Industry gets more say in Australian Research Council grants

The Morrison government will give industry a greater say in allocating research grants to universities.

Acting Education Minister Stuart Robert.

The Morrison government will give industry a greater say in allocating research grants and include more commercialisation criteria in its methodology for assessing the worth of university research.

In a letter sent last week to outgoing Australian Research Council chief executive Sue Thomas, Acting Education Minister Stuart Robert set out a series of expectations for the council that her successor will have to implement when appointed.

The letter was sent to Professor Thomas on December 6, a week before Tuesday’s announcement that she will step aside at the end of January, five months before the end of her term, in the wake of strong dissatisfaction with her performance in the university community.

“I ask the ARC to ensure its research funding schemes align clearly and tangibly to those areas of government priority for economic development,” Mr Robert wrote.

He wants the ARC to extend the current national interest test for research grants to include assessment by industry.

“I ask the ARC to bring forward a proposal to enhance and expand the role of the industry and other end-user experts in assessing the NIT (national interest test) of high-quality projects, prior to recommendation to me as the responsible minister,” Mr Robert wrote.

He also asked the ARC to include experts from industry and other end-user groups on its college of experts, which makes recommendations on which research grant applications should be supported. Currently, college members come from the research community.

Sue Thomas

“I ask that you also consider the need for reviewers in the college of experts from a broader range of backgrounds and ensure reviewers are supported by appropriate training to assess these types,” Mr Robert wrote. He also told the ARC in the letter that he wanted new methodology used in the official measure of the worth of research, the Excellence in Research for Australia process.

“The new scale should provide a comparator that will set a rising standard over time,” Mr Robert wrote.

His request suggests the government is not happy with the current ERA measurement scale, which has seen universities meet the world standard benchmark in a substantially increased number of research fields.

“While acknowledging the complexity of the assessment process, I expect that the results will be underpinned by a benchmarking structure that is clear in its ambition and provides granular and meaningful reporting of the level of achievement across different universities,” Mr Robert said.

He said that, following a review of the way engagement and impact of research was measured, he wanted new measures that recognised outcomes “like patents, IP and commercial agreements and will have less emphasis on case studies to measure research impact”.

In the letter Mr Robert also said he expected the ARC to improve its governance arrangements, including re-establishing a committee, which used to exist, to provide advice to the CEO. The committee is to have “a broad membership with substantial industry, research end-user and governance representation”.

Mr Robert asked Professor Thomas to tell him by the end of the year how she would set up the committee, including its membership and terms of reference.