Government funding for blue sky research should be protected by a legislated ring-fence in order to reverse decades of decline and to “feed the very beginning” of the innovation pipeline, research groups have told an inquiry into reform at the Australian Research Council (ARC).
In submissions to the bill that will bring about governance and process changes at the ARC, both the Group of Eight (Go8) universities and Science and Technology Australia (STA) call for a legislated ring fencing of 65 and 70 per cent, respectively.
This portion would only go to grants for the ARC’s Discovery programs, safeguarding the funding as other sources drop, and making it harder for a government to reduce support for blue sky research.
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