Charles Sturt University and the University of Queensland have been shortlisted as part of the federal government’s $242.7 million Trailblazer University Program.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced TUP in late November, saying it would boost R&D and commercialisation at selected universities from FY22-26.
It included $30 million for participating universities to partner with CSIRO and access specialist equipment to accelerate their research translation and commercialisation capabilities.
Eight universities were short-listed, the full list is here. They now must submit a business case by 15 March for the successful four proposals to be chosen.
The total value of the proposals submitted for the Trailblazer Universities Program was $2.9 billion in cash and in-kind commitments from both the universities and their industry partners.
Advanced Manufacturing Growth Centre (AMGC) managing director Dr Jens Goennemann said the government’s commitment to spur greater commercialisation of research will go a long way to generating greater collaboration between industry and research institutions.
“While Australia has no shortage of innovative researchers and capable manufacturers, AMGC research shows just 12 percent of industry collaborate with research institutions and those that do are more successful and resilient.
“By encouraging stronger and deeper collaboration between industry and researchers and by also having tangible, commercial outcomes in mind, Australia will be able to transform great ideas into world-leading products while providing more opportunities for the next generation of Australians,” Goennemann said.
The Charles Sturt University research commercialisation project – Reshaping Australian Manufacturing: Food and Beverage Commercialisation Hub (the Hub) – aims to help Australia’s economic recovery from the pandemic.
Researchers from the Charles Sturt School of Agricultural, Environmental and Veterinary Sciences would work with industry partners to create jobs within the food and beverages manufacturing industries to boost the economy.
Charles Sturt deputy vice-chancellor (Research) Professor Mark Evans said the university would partner with Food Innovation Australia Limited (FIAL) and other key university partners, such as the University of New England and Central Queensland University, to create world-class leadership in research commercialisation and university-industry collaboration.
“It is our intention to create a Food and Beverage Commercialisation Hub at Charles Sturt in Wagga Wagga to foster collaborations that supercharge world-leading capability in Australia’s food and beverage manufacturing sector, while accelerating innovation at-speed and at-scale.
“The Charles Sturt and FIAL partnership also represents our strong connections with industry, encompassing diverse businesses across the food and beverage ecosystem, from large multi-nationals to small-to-medium-enterprises (SMEs) including agricultural growers and producers who provide the critical inputs into food and beverage manufacturing,” Evans said.
“Such a strong, independent, industry-led, multi-disciplinary Hub will build on Charles Sturt’s existing capability and world-class research and teaching excellence in agriculture, food, horticulture and wine to unlock commercial potential and develop new products and services for the market.”
Goennemann said, “By uniting Australia’s researchers and manufacturers under these priorities, we have a real opportunity to become world-leaders in each of the chosen priorities, while lifting the value and complexity of the things we make here and guaranteeing our future prosperity.”
