The Federal Minister for Industry and Science, the Hon Ian Macfarlane, has announced the next round of the Australia-China Joint Research Centres (JRCs).
JRCs, which are supported under the Australia-China Science and Research Fund (ACSRF), are virtual centres that link Australian and Chinese research institutions conducting a portfolio of research-related activities in a specified field of research.
"This round is expected to support six new centres which will be funded under the Australia-China Science and Research Fund. The Australian Government will provide up to $1 million over three years to the Australian consortia, with the Chinese Government supporting the Chinese teams' participation in these joint activities," Minister Macfarlane said.
"The Fund provides support for international research collaborations and realises the economic potential of the research sector by allowing Australian scientists and industry to engage with China.
"This round of Joint Research Centres will be focused on priority areas in agreement with the Chinese Government and will reflect our industry growth sectors and science and research priorities," he said.
Applications will be called for in a number of priority areas.
PRIORITIES ANNOUNCED
The 2015 JRC priority areas, which were agreed with the Chinese Government, are:
Food and agribusiness
* Sustainable food production and processing
* Biosecurity
* Soil analysis, technologies and remediation
Mining equipment, technology and services
* Sustainable use of sedimentary basins
* Sensing, automation, robotics and data analytics for resource extraction, processing and waste management
Marine science
* Sustainable marine resource management
* Marine environments and marine ecosystems
* Maritime engineering
An Eligible Research Organisation (ERO) may only submit one JRC application per round. An ERO that has applied for funding for a JRC may be a collaborating partner in another JRC.
JRCs will be required to include an Australian end-user or industry partner to ensure the research funded has a practical focus, in addition to a Chinese partner.
Applications will open later in the month following the release of the programme guidelines. Applications will close in September 2015.
For more information, go to
http://www.science.gov.au/international/CollaborativeOpportunities/ACSRF/Pages/default.aspx
Contact:
ACSRF Team
02 6276 1093
acsrf@science.gov.au