Australian researchers will receive an additional $35m in funding next year to continue world-leading research that benefits Australia and help more than 40,000 Masters and PhD students to further their research.
The $1.9bn in Federal Government funding – which will be given to 42 providers as block grants through its Researh Training Program (RTP) and Research Support Program (RSP) – will be used to support scholarships, suport and technical taff salaries, libraries and laboratories, as well as computing centres.
In 2020, $1.05bn of the total funds will be coursed through the RTP and used to fund tuition fees, stipend to cover living costss or ancillary costs incurred from research.
The remaining $910m will be coursed through the RSP. This will cover systemic and indirect costs such as staff salaries and relevant facilities.
The Federal Government has so far given almost $12bn to support university research, Federal Education Minister Dan Tehan said.
"The research done by our universities leads to the development of new products and innovations that drive jobs growth, business opportunities and productivity gains.We are supporting world-class research and the training of Australia’s next generation of innovators,” Minister Tehan said.
"We want to see our investment in research turned into new ideas and knowledge that will support our economy, help create employment opportunities and deliver improvements in areas like health and the environment."
Since 2019, the Federal Government has been pushing for more collaboration between universities and businesses to improve the commercialisation of Australia’s research findings and discoveries.
Eyes on commercialisation
In mid-December, the Federal Government announced that it is giving almost $10m in funding to cover four research projects. Some $2m will be given to the following:
- In support to the initial stages of a hydrogen hub which will lead to the creation of a hydrogen fuel cell and supply chain project in Warrnambool
- To establish the Nowra Agri-business Innovtion Hub in a bid to connect regional agri-business sector with latest technologies and research
- To retrain SA’s ASC Shipbuilding workers with new digital skills
Some $3.6m is set aside to test out a nationwide one-year Diploma in Applied Technologies through the help of six universities.
"Australia has world-leading universities that are home to some of the smartest minds on the planet and our Government wants to better utilise that talent to grow businesses, create jobs and deliver productivity gains," Minister Tehan said.
"We are supporting universities to work with industry to ensure we have the capacity to turn our discoveries into something that has concrete benefits for Australians."