Full funding of public research: innovation review

In what will be very welcome news to the public research sector, the review of the national innovation system undertaken by a panel headed by Dr Terry Cutler has recommended an urgent restoration of public funding levels for research in universities and government research agencies.

It calls for the adoption of full funding for the costs of research at universities and increased funding for universities and government research agencies such as the CSIRO and ANSTO, “so that by 2020 we match the top quartile of OECD countries in public expenditure on research and development”.

“A strong and sustainable public research sector requires universities to be providers of research, not investors in research,” the report states.

The cross-subsidisation of research from teaching, in which full-fee paying overseas students subsidise research, is strongly criticised. The panel accepts that this will require a much higher investment by government, but says this will make up for the decline in government support to below OECD average by the Howard government.

In a speech to the Committee for Melbourne today, the Minister for Innovation, Senator Kim Carr, alluded to the panel’s call for increased federal funding but said it would depend on the budget circumstances.

“(The) panel calls on the government to restore Commonwealth funding for science and innovation to the level achieved in 1993-94, when spending peaked at 0.75 per cent of GDP,” Carr said.

“In 2007-08 it was 0.55 per cent of GDP – a drop of 27 per cent. The panel suggests that to get back to where we were in 1993-94, we would need to invest about $2.2 billion a year more than we do now.

“This is a big ask given the worldwide economic slowdown, the pressures on the budget and the government’s priorities in other areas, such as health, education and pensions.”

The panel also recommended a National Innovation Council – or a “central brain” – to co-ordinate and provide strategic leadership for the whole innovation system. This council would replace the current Prime Minister’s Science, Engineering and Innovation Council.

The report also provides a boost for the open-source publishing movement, recommending that publicly funded research be made available under a creative commons licence. Research from scientific papers and published data should be openly available through easily searched repositories and on the internet, where it would be free to the world.

In an interview with Carr in ALS in March, he said he had an interest in the open source debate but had to consider the implications.

In his speech to the Committee of Melbourne, Carr said “the arguments for stepping out first on open access are the same as the arguments for stepping out first on emissions trading – the more willing we are to show leadership on this, the more chance we have of persuading other countries to reciprocate,” he said.

“And if we want the rest of the world to act, we have to do our bit at home.”

The review also recommends that the principles of innovation be applied to the public service and has devised a series of R&D tax concessions for private businesses.

The review’s recommendations will be addressed in a white paper by the Minister and Treasurer Wayne Swan in November.

The full review is available from the Department of Innovation’s website Department of Innovation’s website

Analysis and industry reaction to come.