The extra money “will allow us to continue to deliver critical science for the nation, and help businesses grow and create jobs through innovation”, said a CSIRO spokesperson. The agency had estimated that it would lose Aus$100 million in revenue from its commercial activities next year. The boost for CSIRO is also much-needed, say researchers. As a result of the funding shortfall, an estimated 6,100 researchers are expected to lose their jobs - about 11% of the country’s research workforce. “We still have to figure out how to pay salaries beyond 2021.”Īustralian universities are forecast to lose up to Aus$7.6 billion in revenue that they would normally use to fund research over the next five years, largely because of a drop in the number of fee-paying international students following travel restrictions and border closures. But it doesn’t solve the long-term problem of a lack of research funding, he says. The Aus$1 billion “will help universities deal with the immediate crisis we face and hopefully retain people who are potentially on the way out the door in the short term”, says Duncan Ivison, deputy vice-chancellor for research at the University of Sydney. But academics maintain that the government needs to do more to sustain future research. Researchers say the funding is a welcome boost, particularly for universities, which say they are in a dire financial situation because of the coronavirus pandemic.

As part of a major spending spree designed to kick-start the economy, universities are set to receive Aus$1 billion (US$710 million) in new funding to support research next year, and the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) will receive an extra Aus$459 million over four years.

Credit: Scott McNaughton/ The Age/GettyĪustralia’s universities and national science agency have been thrown a lifeline in yesterday’s budget, the country’s first since the pandemic began. Researchers at the CSIRO are developing a COVID-19 vaccine.

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