The Universities of Queensland, Newcastle, Monash and Western Australia have committed to a joint venture in the foundation of the International Energy Centre (IEC) to be opened by 2012.

The Centre will offer a Masters of Energy Studies to be started by February 2012 in Brisbane.

The IEC  will follow the model of the International Water Centre, which is a consortium established by the universities of Queensland, Griffith, Monash and Western Australia.

The Queensland Geothermal Energy Centre of Excellence (QGECE) has been officially opened at the University of Queensland, with funding of $15 million from the Queensland Government allocated in 2007.

The Victorian Government has pulled funding of the state’s $200 million synchrotron, casting doubt over the future of the project.

A review of Geoscience Australia by the Department of Finance and Deregulation has found that much of the agency’s work “amounts to a national prospectus for some of Australia's most lucrative natural resources.” 

As part of its commitment to establish the $20 million Australian Biofuels Research Institute, the Federal budget has provided $5 million for a foundation project at James Cook University in Townsville.

A new program, Inspiring Australia, has been established to encourage Australians to pursue science and research in their careers, with amalgamated funding of $21 million  over three years.

Australia’s bid to host the Square Kilometre Array (SKA), in partnership with New Zealand has been awarded $40.2 million over four years.

CSIRO has been allocated $3 billion in a new new Quadrennial Funding Agreement that will operate over the four years from 2011.

The Federal budget has provided a record $9.3 billion for science and research across all portfolios, up from $8.9 billion last year.

The National Farmers Federation (NFF) has urged the Government to reinforce its commitment to rural research and development funding.

CSIRO, industry and the Federal and Tasmanian Governments have announced additional joint funding of $50 million for Tasmania’s peak information communications technology research body, the Tasmanian ICT Centre (TasICTC).

A $10.7 million collaborative research project  to improve the energy efficiency of photovoltaic solar cells is the subject of an agreement between between the Australian National University and Chinese solar energy company Trina Solar.

The Australian National University has launched a new $3 million Discovery Translational Fund (DTF) to assist innovation, research and knowledge transfer.

The Victorian Coalition Government has increased funding for the Energy Technology Innovation Strategy (ETIS) by $41 million in its 2011-12 budget, announced on Tuesday.

The Victorian Government has announced plans for four new agencies to advise on science, technology and sustainability, with funding totalling $7.9 million provided in the 2011-12 budget.

CSIRO and the CSIRO Staff Association are nearing agreement on the new Enterprise Agreement, following months of negotiations and stop work meetings.

Australia’s first supply chain innovation body has been formally launched in Sydney.

Australia’s failure to capture impact in the recent Excellence for Research program and its complex methodology has “culminated in little or no worthwhile information improvements,” according to a visiting research expert.

The Australian Academy of Science has called for overseas science research students to be given access to special fast-tracked visas for postgraduate study at Australian universities.

Flinders University has appointed Professor Jeri Kroll to the new position of Dean of Graduate Research.

The National Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility (NCCARF) has announced the appointment of an NCCARF Advisory Board to guide the facility through its operational phase from 2011-2013.

Archived News

RSS More »