Australia-China Joint Research Centres - Priorities Announced

The Minister for Industry and Science, the Hon Ian Macfarlane announced the next round of the Australia-China Joint Research Centres (JRCs) on 2 July 2015. JRCs, which are supported under the Australia-China Science and Research Fund (ACSRF), are virtual centres that link Australian and Chinese research institutions conducting a portfolio of research-related activities in a specified field of research. PRIORITIES ANNOUNCED The 2015 JRC priority areas, which were agreed with the Chinese Government, are: Food and agribusiness •           Sustainable food production and processing •           Biosecurity •           Soil analysis, technologies and remediation Mining equipment, technology and services •           Sustainable use of sedimentary basins •           Sensing, automation, robotics and data analytics for resource extraction, processing and waste management Marine science •           Sustainable marine resource management •           Marine environments and marine ecosystems •           Maritime engineering An Eligible Research Organisation (ERO) may only submit one JRC application per round. An ERO that has applied for funding for a JRC may be a collaborating partner in another JRC. JRCs will be required to include an Australian end-user or industry partner to ensure the research funded has a practical focus, in addition to a Chinese partner. Applications will open later in the month following the release of the programme guidelines. Applications will close in September.