Research council needed to end funding fragmentation ¨C UA

Australia has over 150 research funding programmes scattered across five federal portfolios, and it needs a ministerial council to inject order, according to the representative body for universities.

A research workforce development strategy is also needed to address a decline in doctoral training that threatens to leave the country short of 12,000 PhD-qualified scientists.

Universities Australia (UA) has unveiled proposals to strengthen research and research training, in two reports published ahead of a 1 August ¡°productivity roundtable¡± on technology and innovation.

The meeting, to be hosted by new industry and science minister Tim Ayres, is one of a series of sector-specific get-togethers planned as precursors to the ¡°¡± ¨C an A-list gathering of ministers, policy wonks, unionists and business representatives, designed to forge consensus for long-term economic reform. This will be convened in mid-August by treasurer Jim Chalmers.

UA said the twin ¡°pressures¡± of a fragmented research system and a shrinking research workforce were ¡°a productivity issue, a workforce issue and a national capability issue all rolled into one¡±.

Chief executive Luke Sheehy said researchers were ¡°stuck in a maze of duplicative programmes¡±, with five federal portfolios each investing at least A$500 million (?244 million) a year into research. ¡°Yet [they] operate largely in silos,¡± he said. ¡°That fragmentation creates duplication, inefficiency and wasted effort.¡±

The , which focuses on reform, blames a ¡°patchwork system¡± of competing ministerial responsibilities for ¡°gaps, overlaps and perverse incentives¡±. It says the education minister sets overall policy but the science minister controls national research priorities while managing a tiny slice of competitive grants.

Most grant funding is overseen by the health minister, the report says. Separate initiatives in portfolios including defence, energy and agriculture force researchers to navigate over 150 programmes with different forms, systems and priorities.

UA recommends a ministerial research council to ¡°review and rebalance¡± these programmes, providing a ¡°whole-of-government lens¡± before initiatives are submitted for cabinet approval. ¡°The council could also help deliver key reforms coming out of the Universities Accord and eventually be housed within the Australian Tertiary Education Commission,¡± the report says.

The council could be created from scratch or adapted from the , which last met in November.

±«´¡¡¯²õ focuses on a collapse of doctoral commencements. The report says just 16 per cent of domestic honours and master¡¯s graduates in ¡°core¡± sciences ¨C mathematics, physics, chemistry, earth sciences and biology ¨C are progressing to PhDs, compared?with about?35 per cent in 2018.

It says appetite for doctoral study has been gutted by a prevailing view that PhD graduates are only suited to academia ¨C a narrative that overlooks their ¡°broad, transferable skills¡± in solving problems and developing or improving products and services. ?

Most people start PhDs with aspirations to work in industry or government, the report says. ¡°Insecure job prospects¡± in academia hold little appeal for students typically aged in their late thirties, often struggling with family responsibilities and rising living costs.

The report advocates a ¡°whole-of-government approach to research workforce planning¡± and measures to make doctoral study more financially palatable. The minimum PhD stipend, currently A$33,511, should be increased to cover a ¡°realistic cost-of-living, with annual indexation to maintain its value¡±.

Part-time stipend scholarships should not be taxed, the report adds, and PhD students should be eligible for government-funded parental leave.

john.ross@timeshighereducation.com