ACGR welcomes the announcement by Prime Minister Scott Morrison of an additional $296 million to go toward 1800 new industry PhDs and 800 fellowships to create a “new generation of research entrepreneur”.
Graduate research training programs are not only building Australia’s research capacity, they are, importantly, producing graduates who can substantially contribute to Australia’s economic growth and societal development.
Universities are already strengthening their industry connections through graduate research internships, co-location and co-supervision of candidates by end-users and specific industry based PhD programs. The funding announced today along with the recent changes to the Research Training Program funding will boost this effort further.
ACGR Executive Director, Fiona Zammit, said today:
Whilst the number of research training collaborations supported by the programs announced today will be small at only 2% of annual domestic commencements, it is important that this money is well spent. ACGR looks forward to the opportunity to work with the Department of Education Skills and Employment to ensure the program designs allow for the best possible benefits for the research candidates and their industry partners.”
Media enquires
Contact Fiona Zammit, ACGR Executive Director, on 0418 995 578 or exec@acgr.edu.au