The Morrison Government will invest nearly $3 billion in university research block grants next year, including the additional $1 billion for research announced in the Budget.
Minister for Education Dan Tehan today announced the funding allocation to support research student scholarships, academic salaries, laboratories and research equipment.
“Our Government is investing record funding in university research to help find solutions to Australia’s challenges and drive our recovery from COVID-19,” Mr Tehan said.
“Our investment in research will also safeguard thousands of researcher jobs and directly support more than 40,000 Masters and PhD students next year to advance their research studies.
“The record funding being provided to Australian universities will ensure the sustainability of Australia’s important research and the training of the next generation of innovators.
“The Morrison Government is investing more than $13 billion in university research over the next four years.
“We want our universities to get better at turning research into new products and innovations that drive job creation, business opportunities and productivity gains.
“Our Government is investing $5.8 million to design a scheme to accelerate turning research into new opportunities for Australians.
“We are also investing $900 million into an Industry Linkage Fund, created as part of the Job-ready Graduates package, to incentivise university engagement with industry and focus on creating more STEM-skilled and job-ready graduates in areas of industry and community priority.
“Our strong investment in research and development will help ensure Australian researchers can turn ideas into new knowledge that will support our economic recovery and help create employment opportunities.”
For more information on the 2021 research block grants visit www.education.gov.au/research-block-grants.