The Turnbull Government has named the group of experts who will map out Australia’s research priorities over the coming decade.
Minister for Education and Training Simon Birmingham said the new Expert Working Group would help set the future direction of national research infrastructure after the Turnbull Government gave the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy $150 million a year of indexed funding certainty through the National Innovation and Science Agenda for the next 10 years – ending the frequent funding cliff Labor created.
Minister Birmingham said the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy is critical to Australia’s research community which, in turn, is critical to Australia’s future.
“The work of this eminent group of Australians will develop a roadmap to maintaining and expanding Australia’s world-class research capability,” Minister Birmingham said.
“The Turnbull Government is committed to research excellence in Australia after Labor announced $6.6 billion cuts from higher education and research and left major research infrastructure without funding, like the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy, which jeopardised the jobs of 1,700 highly skilled critical researchers.
“The Expert Working Group will consult widely with researchers, businesses and other stakeholders to develop a national ten year plan to underpin research and innovation at a national level and to identify future national research infrastructure priorities and areas for ongoing investment.
“Looking ahead, future National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy funding and investments will be guided by the 2016 National Research Infrastructure Roadmap that will be developed by the Expert Working Group under the guidance of Australia’s Chief Scientist, Dr Alan Finkel AO.”
Minister Birmingham said the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy supports national research infrastructure that provides services to over 35,000 researchers, both domestically and internationally, through 27 projects and facilities delivered at 222 institutions.
“Combined with guaranteed funding for the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy, this Roadmap will help retain and attract the best researchers to position Australia amongst the world’s other top research countries,” Minister Birmingham said.
“This next phase for the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy is an important part of implementing our National Innovation and Science Agenda as our economy transitions from one reliant on mines to one focused on minds.”
The Expert Working Group members are:
• Dr Alan Finkel AO, Australia’s Chief Scientist (Chairman)
• Professor Edwina Cornish, Provost and Senior Vice-President, Monash University
• Dr Andrew Cuthbertson, Chief Scientific Office and R&D Director, CSL Limited
• Professor Sandra Harding, Vice Chancellor and President, James Cook University
• Ms Rosie Hicks, Chief Executive Officer, Australian National Fabrication Facility
• Professor Suzanne Miller, Chief Executive Officer and Director, Queensland Museum Network
• Dr Adi Paterson, Chief Executive Officer, Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation and
• Professor Andy Pitman, Director, ARC Centre for Excellence for Climate System Science
Professor Aidan Byrne, Chief Executive Officer, Australian Research Council and Professor Anne Kelso AO, Chief Executive Officer, National Health and Medical Research Council are ex-officio members of the Expert Working Group.
The Expert Working Group will identify the future direction of national research infrastructure by responding to the National Research Infrastructure Roadmap Terms of Reference.
The National Innovation and Science Agenda locked in funding for Australia’s core research infrastructure capabilities, including $150 million indexed per annum for the ongoing operational costs of the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy, $520 million over ten years for the Australian Synchrotron and $294 million as Australia’s commitment to the International Square Kilometre Array project.
The 2016-17 NCRIS guidelines and Expert Working Group’s Terms of Reference can be found here.
The Expert Working Group is expected to complete the Roadmap in late 2016.
NCRIS 2016-17 funding allocations by project
| Project | Lead Agent | 2016?17 ($) |
| Australian Animal Health Laboratory | CSIRO | 1,482,000 |
| Astronomy Australia | Astronomy Australia Ltd | 8,817,000 |
| Atlas of Living Australia | CSIRO | 4,696,000 |
| Australian Microscopy and Microanalysis Research Facility | University of Sydney | 3,633,000 |
| Australian National Data Service | Monash University | 9,380,000 |
| Australian National Fabrication Facility | Australian National Fabrication Facility Ltd | 12,436,000 |
| ANSTO Nuclear Science Facility | ANSTO | 6,593,000 |
| Australian Phenomics Network | Australian National University | 4,455,000 |
| Australian Plant Phenomics Facility | University of Adelaide | 3,752,000 |
| Australian Plasma Fusion Research Facility | Australian National University | 743,000 |
| Australian Urban Research Infrastructure Network | University of Melbourne | 2,121,000 |
| AuScope | AuScope Ltd | 7,430,000 |
| Biofuels | AusBiotech Ltd | 328,000 |
| Bioplatforms Australia | Bioplatforms Australia Ltd | 14,089,000 |
| EMBL Associate Membership | EMBL | 4,100,000 |
| Groundwater | University of New South Wales | 438,000 |
| Heavy Ion Accelerators | Australian National University | 1,590,000 |
| Integrated Marine Observing System | University of Tasmania | 14,243,000 |
| National Computational Infrastructure | Australian National University | 5,491,000 |
| National Deuteration Facility | ANSTO | 609,000 |
| National eResearch Collaboration Tools and Resources | University of Melbourne | 5,041,000 |
| National Imaging Facility | University of Queensland | 2,988,000 |
| Pawsey High Performance Computing Centre | CSIRO | 5,782,000 |
| Population Health Research Network | University of Western Australia | 4,355,000 |
| Research Data Services | University of Queensland | 5,300,000 |
| Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network | University of Queensland | 6,044,000 |
| Translating Health Discoveries into Clinical Applications | Therapeutic Innovation Aust. Ltd | 3,715,000 |
| TOTAL NCRIS 27 PROJECTS | 139,651,000 | |
| Agility Fund | 10,349,000 | |
| TOTAL | 150,000,000 | |