Cooperative Research Centre bids involving Federation University progress to stage 2
26 October 2017
On 18 October 2017, the Assistant Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science announced that six of the ten compliant applications for the 19th Cooperative Research Centres (CRC) round will progress to stage two. Federation University (Federation University) is a major participant in two of CRC bids invited to submit a full business case. These are the Farming Smarter CRC and the Digital Health CRC.
CRC grants are an initiative of the Australian Government which aim to foster high quality research by addressing industry specific problems using a collaborative partnership model involving industry and research organisations.
The Farming Smarter CRC bid outlines a 10-year research and development venture focusing on cross-sector, farm issues and using technologies to drive productivity. A range of industry and research organisations are collaborating on this bid, including Federation University. Director of the Centre for eResearch and Digital Innovation’s (CeRDI), Assoc Prof Helen Thompson, is leading Federation University’s involvement in this CRC. Federation University has committed substantial support to this bid contributing to improvement in on-farm decision making through digital agriculture, data federation, and the application of tools for precision agriculture.
The Digital Health CRC bid will apply digital technology and advanced data science to enable real-time precision in the area of health. A range of health, welfare, and quality of life and wellbeing improvements are expected through this CRC bid. Dr Julien Ugon, Faculty of Science and Technology, is leading Federation University’s research involvement and is supported by other Faculties and Centre’s across the University, including CeRDI.
Federation University will be actively engaging with research partners in the agriculture and health areas over coming weeks to confirm research priorities and more definite financial and in-kind commitments from the partners.
The full business case is due for submission by 5.00pm on Wednesday 13 December 2017. Interviews with the CRC Advisory committee will follow on 8 and 9 February 2018. Final outcomes of the 19th CRC selection round are expected to be announced in March 2018 with funding to commence from 1 July 2018.
For further information, contact CeRDI Director Assoc Prof Helen Thomson. E: h.thompson@federation.edu.au or Dr Julien Ugon in FoST. E: j.ugon@federation.edu.au.