The government is committed to “committed to preserving the flexibility in its support for university research and research training” at least when a, “funding framework is aligned with government priorities to maximise the return on its research investment.”

And so there is a new paper from the Department of Education, Skills and Employment, on how research block grants and the research support programme could support the intent of the proposed research accelerator.

What won’t change : The paper is at pains to point out that universities will be able to spend RBGs on basic or applied research, as they wish.

What will is the way the grant gateaux is sliced.  The existing formula which determines what institutions get will change, with industry funding deciding a bigger share of allocations, from 34 per cent now to 50 per cent for research support and from 16 per cent to 25 per cent for research training. The balance will  be based on a weighting of higher degree completions. “By working to increase the rate of acceleration of industry-sourced research income, the gap between income sources will narrow,”  DESE states.

But wait! there could be more: The paper floats using Australian Research Council, Excellence for Research in Australia rankings, to “encourage and position industry and other research investors to identify opportunities for university partnerships and investment.”

What’s next: While billed as a “consultation paper,” transition arrangements for whatever is adopted are scheduled to run for two years from January 1 next.  Which does rather assume that the next minister agrees.