R&D spending in catch-up, but still trailing OECD average

The Australian Bureau of Statistics' all sector summary of Research and Experimental Development, released this month, has shown that while Australia's expenditure on R&D as a proportion of GDP increased from 1.69% to 1.76% between 2002-03 and 2004-05, it is still well below the OECD average of 2.26%.

Business and higher education were the biggest contributors in Australia's $15.8 billion outlay on research and experimental development (R&D) in 2004-05, an increase of 19% or $2.6 billion since 2002-03.

More than half ($8.4 billion or 54%) of this expenditure came from the business sector with higher education outlaying $4.3 billion (27%).

The business sector reported the strongest growth in R&D expenditure since 2002-03 (up $1.5 billion or 23%) followed by the higher education (up $0.9 billion or 25%) and private non-profit sectors (up $0.1 billion or 37%). Government sector expenditure on R&D increased by $69 million (2.8%).

Expenditure was highest in New South Wales ($5.0 billion) and Victoria ($4.3 billion), while Western Australia recorded the fastest growth since 2002-03 (up 57% to $1.7 billion).

The major sources of R&D funding in 2004-05 were business (52% or $8.1 billion) and the Commonwealth government (36% or $5.6 billion). These two sources also recorded the largest increases since 2002-03 (both up by more than 21%).

Between 2002-03 and 2004-05, Australia's expenditure on R&D as a proportion of GDP increased from 1.69% to 1.76%. This was below the OECD average of 2.26%.

Resonding to the new figures, the ALP released a statement pointing out that Commonwealth funding for research and development has fallen below 1996 levels – from $1599 million in 1996/7 to $1573 million in 2004/05.

Further information is in Research and Experimental Development, All Sector Summary, Australia, 2004-05 (cat. no. 8112.0), http://www.abs.gov.au.

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2006 Science Prizes awarded

This year's Prime Minster’s Prize for Science ($300,000) has been awarded to Professor Mandyam Veerambudi Srinivasan of the Australian National University for his work in applying his research into bee perception and behaviour and principles of navigation to developments in robotics.

His team's projects include:

• a robot that can steer through cluttered environments, supported by Fujitsu;
• a camera that can give panoramic, insect-like vision to robots and surveillance cameras;
• an autonomous navigation system for helicopters, with help from the US Defence Advanced Projects Agency; and
• a design for 'micro flyers' for NASA. A mother craft would land on Mars and release several small, relatively inexpensive, autonomous micro flyers to survey the surrounding terrain.

Other winners of the 2006 national science awards are:

• Science Minister’s Prize for Life Scientist of the Year ($50,000), Dr James Whisstock of Monash University for his work on a group of proteins called serpins which has the potential to assist in the treatment of a range of medical conditions including liver cirrhosis, thrombosis, dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.

• Malcolm McIntosh Prize for Physical Scientist of the Year ($50,000): Sydney astronomer Dr Naomi McClure-Griffiths. Dr McClure Griffiths is searching our galaxy using CSIRO’s 64-metre Parkes radio telescope. Her studies of the Milky Way over the past ten years have led to the discovery of a new spiral arm, and changed many long-held ideas about the evolution of the galaxy. Naomi is now the Principal Investigator on the Galactic All Sky Survey, leading a team to create the most sensitive and high resolution all-sky atlas of hydrogen.

• Prime Minister’s Prize for Excellence in Science Teaching in Primary Schools ($50,000): Ms Marjorie Colvill from Perth Primary School in Tasmania.

• Prime Minister’s Prize for Excellence in Science Teaching in Secondary Schools ($50,000): Ms Anna Davis, Casimir Catholic School, Marrickville, Sydney.

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ARC grants for 2007 announced

More than $365 million in funding over the next five years has been awarded to support 1,154 new research projects under the Australian Research Council’s National Competitive Grants Programme for 2007. With this funding, the funding overall for ARC in 2007 will be $576 million.

The successful projects were selected from over 4,800 applications. The grants have been awarded through the ARC's Discovery Projects, Discovery Indigenous Researchers Development, Linkage Projects, Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities, and Linkage International Project schemes.

Announcing the grants, the Minister for Education, Science and Training, Julie Bishop, said that from this year the ARC grants will be released in the first two weeks of October to enable researchers to make other arrangements if their applications have not been successful or to commit to the research projects for which they have been funded.

