Australia: Universities Accord needs to aim higher on research .
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Overview
DATE
12 Mar 2024
AUTHOR
Mike Molinari
Kicking the can down the road is a popular pastime in Australian policy development. Despite of its laudable intentions, the Universities Accord report released last week looks like yet another example, especially in its recommendations about impact and research.
There are a lot of things to like about the Accord. At the top of the list is that it shows the Albanese Government, and Education Minister Jason Clare in particular, are engaging with the needs of a sector that was ignored for too long by previous governments.
It correctly identifies that to compete in the 21st century we need a highly educated populace and a skills mix that comes from greater participation in higher education.
Equity and access are central to this participation being shared across the community, especially for our First Nations people, and it is great to see Minister Clare advocate so passionately and effectively for this.
But the Accord report largely ignores innovation, and the role that universities play in creating and translating the great ideas that will form the basis for Australia’s participation in future industries.
Australia differs from most developed nations in the high proportion of national research that happens in our universities rather than in business.
Unless we can continue to improve the mechanisms that support this activity, we risk becoming an afterthought in the 21st century where geopolitical influence will increasingly be determined by intellectual property and not natural resource endowment.
Mike Molinari
Managing Director, Australia
Unless we can continue to improve the mechanisms that support this activity, we risk becoming an afterthought in the 21st century where geopolitical influence will increasingly be determined by intellectual property and not natural resource endowment.
The Accord report acknowledges this - but squibs it by being too cautious in its recommendations.
Its proposed establishment of a Solving Australian Challenges Strategic Fund to provide a funding signal to universities to incentivise them to deliver greater impact from their research is a move in the right direction.
Warren Buffett’s late business partner Charlie Munger once said: ”Show me the incentive and I’ll show you the outcome.”
For too long the incentives for universities have been to push their academics to publish and drive up their rankings in international surveys. Done correctly, the Fund can provide the first step towards an incentive for researchers to focus on solving problems that can generate a real impact for industry and society.
The way that the Fund is framed in the Accord leaves too many questions unanswered.
How large will the Fund be, both in absolute terms and relative to block grants? How will it be allocated? And on what timeframe will this be implemented? The Accord is not definitive on any of these questions - and the clear risk is that without specific recommendations this will be easily kicked into the long grass.
For an example of how the Strategic Fund could work, we should look to the UK which has built a thriving deeptech ecosystem over the past two decades, underpinned by its leading universities.
Mike Molinari
Managing Director, Australia
For an example of how the Strategic Fund could work, we should look to the UK which has built a thriving deeptech ecosystem over the past two decades, underpinned by its leading universities.
The UK assesses research across its universities every seven years in the Research Excellence Framework. In the 2021 assessment, impact accounted for 25% of the score, and that that feeds through to the allocation of around $A3.9 billion of core funding for universities annually.
Since its introduction in 2006, the Framework has created a direct link between impact and funding, driving material change in behaviour for universities and academics.
For evidence that it works, look no further than Oxford University.
Oxford averaged about five spin-out companies per year from 2001-2010. Since the introduction of the impact metric, it has averaged 15 spinouts per year.
Anecdotally. it has had a bigger impact still on culture within universities, celebrating innovation and engagement with industry.
Make no mistake - the Accord is a good start, but we need to be bolder in linking impact to research if we’re to claim our place in the knowledge economy and be internationally competitive.
This article first appeared in The Australian.
