Overhaul of university funding

Academics at Australian universities vying for government grants will have to demonstrate better the commercialisation of their ­research and how it aligns with the national interest.

Australian ­Research Council chief executive Sue Thomas.

Academics at Australian universities vying for government grants will have to demonstrate better the commercialisation of their ­research and how it aligns with the national interest as part of a funding overhaul to help bolster the country’s recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic.

The reset of the Australian ­Research Council funding model comes as the body’s chief executive, Sue Thomas, prepares to step down before the end of her five-year term.

Under the changes to begin next year, the federal government will strengthen the “national ­interest test” to enhance industry involvement and improve transparency in the grants process. The requirement asks researchers to outline how their investigations can deliver economic, commercial, environmental, social or cultural benefits to Australia.

For the ARC’s linkage grants – where there is a connection between research and industry – the government will require at least 70 per cent of the grants to fall within one of the government’s six manufacturing priorities.

Universities Australia chief executive Catriona Jackson said the organisation looked forward to working through the details of the reform package with the government in the new year.

But the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering said the requirement for a minimum of 70 per cent of linkage grants to be in the manufacturing sector meant that investment in areas such as clean energy and agriculture would be limited.

The Group of Eight chief executive Vicki Thomson backed the reform but also called on the government to urgently finalise the latest round of ARC discovery grants that are normally approved in October. She warned further delays would result in job losses and a skills drainage in the sector.

“The current delay is unprecedented and not seen in the 30-year history of this and similar funding rounds,” she said.

“Other potential consequences of further delay could see our ­talented researchers reassess their options and choose to move offshore or leave the sector.”

 The Morrison government said the funding reform of the ARC would ensure taxpayers‘ funds were better aligned with its priorities, including manufacturing, in a bid to improve Australia’s sovereign capability and support the economic recovery.

Education Minister Alan Tudge – who has stepped aside pending an independent review into abuse allegations against him – pledged to make the commercialisation of university research a top priority after he took over the portfolio at the end of last year. Acting Education Minister Stuart Robert said the new direction for the ARC would ensure the body could harness the benefits of publicly funded research that would support Australia as it emerged from Covid-19.

“The Morrison government remains committed to a strong ­publicly funded research agenda in Australia’s universities, particularly the blue-sky research delivered through the ARC Dis­covery program, because we know the opportunity to commercialise research can only arise from high-quality basic research,” he said.

Mr Robert has told the ARC that he expects a governance overhaul in the organisation and that he requires research grants to be more closely aligned to the government’s research commercialisation agenda.

A letter obtained by The Australian, which Mr Robert sent to the ARC’s Professor Thomas last week, sets out the government’s plans for the new look council.

In the letter he asked the ARC to be briefed on options for bringing outside experts from industry to play a role in assessing how well research grant applications align with national interest concerns.