Australian Innovation System Report 2012 Compendium of Program Updates

AUSTRADE

The Australian Trade Commission (Austrade) is the Australian Government’s trade and investment development agency. Austrade assists Australian companies to succeed in international business, attracts productive foreign direct investment into Australia and promotes Australia’s education and training sector internationally.

Austrade’s work in innovation

Austrade has sought to raise awareness of Australia’s innovation system through:

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  Promoting Australian innovation capabilities globally; often in partnership with CSIRO, CRCs, and universities;
  
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  Highlighting Australia as a competitive destination for foreign direct investment into R&D and innovation; and
  
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  Working to increase industry partnership opportunities with key corporations seeking and investing in innovation.
  

Examples of Austrade’s activity over the past year include:

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  Austrade and CSIRO partnered on a high-level innovation mission to Europe in June 2011. The mission sought to increase the profile of Australian R&D and innovation capabilities to a European business audience, and identify opportunities for potential investment and industry partnerships between European companies and Australian organisations. Featured expertise in the mission looked to areas of global concern – including sustainable manufacturing, water management, ICT and energy efficiency.
  
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  Investing in Research webinar program. After a successful pilot in 2011, Austrade continued its Investing in Research webinar program, introducing major European companies to Australian universities and research institutes capable of addressing their unmet research and technology needs. The 2012 program ran from mid-February to mid-March and focused on partnering companies and researchers in biotechnology, smart grid and water management. Sixteen leading companies from Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK had committed to the program of webinars involving about 60 researchers from Australia.
  
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  In North America, Austrade has worked at a promotional level to deliver a major innovation program during G’Day USA in January 2012. The program highlighted Australian Innovation to leading US corporations, academics and institutions.
  
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  Innovation promotional program with The Economist to promote CSIRO Global Precinct program and Boeing’s R&D focus on Australia in March 2012.
  
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  Public Sector Procurement: Austrade in cooperation with the ACT Government developed a niche innovation cluster around exporting solutions for the public sector. The yearlong pilot program supported innovative Australian high-tech SMEs in their efforts to export services to the US federal, state, and local governments.
  
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  Next generation biofuels: throughout the year, Austrade presented opportunities for innovation in biofuels to US audiences including presentations to the Alternative Biofuels Leadership Conference, the American Council on Renewable Energy and targeting of international investors in the next generation biofuels sector.
  

Austrade and CSIRO innovation mission to Europe, June 2011



A networking dinner at the Fraunhofer Institute (L-R): Peter Kambouris, CSIRO; Ian Wing; Damian Thomas, CSIRO; George Rosenthal, Fraunhofer; Dr Eckart Bierdumpel, Fraunhofer; Elisabeth Opie, CSIRO; Stewart Burn, CSIRO; Alfred Gossner, Fraunhofer; HE Peter Tesch, Australian Ambassador to Germany; Swee Mak; Sandra Fox; Stefan Augustin; and Rod Bloom CSIRO.

NATIONAL HEALTH AND MEDICAL RESEARCH COUNCIL (NHMRC)

NHMRC Partnerships for Better Health – Partnership Centres

The National Health and Medical Research Council Partnerships for Better Health initiative consists of two types of award, Partnership Projects and Partnership Centres.

The Partnership Centres component of this initiative aims to bring teams of researchers and policy and practice decision-makers together in a virtual centre to create better health services and health by collaborative work on priority themes determined by the needs of the health and health care systems.

Each centre will be multi-disciplinary, have national reach and will be governed and funded jointly by NHMRC and partner organisations with an interest in using research to advance their mission. The NHMRC will match up to $2.5 million of partner contributions per centre per year for five-years such that as much as $25 million may be available for a centre over its lifetime. The NHMRC aims to establish four or more centres in 2012-13. The theme for each centre will be forward-looking, a priority for Australia’s health and health care systems over the next decade, and congruent with NHMRC’s Strategic Plan.

In order of priority the broad objectives of a Partnership Centre are to:

1. 
   support the implementation of research-informed changes in health and health care systems;
   
2. 
   synthesise and disseminate research relevant to improving health and health care system performance;
   
3. 
   undertake collaborative research, and
   
4. 
   build capacity, both within the research community to undertake applied research, and within the system to use research as part of change management.
   

To date the NHMRC has identified two priority themes with viable partner funding and has selected an Investigator Team for one potential Partnership Centre. The NHMRC is currently engaged in negotiations with potential partners for other priority themes.

Website for further information:

www.nhmrc.gov.au/grants/apply-funding/partnerships-better-health/partnerships-centres

Urgent call for research (UCR) - Hendra Virus

In response to the recent positive detection of the Hendra virus in a companion dog and therefore the potential increased risk of exposure and infection to humans, the Queensland and New South Wales Governments pledged $6 million for research. The Federal Government also provided $6M for research, of which $3 million was contributed by NHMRC.

