Australian National University vice-chancellor Brian Schmidt says some fundamental science departments \u2013 the places of Australian breakthroughs such as Wi-Fi and solar panels \u2013 are shrinking or closing altogether because the government pays for less than half of research costs at universities.<\/p>\n
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Outgoing ANU vice-chancellor and Nobel Prize winner Brian Schmidt has sounded a warning that Australia\u2019s sovereign research capability is falling apart without proper funding.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Dominic Lorrimer<\/cite><\/p>\n The Australian Academy of Science warned last week that Australia didn\u2019t have the funding to secure sensitive research in universities as the US does, which could impact AUKUS technology-sharing work with the US and the UK.<\/p>\n \u201cUniversities won\u2019t be able to properly conduct the research Defence wants us to, including nuclear expertise, so we can meet our AUKUS commitments … unless the Defence Department funds it properly,\u201d Schmidt said.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is not in Australia\u2019s interest to be like a banana republic just buying technology, without contributing as a partner.\u201d<\/p>\n But the Commonwealth\u2019s landmark university reforms appear to leave off the table more funding to bring Australia in line with other OECD countries.<\/p>\n Sydney University vice-chancellor Mark Scott says research not only drives economic growth, but \u201cechoes a country\u2019s influence and sovereignty\u201d.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Louie Douvis<\/cite><\/p>\n Ahead of the government\u2019s Accord university review final report next month, a group of vice-chancellors has told this masthead that Australia must shore up its sovereign capability by making research funding central to university reforms.<\/p>\n Australia\u2019s expenditure on research and development has now fallen to 1.68 per cent, its lowest since records began in 1978, and well below the OECD average of 2.7 per cent.<\/p>\n The Group of Eight (Go8) universities wants the Albanese government to make good on its pledge to lift that number to 3 per cent \u201cas a national priority\u201d.<\/p>\n University of NSW vice-chancellor Attila Brungs said universities had been forced to fund much of research costs themselves \u2013 and they couldn\u2019t keep it up forever, leaving Australia at risk of being outmuscled by other countries in \u201cuncertain times\u201d.<\/p>\n Research is now largely propped up by international student fees, creating \u201can unacceptable risk to the future\u201d, according to the Accord interim report. Yet a dedicated sovereign research fund was not among the \u201cspiky ideas\u201d suggested by the Accord so far.<\/p>\n \u201cDo we actually want to fund our sovereign research programs that are key to AUKUS from international students fees?\u201d Schmidt said. \u201cThe US, China … No other country funds research like this because it creates sovereign risks.\u201d<\/p>\n When Australian physicists helped develop radar, \u201cthe most important invention of WWII,\u201d he said, \u201cthere was no doubt then that technology was essential for a secure Australia\u201d. \u201cWe\u2019ve forgotten that now, at our peril.\u201d<\/p>\n Monash University\u2019s acting vice-chancellor Susan Elliot said the Accord\u2019s first recommendations had \u201crightly reflected\u201d the government\u2019s focus on improving university access for disadvantaged students. But she stressed a \u201ccountry of Australia\u2019s size needs its own sovereign research capability\u201d, via a national research fund or another means.<\/p>\n \u201cAs we saw in the pandemic, relying on other countries can cause problems, like when we were having to import vaccines,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n University of Sydney vice-chancellor Mark Scott said any authority set up to oversee the Accord reforms needed to outline a path to 3 per cent GDP spending on research and development as its first task, or \u201cAustralia will fall behind\u201d. Research \u201cechoes a country\u2019s influence and sovereignty\u201d, he said.<\/p>\n Federal education minister Jason Clare said he was still awaiting the Accord\u2019s final recommendations, but noted that \u201cAustralia is home to brilliant researchers\u201d and the government\u2019s recent reforms to the Australian Research Council grant system, including largely scrapping the minister\u2019s controversial veto power, would help sustain research.<\/p>\n The Accord is examining research funding, but said in its interim report that public sources \u201ccannot realistically\u201d replace the rivers of gold from international fees.<\/p>\n Right now, universities say they match about every dollar of government research grants, in overheads such as staffing and infrastructure. Much of the foundational research governments want universities to focus on, including engineering, physics and geology, is expensive to run, requiring multimillion-dollar pieces of equipment.<\/p>\n ANU is developing a diamond-based quantum computer, as well as harnessing optics (lasers) to build quantum technologies.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cFocusing our attention there is a recipe for bankruptcy, even though we try,\u201d Schmidt said. \u201cThe overhead I get on a physics grant has almost halved since 2019. It\u2019s a suicide mission.\u201c<\/p>\n In the short term, Schmidt argues, the problem could be fixed without a cash injection: by narrowing the pool of research funded by government to only that which it considers a national priority but covering all those projects\u2019 costs.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have to save the furniture,\u201d he said. \u201cOr people like me are going to have to start doing massive closures of departments in the next few years, and it takes decades to build that capability back.\u201d<\/p>\n Higher education expert Gwilym Croucher said Australian universities had been the victims of their own success in attracting lucrative international student fees, meaning governments had gotten away with less research funding than other nations.<\/p>\n Australian researchers, including Professor Andrea Morello from UNSW, are at the forefront of new quantum computing technology.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Kearon de Clouet \/ UNSW<\/cite><\/p>\n \u201cBut it\u2019s not sustainable,\u201d he said. \u201cThere are big risks to having research so closely tied to the winds of geopolitics \u2026 and student markets. We\u2019re at a decision moment. It has to be solved whatever comes of the Accord.\u201d<\/p>\n University of Adelaide vice-chancellor Peter Hoj said he hoped \u201cfor Australia\u2019s sake\u201d the final Accord focused more on research while Swinburne\u2019s vice-chancellor Pascale Quester said Australia\u2019s current model pits \u201cuniversities against one another in a race for resources\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cResearch needs to be fully funded \u2026 separated from the three-year political cycle,\u201d she said, with national priority areas such as quantum, manufacturing, biotechnology, cyber and artificial intelligence.<\/p>\n While universities have been courting more private investment in research too, Elliot said industry couldn\u2019t fill the void without more government funding.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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