Support for Chief Scientist's STEM report

Australia’s Chief Scientist, Professor Ian Chubb, has released his recommendations for a strategic approach to science and its related fields.

Launching the report ‘Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics: Australia’s Future’, Professor Chubb noted that Australia is “the only OECD country without a science or technology strategy. Other countries have realised that such an approach is essential to remaining competitive in a world reliant on science and science-trained people”.

“Science is infrastructure and it is critical to our future,” he continued. “We must align our scientific effort to the national interest; focus on areas of particular importance or need; and do it on a scale that will make a difference to Australia and a changing world.”

Professor Chubb says his report has “outlined how to develop better capacity and capability through strategic investment, good planning and long-term commitment”, drawing on “the views of our science community and Australian business”. The report focuses on:

• building competitiveness;
• supporting high-quality education and training;
• maximising research potential;
• strengthening international engagement.

The report has been commended by the Australian Academy of Science, which strongly supports Professor Chubb’s proposal for a long-term strategy for Australian science. The Medical Technology Association of Australia (MTAA) also approves of the report and is particularly supportive of recommendations to:

• establish an Australian Innovation Board to draw together existing Australian programs and target research and innovation in a more cohesive way;
• develop a national scheme to foster growth in Australian SMEs, drawing on the US Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program which is designed to ensure government agencies purchase clinically effective local innovation that is the result of publicly funded research;
• provide better incentives for researchers to be actively working with industry;
• design and deliver new models for collaboration for maximum impact, including the UK’s Catapult Centres.

The report can be found here.