The University of Newcastle will highlight the value of its research, amid uncertainty in the COVID-hit sector.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Professor Janet Nelson, Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Research and Innovation, will give a public lecture on Tuesday as part of the university's Looking Ahead series.
The lecture comes as universities face a funding blackhole due to COVID-19 and the loss of international student revenue. This month's federal budget contained a $1 billion research bailout package to help universities deal with this.
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said the money was about "backing our best and brightest minds whose ideas will help drive our recovery".
The government will spend $5.6 million to study ways to "accelerate the commercialisation of non-medical research, with a priority on new partnerships between universities and industry".
In 2018, University of Newcastle researchers secured more than $109 million in research and development funding. Of that, $34 million came from industry, philanthropy and other sources.
"With increased pressure to secure competitive grants, universities will need to continue to diversify this funding to continue to be successful," Professor Nelson said.
Investment in research and development in Australia is reportedly below the OECD average, while China has strongly boosted its funding in the sector.
Professor Nelson said the most successful research models "stretch the boundaries of what is done in a typical university".
She highlighted the importance of research that responds to the needs of a particular community, where the research outcomes may be "transitioned to actual deployment in the real world".
University of Newcastle researchers had a strong history of "driving discovery and innovation that challenges conventional thinking, breaks new ground and changes lives".
Tuesday's lecture, presented with the Royal Society of NSW Hunter branch, is titled The Engaged University: Advancing Research and Innovation through Powerful Partnerships.