Funding by states/territories is as follows:

• NSW: $124.2 million
• Victoria: $83.3 million
• Queensland: $65.6 million
• ACT: $42.5 million
• Western Australia: $21.8 million
• South Australia: $18.5 million
• Tasmania: $8.4 million
• Northern Territory: $631,967

Details of the awards are at http://www.arc.gov.au

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NHMRC grants for 2007 announced

Funding of $529 million for 850 grants has been announced through the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) for new projects beginning in 2007

The funding by state/territory is as follows:

• Victoria: $226 million including $135 million to support for new scientific investigation, $77 million for broad team-based research programs, almost $8 million for capacity building grants and almost $6 million for infrastructure and resources.
• NSW: $123 million, including $85 million to support for new scientific investigation, more than $32 million for broad team-based research programs and almost $5 million for infrastructure and resources.
• Queensland: more than $66 million, including almost $51.5 million to support for new scientific investigation, almost $7 million for broad team-based research programs, $4 million for capacity building grants and
$1.5 million for infrastructure and resources.

• ACT: almost $14 million, including more than $10.5 million to support for new scientific investigation, almost $2 million for capacity building grants and $1 million for infrastructure and resources.
• Western Australia: more than $38 million including almost $24 million to support for new scientific investigation, $12 million for broad team-based research programs and $2 million for capacity building grants.
• South Australia: more than $46 million including almost $31 million to support for new scientific investigation, $12 million for broad team-based research programs and $2 million for capacity building grants.
• Northern Territory: $4.5 million including seven grants for new scientific investigation.
• Tasmania: $1.6 million in three grants to the Menzies Research Institute and two grants to the University of Tasmania to support new scientific investigation.

A full list of successful recipients and descriptions of the research projects are available at here

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Victoria signs up to the Australian Institute for Commercialisation

The Victorian Government has entered an agreement provide $2.6 million to the Queensland Government’s Australian Institute for Commercialisation (AIC) to enable Victorian businesses access the Institute's TechFast program.

The AIC's TechFast program assists companies to find and adopt new technologies developed in Australia’s research organisations, matching relevant technologies or intellectual property developed in research organisations to the requirements of small business.

More information is at www.ausicom.com.au

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Victoria signs nanotech and ICT MOU with Technion

The Victorian Government has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Technion, Israel’s leading institute of science and technology, paving the way for Victorian ICT organisations to exchange expertise and knowledge with the Technion, particularly in the fields of ICT and nanotechnology.

The Victorian Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Minister Marsha Thomson said the Bracks Government is investing strategically in the emerging area of nanotechnology research, building the Synchrotron, investing in the NICTA Victoria Research Laboratory, and initiating industry research clusters such as Nanotechnology Victoria Limited and the Small Scale Technologies Cluster.

More information is at http://www.mmv.vic.gov.au/ICTIndustry

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Funding for hydrogen storage technology

The Queensland Government's technology investment fund, teQstart, is to invest $250,000 in UniQuest spin off company, Hydrexia Pty Ltd, which has an exclusive licence to an innovative magnesium alloy which stores hydrogen in a solid form.

Hydrexia, headed by Chief Executive Officer, Jeffrey Ng, is developing cast magnesium alloys with novel nano-structure to store hydrogen as a solid metal hydride. The alloys are produced using conventional casting equipment, and are expected to have economic benefits over hydrogen storage materials produced by conventional means.

Under laboratory conditions, Hydrexia’s alloys have been shown to deliver commercially viable hydrogen storage capacities at low cost. The alloys have demonstrated a hydrogen storage capacity of up to 7 wt%, which would allow a vehicle carrying a 100kg hydrogen storage unit to safely store hydrogen for a 500km driving range (a target set by the US Department of Energy for hydrogen storage systems by 2010).

Hydrexia is currently working towards demonstrating that this storage capacity can be achieved in a full-scale prototype at acceptable hydrogen release temperatures.

teQstart Pty Ltd was established by the Queensland Government as part of the Smart State strategy to manage the teQstart and BioStart investment funds aimed at stimulating the growth of the State’s high-technology, knowledge intensive industries.

The fund co-invests amounts up to $250,000 on a matching basis with expert private and venture capital sources. Early stage, high-technology Queensland companies seeking to develop their intellectual property into commercially successful ventures are eligible to qualify for teQstart investment.

The teQstart Pty Ltd portfolio currently comprises 19 companies in co-investment with 10 early stage venture capital firms and one angel investment group, across both funds. Industry sectors represented in the portfolio include biotechnology and health, agricultural biotechnology, medical devices, environment, sustainable energy, nanotechnology and advanced materials, education, and information and communications technologies.

