UNSW unveils plan to entice world’s best academics amid ‘uncertain research ecosystems’

UNSW vice-chancellor says US academics are working within a research system ‘clearly under threat’, as the university launches a fresh bid to get a dozen of the world’s best academics to Australia.

University of NSW vice-chancellor Attila Brungs.

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The University of New South Wales has launched a fresh bid to lure a dozen of the best academics in the world to Australia, including US academics working within a research system that is “clearly under threat”.

Vice-chancellor Attila Brungs says UNSW’s new $14m fellowship program for 12 international academics was developed at “a moment in time” when there is “uncertainty in a number of research ecosystems, not just the US, but … around the world”.

“This is, unashamedly, how to build networks, how do we attract top researchers from around the world to Australia at a time when they’d be more interested in coming than they otherwise would be?” he said.

The 12-month to two-year fellowships will cover salary and relocation costs, and could convert to long-term roles. Each fellowship has a number of PhD scholarships attached to “train the next generation of Australians to be the best in the world”.

“The US system is under threat at the moment. Their research system is clearly under threat,” Professor Brungs said.

“The US has an incredible research system. I’m trying to use this as an opportunity to get access to some brilliant parts of the US system, which is experiencing all sorts of perturbations, to make sure we build Australia’s capability and we build long-term networks, so that even if that perturbation diminished we still have those networks in place.”

Professor Brungs wants to access the US system to enhance Australia’s capability.

To be successful for the Green Fellowship, named after solar pioneer Professor Martin Green, an academic’s research must either advance social and economic prosperity, enable healthy lives, accelerate the transition to a sustainable planet – such as green hydrogen – or strengthen societal resilience and security, which includes advanced manufacturing, artificial intelligence and dual-purpose defence research.

On the latter, Professor Brungs says, “we really want to make sure that UNSW and Australia has the best capability in the world”.

Productivity and sovereign capability challenge

“We’re trying to help Australia tackle some of the biggest challenges it has – productivity and sovereign capability. We have a big challenge around productivity, and universities are important. Part of that, be that labour productivity, be that innovation, be that multi-factor productivity and the research … getting the best research around the world, the best innovators around the world, will really help us on productivity,” he said.

As Professor Brungs returns from a delegation to China, attending roundtables alongside Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, he is also thinking about how China’s ability to scale, paired with Australian innovation, could solve global challenges. Post-visit, university leaders are looking at an agreement to collaborate with China on areas such as the green economy and development, and health systems at scale.

“There’s all sorts of things that the Chinese scale and Australian innovation can drive on … One, for example, is health outcomes. All of us are struggling with health systems … China is an enormous country, we can learn lessons from them on how you bring healthcare to vast and disparate populations,” he said.

UNSW deputy vice-chancellor, research and enterprise, Professor Bronwyn Fox.

He also shared with Chinese business and government a proposal, which is in the very early stages, for Australian qualifications to be recognised in China, in order to train up the Chinese workforce through online education courses – a concept businesses in Australia and China are “very excited by”.

While UNSW is doing its part to tackle productivity, Professor Brungs says the federal government needs “a comprehensive plan that tackles labour productivity” as it approaches its reform roundtable in August, focusing on “how do we really drive up what I call lifelong learning?”

This includes a more connected tertiary education system, and linking innovation with the workforce and new companies in order to grow employment.

Professor Bronwyn Fox, UNSW’s deputy vice-chancellor, research and enterprise, who is driving the fellowship program, said international exchange was “absolutely vital” to research.

“Research is global … and when you’re truly working at he cutting edge of a field, you need to know what everyone else is doing and how they’re thinking about solving problems, and the time is now because globally we are facing some significant challenges,” she said.

“Otherwise we can do things in a vacuum here in Australia and not understand that we need to shift our thinking.”