National Health and Medical Research Council

The Australian Government has committed $42 million to fund cutting edge research through a new plan to bring leading researchers together to share their knowledge.

The Minister for Education, Science and Training, Dr Brendan Nelson, and the Minister for Health and Ageing, Tony Abbott, today announced the Government would establish 24 new research networks to help coordinate leading-edge research across Australia.

The Australian Research Council (ARC) and the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) will jointly provide $42 million over five years to foster collaboration among researchers at the forefront of their fields of expertise.

Five of the networks will be co-funded by the ARC and NHMRC, with $9.25 million used to bring researchers together to develop new biotechnology tools and new health diagnostics, to improve childhood development and the quality of life among older populations, to help control and eradicate parasites, and to understand better the relationship between genes and environment.

All of the 24 networks will be established in areas identified by the Government as National Research Priorities. For example, the:

• Research Network for a Secure Australia will advance the National Research Priority of Safeguarding Australia by strengthening our research capacity for protecting critical infrastructure.
• Australia-New Zealand Research Network for Vegetation Function will advance the National Research Priority of An Environmentally Sustainable Australia.
• Australian Nanotechnology Network will advance the National Research Priority of Frontier Technologies for Building and Transforming Australian Industries.
• Australian Research Alliance for Children and Youth and Ageing Well will advance the National Research Priority of Promoting and Maintaining Good Health.

"This is the beginning of a new era of collaboration across Australian research. Australia's best researchers have told us that they increasingly need to find ways to work across organisational, geographic and discipline boundaries. These network grants will help our best minds to exchange ideas, to collaborate, and to work together for the benefit of Australia's future," said Dr Nelson.

"The Howard Government has increased funding for research to record levels. The government will continue to foster closer partnerships between researchers, the NHMRC and other funding bodies. Sharing knowledge can help advance research and results, and for this reason the NHMRC is contributing over $4.5 million to co-fund five medical and health networks," Mr Abbott said.

The new research networks will build connections between people, disciplines, organisations and countries, bringing together more than 3,400 participants from Australia and overseas.

The ARC's Research Networks program is an initiative of Backing Australia's Ability, under which the Government is investing $8.3 billion over 10 years to support excellence in Australian science and innovation.

Joint funding between the ARC and National Health and Medical Research Council

Project Title: Fluorescence Applications in Biotechnology and Life Sciences
Network Convenor Goldys, E
Admin Organisation Macquarie University
Project Abstract

This Network will concentrate Australian research in new applications of fluorescence to biological systems to solve significant problems in health diagnostics, biotechnology and the environment. The scientific goals identified by the Network such as highly selective fluorescent labelling and purpose-engineered fluorochromes will be accompanied by the development of specialised instrumentation. These research directions pursued by strong multi-disciplinary teams spanning biology, chemistry, physics, bioengineering and medicine will benefit from the support of the Network programs. Through its focus on academic - industry collaboration the Network will also facilitate development of basic scientific discoveries into commercial outcomes.

Project Title: ARC Research Network in Ageing Well
Network Convenor Kendig, H
Admin Organisation The University of Sydney
Project Abstract

The ARC Research Network on Ageing Well will support interdisciplinary, high quality research in the National Research Priority Goal of Ageing Well, Ageing Productively. It will build scale and focus on Australia's notable research strengths in ageing, promote collaborative research, and extend research capacities. The Network will link outstanding researchers from many disciplines, nurture developing researchers, relate social to health researchers, strengthen international collaboration, and involve and inform end-point users. It will foster research which responds to the aspirations and needs of older Australians and informs action that can improve experiences of individual and population ageing.

Project Title: Australian Research Council Network for Parasitology
Network Convenor Smith, N
Admin Organisation University of Technology, Sydney
Project Abstract

The ARC Network for Parasitology will focus and coordinate Australia's world class fundamental, strategic and applied parasitology research. This targeted approach will raise Australia's standing in the field, assist in the community's understanding of parasitology and biosecurity and maintain and improve Australia's capacity for keeping its stock, crops, wildlife and people disease-free. On an international scale, the Network will work with other countries to develop new technologies for the detection and eradication of parasites. This emphasis will not only protect Australia's borders but also will assist our near neighbours and lead to the development of technologies with an economic benefit to Australia.

Project Title: ARACY/ARC Research Network: Future Generation
Network Convenor Stanley, F
Admin Organisation The University of Western Australia
Project Abstract

Research across a range of disciplines is urgently needed to understand the complexity of pathways contributing to the healthy development of children and young people in modern societies like Australia and to develop effective strategies to improve them. Given our economic prosperity and the level of knowledge about human development, it is profoundly disappointing that many child and youth problems are increasing, creating a crisis in services. This application brings together a highly talented network of researchers to work collaboratively and innovatively with policy makers and those providing services, to enable both new knowledge and implementation of what we already know, to enhance children's futures.

Project Title: ARC Research Network in Genes and Environment in Development
Network Convenor Richards, R
Administering The University of Adelaide
Project Abstract

Interactions between the early environment and the genetic regulatory program of the developing organism have major consequences for the lifetime health of individuals. The primary objective of the Network in Genes and Environment in Development is to harness the resources of leading researchers from the currently distinct disciplines of developmental biology and developmental physiology to define key developmental regulatory networks and to address how environmental factors impinge on these regulatory networks. The formation of this National Research Network is unique, timely and strategic. It will generate new insights into the mechanisms by which events in early life determine the risk of adverse outcomes in perinatal and adult life.

Australian scientists to become key players in international health research

The Minister for Health and Ageing, Tony Abbott announced today that Australian researchers now have the opportunity to access A$70 million in international research funding each year and to lead international research teams as part of the Human Frontier Science Program.

Eleven Human Frontier Science Program research teams had produced Nobel Prize winners, including Australia's own Professor Peter Doherty.

However, until now Australian researchers have not been able to lead an international team under the Program. Instead our researchers have been part of a research team headed up by other member countries, including Canada, Switzerland, Germany, France, Italy, the United Kingdom, USA and Japan.

"I congratulate the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) for successfully negotiating Australia's membership to the Program.

"This is a significant achievement, giving our researchers access to considerable international funding to support and lead international programs in life sciences research in this country," the Minister said.

CEO of the NHMRC, Professor Alan Pettigrew said membership to the Program offered exciting opportunities for Australia's world-class researchers.

"The Program is unique internationally, in that it promotes fundamental research in life sciences with special emphasis on novel and interdisciplinary research (that is, combining life sciences with other sciences such as physics, chemistry, and computer science). The Program also emphasises international collaboration and support for young investigators.

"For 15 years, the Program has created a framework for competitive, collaborative, international research of the highest calibre, and provided young scientists with the opportunity to emerge as talented researchers capable of making the breakthrough scientific contributions of the future. It is very exciting that Australia is now a full participant in the Program," Professor Pettigrew explained.