More information is at www.teqstart.com.au and www.hydrexia.com.au

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Government announces $8 million in grants available

The Australian Government, through its businesses delivery division AusIndustry, has announced more than $8 million in grants available for business skills development for small business training providers. The applications for funding close on 24 November.

You can apply for a grant through the Building Entrepreneurship in Small Business program in one of three categories.

- Training and mentoring projects to deliver entrepreneurial focused business skills development through a combination of training and mentoring services. Two independent themes for this round are ‘Young entrepreneurs’ and ‘IT skilling’.

- Succession planning to deliver succession planning skills development through a combination of training and mentoring services. This is to help small business owners maximise the value and marketability of their businesses and to provide strategies to exit the business, while ensuring business continuity.

- Incubators for the establishment and operation of small business incubators or the enhancement of existing small business incubators.

Examples of projects which could bid for funds might include training small businesses about ways to export globally through a great website, online learning or streamlining management techniques.

Information sessions are being held throughout around the country in October.

For further information visit AusIndustry's website here or call the hotline 13 28 46.

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Research Fellowships and Scholarships from Curtin University

Curtin University of Technology is offering up to 15 prestigious Research
Fellowships commencing in 2007 and up to 70 scholarships for domestic students undertaking a higher degree by research in 2007 and 9 Australian
Postgraduate Awards (Industry) as well as a number of top-up awards.

Fellowships
Applications are invited from high quality researchers for the following:

Research and Teaching Fellowships: Up to 5 Research and Teaching Fellowships for a period of up to 5 years with the possibility of a tenured position.

Targeted Research Fellowships: Up to 10 Research Only Fellowships for a period of 4 years, with the possibility of renewal. The targeted areas are Cultural and Social Change in Australia and the Asia-Pacific; Frontier
Technologies for Digital Ecosystems; Geology/Geodesy (with preference in the fields of Gravity, Isostacy, Geochemistry, Tectonics or Lithospheric Evolution); Robust Statistical Large-Scale Pattern Recognition; Social
Marketing or Women in Social Economic Research; Radio Astronomy; Analysis of the Causes, Prevention, Treatment and Management of Disease; Information Commons and Agronomy Cropping Systems Research.

The Fellowships are not restricted to Australian citizens. Applicants must have completed a research doctoral degree.

Guidelines and Application forms are available from
http://research.curtin.edu.au/fellowships/index.html  

Further Information can be obtained from:
Fellowships@curtin.edu.au or by calling us on
+ 61 8 9266 3286. Completed applications must be received by 10 November 2006

Scholarships

APA/CUPS – Up to 70 PhD scholarships for domestic students undertaking a research degree in 2007 are available.

Visit http://scholarships.curtin.edu.au/postgraduate/index.cfm for closing dates & other information.

Curtin is an Equal Opportunity Employer and provides a
smoke-free work environment.

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Free access to the Environmental Valuation Reference Inventory (EVRI)

The NSW Department of Environment and Conservation (DEC) is currently funding, on behalf of Australia, a 2-year pilot membership of the Environmental Valuation Reference Inventory (EVRI). EVRI is a Canadian run international environmental valuation database supported by Australia, Canada, France, UK and USA. It contains over 1,700 international studies providing values, methodologies, techniques and theories on environmental valuation and the benefits transfer approach.

The key features include:

• a website with state-of-the-art search engines
  
• a database dedicated to the environmental valuation of various natural assets
  
• a reference library on benefits transfer theory.
  
  

The DEC’s sponsorship of EVRI allows Australian residents to have free access to this growing database. Environmental valuation techniques are used globally to support research, policy development and regulation. EVRI is an invaluable resource for economists, researchers, policymakers, consultants, students and others interested in environmental valuation. To sign up, go to http://www.evri.ca/english/default.htm and click on 'apply for a subscription' on the left-hand side menu. After accepting the licence agreement, fill in your details, noting down the username and password. EVRI will confirm submitted registrations within 1 business day.

For more information please visit http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/publications/evri.htm.  To learn more about DEC’s involvement please contact Koenraad Van Landeghem (koenraad.vanlandeghem@environment.nsw.gov.au).

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Trading Ideas - the Future of IP in Asia Pacific

Landmark Intellectual Property Event

28 - 30 January 2007, Hilton Sydney, Australia

The Australian Government will host a major landmark intellectual property symposium in January 2007.

