Australia ranks “very, very poorly” on the commercialisation of uni research and must lift itself up, according to Senator Simon Birmingham, the minister for education and training, in a speech to the Australian Research Council.


He said all the rankings, particularly comparisons with other OECD nations, show Australia to be “among the best in the world for the quality of research findings”.


“But it is going to be critical over the next little while that we lift Australia’s outcomes in terms of collaboration with industry and in terms of commercialisation of research. Because we rank very, very poorly when it comes to the collaboration between universities and industry in terms of research undertakings,” he said.


“We need to ensure that our industries and our businesses embrace the opportunity to work with our universities and our research institutes and our high quality researchers and to work collaboratively, to work innovatively, and to ensure that where possible, great ideas, profound great careers, are ultimately translated into outcomes that make real differences.”


He was speaking in Adelaide as he announced the award of A$357.7 million (US$256 million) of funding to 899 projects, as part of the Australian Research Council's Major Grants Announcement.


These included 635 Discovery Projects where funding will commence in 2016, and for which some A$245 million is being committed. Others included 54 linkage, infrastructure, equipment and facilities funding, providing projects to the value of some A$38 million. There were 200 Discovery Early Career Researcher Awards with funding of some A$70.7 million, and 10 Discovery Indigenous programmes, providing funding of some A$4.1 million.


The minister said: “A strong investment in high-quality research will drive innovation, secure the jobs of the future, improve the health of our community, protect our environment and ensure our researchers can compete on the international stage.”


There were more than 5,000 applications for the awards compared with the 899 who were successful, after being considered by some 6,300 assessors.


The announcement came as the latest Deloitte Access Economics report suggested that the national productivity windfall generated by university research has delivered economic benefits to Australia worth a third of the growth in average living standards over the past 30 years. 


The productivity gains – worth an estimated A$10 billion each year over the past three decades – illustrate the crucial role of university research breakthroughs in transforming and modernising Australia’s economy, according to the report, titled The Importance of Universities to Australia’s Prosperity and launched on 28 October. 


The A$10 billion productivity boost is in addition to the A$25 billion that universities contribute to the Australian economy – directly and indirectly – and A$12 billion from international education annually. 


Universities Australia Chief Executive Belinda Robinson said the report’s compelling findings are further proof of the vital role that Australia’s universities play in driving economic growth and warned that, to realise the enormous potential of the country’s universities, the country must ensure it properly invests in education and research. 


“Over the coming decades, it will be the skills and smarts of our people that will be central to the strength of the Australian economy,” Robinson said.


“At the same time, university research and innovation will continue to be an indispensable driver of technological progress – particularly as we transition to the new knowledge economy.


“Already, millions of people around the world rely on discoveries made in Australian universities – think of the bionic ear or the cervical cancer vaccine. We believe that this is just the beginning.” 


Examples of some of the projects funded in last week’s announcement included:

    
• A$650,187 to researchers at La Trobe University who will evaluate how historical gold mining has shaped river systems, which could lead to improved catchment and reservoir management.
• A$250,000 for researchers at the University of Adelaide to establish an advanced DNA identification and forensics facility that will deliver outcomes such as improved pest and threatened species identification, as well as missing person and disaster victim identification.
• A$572,000 for researchers at the Australian Catholic University to identify the characteristics of schools that are helping Indigenous students to achieve their potential.
• A$1,000,000 for researchers at Curtin University of Technology to build a second phase of the Murchison Widefield Array in Western Australia, which will double the number of antennas in the array and the maximum baseline length, and improve the capability to observe the universe.


In Adelaide, Senator Birmingham said it was important for Australia to maintain and build on its reputation for research. He stressed the emphasis that Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has put on Australia’s “ability to be agile, to be adaptive, to respond to the changes we’re seeing in the world around us”.


Source: http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20151105201345812


Summary: Australia is home to some of the worlds best Uni jobs, and in particular research jobs. University needs to work closer with industry if we’re to create more academic & research university jobs to attract the very best talent to Australia, and continue this trend.