Research at ‘extreme’ risk as loss of foreign students strips funds, report warns

A new report warns that several of our biggest universities are at risk of losing their research capacity, as $7.6bn is stripped from higher education.

UTS, along with Australia’s other leading universities, faces an ‘extremely high’ risk of losing its research capacity according to a new report. Picture: John Feder

Australia’s biggest universities face an “extremely high” risk of losing their research capacity as COVID-19 and the loss of foreign students strip as much as $7.6bn from higher education.

A report from the University of Melbourne’s Centre for Higher Education released on Monday found University of Technology Sydney, Macquarie University in Sydney and Deakin University in Melbourne face the biggest hits to their research funding because of their exposure to the international student markets. Sandstone universities also face big research funding shortfalls.

Deakin University faces a hit to research funding.

The report comes as university leaders anxiously wait for the research funding package to be announced in the budget on October 6. Some are lobbying for a British-style major spending scheme to help researchers endure the pandemic.

“Without the same level of discretionary funding available for the next few years there is likely to be a significant loss of research momentum,” the report states. “This outcome will have enduring national and international economic and social consequences.

“It is unlikely that strengthening industry-university research co-operation will substantially offset the funding shortfall because of the low R&D performance of Australian businesses as a percentage of GDP.”

The report — authored by higher education experts Frank Larkins and Ian Marshman — also found 6100 full-time research jobs were at risk from a COVID recession that could lose univer­sities between $6.8bn to $7.6bn from their research funds.

The Group of Eight, comprising leading research-intensive univer­sities, previously has warned a deal is needed to prevent a research brain drain.

UTS, Deakin and Macquarie were all found to have spent more of their discretionary income to support research in 2018 than they obtained through external grants and block funding. Deakin and UTS were found to have 134 per cent of their foreign student fees committed to research relative to their other funds.

Deakin University VC Iain Martin.

Deakin University vice-chancellor Iain Martin called on the government to secure university research funding, as he said tough cost-cutting decisions had reduced his institution’s risk.

“Whilst the challenges identi­fied are real, it is important to note that the data used in this analysis are two years old and the position for Deakin is now materially different,” he told The Australian.

“We have made difficult decisions this year, but these have been driven by the need to ensure that we can continue to invest in our shared future over the next three to five years.

“It is vital the federal government delivers a well-funded and sustainable research package that supports Australia’s sovereign research capability.”

The University of Sydney and Melbourne University also were found to be highly exposed to the loss of foreign student income, with their reliance on those fees for research running at 86 per cent and 68 per cent respectively.

Federal Education Minister Dan Tehan has spent the past three months negotiating a research rescue deal with the sector and said on Monday more would be revealed in the budget.

“I’ve been working very co-operatively with the sector on what we need to do to put ballast into our research sector as a result of the declining international students,” he told ABC News.

“We’ve got the budget coming up in less than three weeks now. I think it’s two weeks. So, what we will be doing is we will be continuing to work with the sector, and we’ll have more to say in the budget about it.”