Untitled - Annual Report 2004 - The University of Western Australia

ResearchONE OF the most significant events of the 2004research calendar was the award of two AustralianResearch Council (ARC) Federation Fellowshipshosted at The University of Western Australia.Professor Leigh Simmons is an evolutionary biologist who was one of the successful candidates and has beenwith the School of Animal Biology (formerly the Department of Zoology) for almost a decade, which is evidence ofthe high quality international research undertaken at the University. The second Federation Fellow, ProfessorSteven Smith, has recently moved from the University of Edinburgh and will be a welcome addition to the UWASchool of Biochemical and Chemical Sciences in the area of plant and molecular biology. Professor Smith will beresearching metabolic and genetic approaches to the discovery of genes that direct carbon partitioning in plants,which ultimately determines crop productivity and quality for improved varieties.In 2004 the University was also successful in winning two ARC Research Networks designed to encouragecollaborative approaches to research in interdisciplinary settings. ARC Research Networks are platforms for generatingnew knowledge in areas that span traditional disciplinary boundaries and link researchers, research groups and othersinvolved in innovation; nationally and internationally. The ARC Research Networks hosted at UWA include a Network inEarly European Research (NEER) which focuses on enhancing Australian research into the culture and history of Europebetween the fifth and nineteenth centuries, and an Australian Research Alliance for Children and Youth (ARACY) FutureGeneration Network that concentrates on understanding the complexity of pathways contributing to the healthydevelopment of children and young people in modern societies like Australia, and on developing effective strategies toimprove them. Both networks were awarded a little over $1.6 million over five years.The 2004 ARC and NHMRC grant application rounds proved to be very successful for UWA with the amount ofARC funding for Discovery-Projects increasing by nearly 80 per cent to reach $13.7 million, with a similar 60 per centincrease in NHMRC Project funding totalling $15.6 million. Importantly, the University’s strategy to increase theamount of funding per grant was rewarded by an increase in the average ARC grant size from $248,000 to $360,000,so that researchers now have more flexibility to undertake their work while the University benefits by having moreof the actual costs of each project funded.This strong performance in winning Australian Competitive Grants by the University follows the significantincrease (20 per cent) in UWA’s total research income in 2003 compared with the previous year.The UWA Office of Industry and Innovation (OII) facilitated the commercialisation of the University’sresearch with 21 invention disclosures and nine licensing agreements negotiated in 2004. OII also had a role innegotiating a further 34 industry research contracts to a total value of $4.75 million. Following a review of theOII in 2004 it was recommended that a new project manager be employed to help facilitate links with businessand industry, and this will be a major focus in 2005.In 2004 the Institute of Advanced Studies (IAS) continued to make new partnerships and build adynamic space for exchanges at UWA. The core work included two programmes: Diversity Dialogues andHuman Rights and the Protection of Innocence. The Professor-at-Large scheme offered opportunities forcross-disciplinary research, and an ambitious two-week workshop on molecular biophysics run by a USteam of five led by Professor Klaus Schulten, attracted postgraduate students and other researchersfrom across Australia as well as Europe. The IAS hosted visits by numerous distinguished scholars in2004, welcomed 8000 visitors, participated in planning workshops for ARC Network bids (includingthe successful one in Early European Research), and hosted the visit of Professor Fotis Kafatos,Director-General of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory, in the service of potentialcollaborations and partnerships.page 19