As the research funding debate focuses on economic impact, the peak body presents a comprehensive case for a simplified system based on first principals.
UA bases a three-part policy proposal on investing in basic research, warning funding for it was 60% of overall outlays 30 years ago, but 35% in 2022 – and this proportion will go lower with fewer international student fees. “This decline undermines the very source of new ideas and breakthroughs,” it warns.
And it takes on the present R&D strategy now in development, arguing, “without a strong foundation, even the most ambitious goals for translation and commercialisation will falter.”
To “protect and invest” in basic research, UA calls for:
- An unspecified increased investment “as a foundation for future commercialisation and national capacity”
- An all of government payment of 50 cents per every dollar in competitive grants for indirect costs
- Re-establishing the Education Investment Fund to, “research infrastructure and long-term capability.”
UA also calls on government to create a national system – pointing to the present model where, the Minister for Education makes overall policy, the Minister for Industry and Science sets national research priorities (but allocates less than 10 % of grants) while the Minister of Health has nearly 60 % of competitive funding. Plus other portfolios, notably Defence, Energy and Agriculture have their own honeypots (a word UA would never use but FC will).
“Fixing this will not happen by accident. We need deliberate consolidation now and a new mechanism to keep everything aligned into the future.” UA says.
And the UA way to start is a ministerial research council to align funding with national priorities and coordinate portfolios on policy before it is put to cabinet.
However, efficient decision making will not matter if there are not enough researchers researching and UA warns low pay and uncertain prospects are already reducing the future workforce, predicting a 26 % shortfall in the demand for 49,000 PhD-qualified “science workers” in 2031.
Fixing this will not happen by accident. We need deliberate consolidation now and a new mechanism to keep everything aligned into the future, UA warns.
And so, it proposes:
- Increasing PhD stipends to $36,000 pa
- Developing a national research workforce strategy, implemented by the Australian Tertiary Education Commission
- Doubling the funding cap for international PhD candidates to 20 % to bridge workforce gaps.
UA’s takeaway is, “if we do not invest in the foundations — our people, our infrastructure, and our basic research — then we risk weakening the very capabilities we seek to grow.”