Executive Summary
1. INTRODUCTION
The Cooperative Research Centres Association Inc. (CRCA) welcomes the inquiry of the House of
Representatives Industry, Science and Innovation Committee into “Research Training in Australia.”
Through 18 years experience in training researchers, the members of the CRCA are ideally positioned to
provide authoritive comment on the topic. The CRCA provides this submission as a means of ensuring
that the Committee are aware of the unique type of research training being conducted through the CRC
Program, and would be happy to facilitate (at the discretion of the Committee) presentations by a
number of CRCA members to a public hearing in order to provide the Committee with further information
and insights pertinent to the inquiry’s Terms of Reference.
2. THE CRC ASSOCIATION
The CRCA is the representative body for the organisations operating within the Australian Government’s
Cooperative Research Centres (CRC) Program. The purpose of the CRCA is to promote science in
general, with a particular focus on the future growth of the CRC Program.
The CRCA is an independent body, funded by fees paid through voluntary membership. The CRCA
Constitution states that only bodies classified as “Cooperative Research Centres” by the Australian
Government are eligible to be members of the CRCA. The current membership comprises all 58 CRCs.
3. THE CRC PROGRAM
The CRC Program was established in 1990 by the Hawke Government with the aim of changing the
culture of industry to shift from looking to specific short term problem solving research, to taking a longer
term, strategic approach to investment in research.1 Over the course of its 18 year existence the CRC
Program has met that aim and improved the effectiveness of Australia's research effort through bringing
together researchers in the public and private sectors with the end users. The CRC Program links
researchers with industry and government with a focus towards research application. The close
interaction between researchers and the end users is the defining characteristic of the Program.
Moreover, it allows end users to help plan the direction of the research as well as to monitor its progress.
Since the commencement of the Program, there have been ten CRC selection rounds, resulting in the
establishment of 168 CRCs over the life of the Program that have operated across Manufacturing, ICT,
Mining & Energy, Agriculture & Rural Based Manufacturing, Environment, and Medical Science &
Technology sectors.
3.1 THE PERFORMANCE OF THE CRC PROGRAM
The conventional definition of a CRC is “a company formed through a collaboration of businesses and
researchers. This includes private sector organisations (both large and small enterprises), industry
associations, universities and government research agencies such as the Commonwealth Scientific and
Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), and other end users. This team of collaborators undertakes
research and development leading to utilitarian outcomes for public good that have positive social and
economic impacts.” 2 However this definition only tells a part of the story. As the Program has grown
and matured, further benefits have emerged, including:
• CRCs assemble multidisciplinary teams from across research providers to address end user driven
research. They collaborate across all sectors (Industry, Academia, State Government, Consumers
and Industry Associations) and create a critical mass in their field.
• CRCs provide companies, including multinationals, with the unique and attractive proposition of
being able to deal through one organisation (the CRC) that can assemble the best teams in the
Australia to develop the technology that the company needs, managing the process
professionally to deliverables and gearing it with funds from the Commonwealth and research
providers who are sharing the risks, and the returns.
• CRCs are managed to deliver impacts not just papers, and are held to account to deliver.
• The stability of funding provides certainty for the research partners in particular and also for the
end-user partners.
• The overall activities are actively managed by the CRC management team and Board to maximise
the national benefits. This includes terminating, redirecting or accelerating projects in a way that
is not part of the culture of most other programs.
• CRCs provide a mechanism for realising unanticipated commercial opportunities, i.e. in cases
where technologies have applications beyond the interests of the commercial partners, the CRC
can pursue these through the creation of spin off companies, licenses etc.
• CRCs play an important role in bridging the gap between discovery research funded by NHMRC
and ARC grants and the requirements of industry for commercialisation-ready innovations.
• CRCs encourage innovation through their interaction and reach with SMEs (for example, the CRC
for Spatial Information interacts directly with over 55 SMEs).
• A CRC is neutral and un-aligned and so can provide a central focus from which grows
collaboration.
• CRCs provide research management skills and discipline. This helps ensure the research is
managed to a high standard.
• CRCs foster “hands-on” learning. Although they are heavily focused on postgraduate education,
and thereby providing training for very highly skilled professionals, CRCs are involved, to differing
extents, at all levels of the education and training system.
In the 2006 study on the economic impacts of the CRC Program commissioned by the Australian
Government3, fifty examples were included of economically quantifiable beneficial applications of CRC
research. In these solid, quantified examples, only the clearly measurable components of the outcomes
were included in the calculation of the net economic impact of the Program. Looking only at these clearly
quantifiable impacts, the study showed that as a result of each dollar invested in the CRC Program,
Australian Gross Domestic Product is cumulatively $1.16 higher than it would otherwise have been (had
the money instead been used for tax reductions) and Total Consumption is cumulatively $1.24 higher
2 www.crc.gov.au
3 https://www.crc.gov.au/HTMLDocuments/Documents/PDF/CRC_Economic_Impact_S...