The aims of the UCR are:

1. 
   To better understand the biology of Henipaviruses, particularly Hendra virus.
   NHMRC wishes to support research into increasing understanding in topics such as but not limited to viral tropism, viral-human host interactions, viral pathogenicity and the human immune response.
   
2. 
   To develop management procedures and better treatments for humans affected by Henipaviruses, and Hendra virus in particular.
   NHMRC wishes to support research into, but not limited to, identifying effective treatments, determining if there is cross-protection with current vaccines and anti-virals and determining the best processes for the management of infected individuals.
   

Outcomes were announced on 2 June 2012 with eight grants funding research into immunological responses to exposure to the virus, viral replication and vaccine options, and diagnostic markers.

Websites for further information:

www.nhmrc.gov.au/grants/apply-funding/urgent-call-research-hendra-virus

www.nhmrc.gov.au/media/releases/2012/funding-tackle-human-health-effects-hendra-virus

NHMRC – California Institute for Regenerative Medicine Collaborative Research Grants

The National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) – California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) Collaborative Research Grants scheme has been established to support Australian-based components of collaborative research grants. An NHMRC research grant of up to 3 years duration will be offered to support project work to be conducted by Partner Investigators located in Australia.

Program description

First round: RFA 11-02: CIRM Early Translational Awards III

The CIRM Early Translational Research Initiative aims to fund and advance innovative translational stem cell science toward clinical development. The purpose of this CIRM Early Translational III Research Awards RFA is to support projects that enable the initial stage of translational research including the conduct of studies resulting in proof of concept for a potential development candidate and/or studies to select a Development Candidate (DC). The Early Translational Research Award is core to CIRM’s mission, and the agency plans to issue this RFA every one to two years to build a strong preclinical pipeline for patient therapies and cures. Outcomes were announced 30 May 2012.

Websites for further information:

www.cirm.ca.gov/RFA/rfa-11-02-cirm-early-translational-awards-iii?q=rfa/rfa-11-02-cirm-early-translational-awards-iii

www.nhmrc.gov.au/media/releases/2012/government-funds-world-first-research-multiple-sclerosis

NHMRC A*STAR joint call for research

In September 2011, the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) Biomedical Research Council and National Health and Medical Research Council, (NHMRC) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) of general cooperation to promote and encourage research and development activities amongst researchers from Singapore and Australia, including a joint call for research proposals.

The aims of the joint grant call are to fund innovative research designed to better prepare Singapore and Australia to deal with emerging infectious disease threats through the application of integrative technologies and to build further collaborations between Singapore and Australian researchers.

A*STAR and NHMRC wish to jointly support research proposals that utilise integrative technology to:

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  improve surveillance and detection of emerging infectious disease threats in our region;
  
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  advance diagnostic tools;
  
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  develop new innovative approaches for vaccine creation and therapeutics, and
  
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  bring together synergistic collaborations and expertise from both countries.
  

Eligible proposals must involve a genuine collaboration involving at least one research team each from Singapore and Australia.

The joint call for research will be administered by the NHMRC. Applications opened on 6 June 2012 and closed 8 August 2012. Funding is likely to commence in early 2013.

Website for further information:

www.nhmrc.gov.au/grants/apply-funding/nhmrc-astar-joint-grant-call-research

Tripartite agreement with Canadian Institute of Health Research and Health Research Council of New Zealand

In 2002, NHMRC entered into a trilateral partnership with Canadian Institute of Health Research (CIHR) and Health Research Council of New Zealand (HRC NZ) to support research in the area of Indigenous peoples’ health with the goal of improving the health of Indigenous peoples in each of the three countries.

In June 2012, NHMRC, CIHR and the HRC NZ signed a letter of intent of trilateral cooperation on research to improve Indigenous people’s health.

This agreement will develop a coordinated approach to sharing innovative best practices, information and expertise; enable links between the parties, researchers and trainees to conduct translational and implementable Indigenous health research; and commits to harnessing opportunities to coordinate and leverage our respective funding opportunities.

NHMRC will be consulting with Indigenous stakeholders regarding activities the NHMRC, CIHR and HRC NZ might consider under the new Tripartite Agreement.

National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) / Global Alliance for Chronic Diseases (GACD) - Request for applications on Hypertension in Low and Middle Income Countries

Through its membership in the Global Alliance for Chronic Diseases (GACD) NHMRC supports international and interdisciplinary collaborations in research, focusing on chronic non-communicable diseases. Particular emphasis is placed on cardiovascular diseases (mainly heart disease and stroke), chronic respiratory conditions, type 2 diabetes, and several cancers. Work of the GACD will focus in particular on the needs of Low and Middle Income Countries (LMICs), and on those of low income populations of more developed countries.

In 2011 NHMRC allocated $5 million in funding for research to improve the prevention and control of hypertension (high blood pressure) at the community level in low and middle income countries, as part of a worldwide initiative coordinated by the Global Alliance for Chronic Disease (GACD). Outcomes of this RFA were announced in June 2012.

Website for further information:

www.nhmrc.gov.au/grants/apply/strategic/global-alliance-chronic-disease.htm