Strengthening research ties with India

Senator Kim Carr, Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research has announced that the Australian government will provide $7 million for new collaborative science initiatives under the Australia–India Strategic Research Fund.

The Australia–India Strategic Research Fund is Australia’s largest bilateral research fund, providing $20 million over five years from 2006-07 for collaborative research projects. The fund, a joint initiative of the Australian and Indian governments, aims to facilitate and support science and technology research cooperation between the two countries.

“A close relationship between Australia and India is important to both our countries and spans many sectors. We have longstanding, as well as many emerging, links between Australian and Indian researchers in the science and technology area. The Australia–India Strategic Research Fund has provided a great opportunity to further enhance Australia’s connections with India,” said Senator Carr.

Projects to be supported include:

• research into the bioremediation of oil-contaminated marine and freshwater environments; and
• a project designed to strengthen Australia’s research base in radio astronomy.

Other projects supported include areas as diverse as transgenic crops, nanotechnology, plant nutraceuticals and stem cell therapies.

In addition to projects under the competitive element of the fund, the Australian government has also allocated $3 million under the Targeted Allocation component for large-scale collaborations between Australian and Indian partners.

The Queensland University of Technology will receive funds for an information technology security project and the University of New South Wales will be funded for a nanocomposites project.

A call for round three applications is scheduled for August this year.