Trading Ideas – the future of IP in Asia Pacific will highlight emerging IP issues, stimulate discussion, provoke debate and provide a forum to explore the future direction of intellectual property in the region.

Trading Ideas Fast Facts:
• More than 30 expert speakers from the leading and emerging APEC economies and beyond.
• Session topics include: IP Commercialisation Valuation and Licensing IP and Doing Business in APEC economies, IP and Regional Trade Agreements, International IP Asset Management, Copyright and the Challenges Posed by Digital Technologies.
• This event will bring together for the very first time the IP profession, business from the APEC region and global IP policy makers.
• The cost of registration is $700.00 (an early bird special open until October 30).

ON-LINE REGISTRATION NOW OPEN AT www.tradingideas.org  

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Are you a health care professional working with Infectious Diseases?

The School of Enterprise, University of Melbourne, is pleased to announce that we will be holding a 4 day short course on Infectious Diseases on November 10th, 11th and December 8th, 9th.

NUMBERS ARE LIMITED, so be quick!

Despite medical advances that have produced hundreds of drugs that are safe and effective against bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites, infectious diseases are still a major cause of death, disability and social and economic upheaval for millions around the world. This course focuses on clinical research to address diseases that are responsible for more that 90% of deaths from infectious diseases around the world every year.

Specialist Certificate in Clinical Research (Immunisation and Infectious Diseases)

The 25 points specialist certificate is a Masters level award and is achieved by completion of the two four day subjects, Clinical Immunisation Research and Infectious Diseases, with associated assessment. It provides full credit into the Masters program in Clinical Research.

NEED TO KNOW MORE? CHECK OUT INFORMATION AT:

http://www.soe.unimelb.edu.au/iid  

Cost: $1975 + GST

When: November 10th, 11th and December 8th, 9th

Where: The University of Melbourne
Level 3, 442 Auburn Road
Hawthorn, Victoria Australia 3122

Express your interest in this course and related courses by contacting: 

Brad Atkins on (03) 9810 3185 or email b.atkins@soe.unimelb.edu.au  

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Graduate courses from RMIT University

Master of Biotechnology & Business
Graduate Diploma in Bioinformatics
Graduate Diploma in Biomolecular Technologies

February 2006 Entry
These programs link advanced scientific knowledge in converging technologies and business expertise relevant to biotechnology management, technology transfer and the commercialisation of research product.

The programs are designed for professionals working in biotechnology organisations and prepare graduates for entrepreneurial self-employment or careers in the biotechnology industry. The courses are presented by expert staff from academia and industry.

The Master program can be completed full time in 3 terms (1 year), over 3 semesters (1.5 years) or part time (2-3 years). A new Graduate Mode MBB for students with little or no work experience commences in 2007. Specialisation Graduate Certificates can be completed in one semester full time or two semesters part tie

Information Session
Tuesday 24 October, 2006, 5.00 pm – 7.00 pm
Storey Hall, Seminar Room 1
RMIT Building 16, 342 Swanston St, Melbourne

For information about the programs go to http://www.rmit.edu.au/applied-sciences/programs/biotechnology  
or contact Assoc. Prof. Gina Nicoletti Tel: 03 9925 2133 or 9925 7143
Email: gina.nicoletti@rmit.edu.au  

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Graduate Diploma in Drug Evaluation & Pharmaceutical Sciences: 2007 University of Melbourne, Australia

Today’s potent drugs, combined with the complex issues of their production and use has created a growing need for evaluation of their safety and efficacy. For such evaluation, wide ranging expertise is required in the areas of Chemistry, Pharmaceutics, Pharmacology and Toxicology, Clinical Medicine, Epidemiology and Legal and Ethical Considerations.

This diploma course gives a systematic overview of these areas and how they affect the very practical issues of drug evaluation and is aimed at Pharmacists, Research Nurses, Scientists, Medical Practitioners and others involved in regulatory affairs.

For more information please contact Ms April Morritt Ph: +61 3 9496 3420, Fax: +61 3 9459 3510 or Email: a.morritt@unimelb.edu.au  

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Achieve world class results with business critical information

Thomson Scientific is the world’s leading provider of scientific and patent information. We help drive innovation by equipping the research and business communities with the latest information in all technologies from patents, scientific journals, and conferences.
We take you beyond access to information by helping you enhance the way your organization competes, discovers, innovates, creates and licenses - so you can market your products more successfully.

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Let Thomson Scientific help your organization’s ability to innovate, work faster and smarter, and attain outstanding research and business results.

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