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Submission to inquiry – Research Training in Australia CRC Association
than it would otherwise have been (had the money instead been used for tax reductions). It is important
to note that Gross Domestic Product and Total Consumption are two critical indicators of the economic
welfare of the Australian community rather than being measures of the private returns to CRC
participants.
Since its inception the CRC Program has been regularly and meticulously reviewed. The success of the
Program has been recognised not only within Australia but also internationally as the CRC Program has
been researched, emulated and even copied by a number of other nations.
4. TRAINING INNOVATORS THROUGH CRCs
Innovation is a process rather than an outcome. It is about curiosity and commitment. Innovation
requires the freedom to think and explore, and innovation requires a resource of attuned minds; people
who are prepared to experiment and take calculated risks (i.e. “innovators”.)
4.1 THE INFLUENCE OF THE CRC PROGRAM
CRCs are becoming increasingly recognised as a breeding ground for Australia’s innovators. This
recognition is largely attributable to work undertaken by the CRCA which investigated the impact that the
CRC Program has had on all levels of the Australian education system. Every CRC is required to be
associated with at least one University and incorporate a PhD program within its core activities. However
the CRCA research identified that most CRCs have gone beyond that brief and have developed education
programs aimed at other levels of the education system, from pre-school through the post-doc and
beyond.
The CRCA produced and distributed a factsheet identifying specific examples of CRC activity at each level
of the education system, which includes:
• Primary School
• Secondary School
• TAFE / VET
• Undergraduate
• Postgraduate
• Teachers
• Vocational Training
• General community.
The factsheet is presented in Appendix A. The initiatives described are evidence that the CRC Program is
a Government Program working toward addressing skills shortages, not only by training workers but also
by providing the environment that encourages children to consider a future in science.
Furthermore, Appendix B provides an article from the 25 February 2008 edition of the Australian Financial
Review describing some CRC initiatives aimed at the VET sector.
Appendix C provides a media release from the CRC for Sustainable Resource Processing describing its
“Science in the Classroom” program aimed at school teachers which was recently awarded the CRCA
Award for Excellence in Education.
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4.1.1 THE CRC PhD
Currently there are 58 CRCs in existence, and through those CRCs there are around 1500 PhDs at various
levels of completion. The major feature of the PhDs undertaken through CRCs is that the candidates
undertake their study in liaison with the partners of the CRC. This means that through their study the
students are exposed directly to the needs and idiosyncrasies of industry and emerge with the
classification of being “industry ready”.
This view is supported by a wealth of anecdotal evidence, not only from industry but also from the
students themselves. Appendix D provides an article from the 21 April edition of the Australian Financial
Review showcasing a number of past CRC PhD student in a “where are the now” feature. The
testimonials therein show that these researchers all view the CRC experience as integral to their
successful careers.
Empirical evidence is also being collected to back up these claims. An interdisciplinary group of
researchers from The University of Queensland and Griffith University have been funded through a 3 year
ARC Linkage Project to examine the impact that the industry and educational opportunities provided
through the CRC program have had on the PhD experience and outcomes of candidates. With the
assistance of the CRCA, the researchers are in the process of contacting PhD graduates from CRCs who
were awarded/submitted/graduated in the years 1996-1999 and 2001-2004 inclusive. Graduates from the
same time periods who did not have involvement with a CRC during their candidature will also be
included in the study. This study will build upon a smaller project conducted in 2005 which surveyed a
much smaller set of past PhD students.
4.1.2 THE eGRAD CERTIFICATE
An important factor differentiating CRC PhDs from non-CRC PhDs is the exposure to and understanding of
issues regarding commercialisation and research management. The exposure to industry gives CRC
students hands-on experience and understanding of the issues in a “real world” environment. To build
on that capacity, the CRCA is now working closely with the Australian Technology Network of Universities
to develop and deliver a Graduate Certificate in Research Commercialisation. The Certificate has been
developed specifically to meet the career needs of researchers and postgraduate students in CRCs and
has been shaped in line with priorities developed by the CRCA.
The course provides skills, knowledge and accreditation in research commercialisation and in the
associated areas of research project management, leadership and workplace communication and
principles and practice of research management.
The Graduate Certificate is offered jointly by the five course providers (Curtin University of Technology,
Queensland University of Technology, RMIT University, University of South Australia, and University of
Technology Sydney.) Students enroll through the ATN university of their choice. The first group of
students will enter the course in Semester 2, 2008.
Further detail on this course is provided in Appendix E.
CONCLUSION
Innovation occurs when good ideas are allowed to become reality. But innovation does not happen all by
itself. To have innovation, we first need to have innovators, i.e. the people who get those good ideas
and can transform them into reality
CRCs are recognised as the home of industry-focused innovation and increasingly now are being also
recognised as a breeding ground for Australia’s innovators – PhDs who are “industry ready”; school
teachers who understand the innovation occurring in industry today; and children who are allowed to be
excited by the opportunities that abound within and innovation nation.
CRCs are making a positive contribution to the training of researchers in Australia.
