September 21, 2015
ACOLA review of Australia’s Research Training System: IRU Submission
The review into Australia’s Research Training System is an important opportunity to refresh how Australia supports students undertaking degrees by research. A key focus is to ensure a good alignment of research training with potential for future work in industry, Government and other enterprises, which draw on research capability.
We need to ensure we address well the reality that the research degree can lead both to an academic career and to positions across industry and Government that requires highly capable, thoughtful and imaginative occupants.
Crucial to improvement in this area, as IRU argued in Industry Driven Research1; (IRU, May 2015) is to alter incentives for industry and business to seek out research that can improve their operations and commercial outcomes. For this review incentives to engage with research students should be considered.
The Review sits alongside a suite of Government actions to strengthen research output and its effective use, in particular for commercial outcomes. Of these, the funding structures to support research training are also under consideration by the Watt Review of research policy and funding arrangements.
IRU members have provided detailed submissions outlining their creative approaches to support research students, identifying the directions they now wish to take along with the changes to current arrangements required to allow them to do so…
Read more in the attached PDF below.
