritt
Douglas Hilton, WEHI (Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research)
Doug Hilton: Welcome Andrew to the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute. This conversation between me, Doug Hilton, and Andrew Robb is part of The Conversation. So Andrew, it’s been really exciting in the last…
The research funding system needs to be changed to make it more efficient says coalition member Andrew Robb.
AAP Image/Alan Porritt
Douglas Hilton, WEHI (Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research)
It’s hard to argue with the importance of research, particularly medical research. It leads to breakthroughs and can change people’s lives for the better. But there are some crucial questions about how…
Calculating the economic impact of research has proved a challenging task for universities.
Leo Reynolds
The impact of university research can and should be measured, says Australian Technology Network executive director Vicki Thomson, but more work needs to be done before impact can be linked to funding…
Researchers have invested hundreds of hours to enhance their applications, only to miss out.
Paperwork image from Shutterstock.com
Last Friday, the results for this year’s round of applications for National Health and Medical Research (NHMRC) grants were released. Because headlines focus on success and rankings, universities and medical…
Medical research funding received a green light today, but others in the research sector remain worried about cuts.
Howzey/Flickr
Universities Australia has welcomed the announcement of A$652 million in National Health and Medical Research Council grants, but warned moves to abolish, cut or further delay other funding programs would…
Researchers who have sometimes been waiting years for funding have been left in the lurch by government.
Research image from www.shutterstock.com
The Australian Research Council’s confirmation that all funding awards and rounds are currently frozen has caused major concern, if not panic, in academic circles. The Mid Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook…
Tertiary Education Minister Chris Evans says it’s a “ridiculous proposition” to suggest funding freezes are driving research overseas.
AAP
The Federal Government’s freeze on research grants is damaging investment and recruitment by universities, and is part of a broader trend making funding predictability a thing of the past says Universities…
Industry partnerships can be critical to research outcomes and a country’s productivity.
Flickr/RMTip21
Uncertainty over research funding will cost jobs, hurt productivity and threaten the government’s plans to promote better linkages between industry and research, say sector leaders. The Australian Research…
Ranking universities is useful for only understanding the bigger picture.
University image from www.shutterstock.com
The release of The Times Higher Education World University Rankings will be welcomed by many people in the Australian university sector. See the full list of The Times Higher Education World University…
A focus on research has paid off for the University of Melbourne.
Steel Wool/Flickr
Research funding has never been more important to Australian universities say experts, after Australia gained ground in the annual Times Higher Education World University Rankings. The University of Melbourne…
Researchers have welcomed Simon McKeon’s review into health and medical research.
verticalpharmacy/Flickr
The cost of healthcare is escalating at an unsustainable rate and an additional $2-3 billion a year for the next ten years should be invested in research to address the problem, according to a government-commissioned…
Research should be routinely translated into clinical practice.
Flickr/cstmweb
Last year the federal government asked my colleagues and I to investigate the state of health and medical research in Australia and make recommendations about the strategic direction of the sector. After…
Research heads are hoping to avoid another round of government funding cuts.
AAP
The likelihood of research funding freezes or cuts by the Federal Government is worrying, says incoming Australian Research Council executive director Brian Yates, but is more likely to be a cyclical problem…
Last year’s “Discoveries Need Dollars” campaign saw the research sector directly target the 2011 federal budget.
AAP
Australia’s Group of Eight universities are preparing a campaign against cuts to health and medical research grants after Treasurer Wayne Swan refused to rule them out during Question Time last night…
An experienced lab technician is one of the most readily employable people in the R&D-intensive industries.
fungiman_MD
Earlier this year the American journalist David Plotz wrote in Slate that: America needs a lot more good engineers and scientists, more competent scientists, even more mediocre scientists. I agree that…
Cuts to the R&D tax incentives for Australian businesses - as proposed by the Business Tax Working Group - have significant implications for our future economic wellbeing.
Image from www.shutterstock.com
The Business Tax Working Group discussion paper’s suggestion to reduce the R&D tax incentive reveals a clear-cut attitude to policy aimed at Australia’s economic development: “It’s all about the tax…
Our current and future prosperity depends on innovation and research says Greens MP Adam Bandt.
chase_elliott
Adjusting the tax concession on research and development could have a significant impact on university and industry partnerships, say academics, in what could be a repeat of the 1996 reduction that hit…
Director, Walter and Eliza Hall Institute & Professor of Medical Biology, and an honorary principal fellow in the Department of Zoology at the University of Melbourne, WEHI (Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research)
Previous Vice President of the Academy of Science of South Africa and DSI-NRF SARChI chair in Fungal Genomics, Professor in Genetics, University of Pretoria, University of Pretoria