Researchers who dislike the National Interest Test in funding applications hoped the new government would drop it but Jason Clare announced it will stay

And now the Senate has supported a motion from Senator Faruqi (Greens NSW) requiring the Australian Research Council to supply information about the application of the existing NIT.

On Tuesday the ARC will provide the number of research applications in six schemes where NITs were back for revisions or been rejected.

The 150m word NIT was introduced by former coalition education minister Dan Tehan “to give the minister of the day the confidence to look the Australian voter in the eye and say, ‘your money is being spent wisely.’ ” (CMM November 28 2018). But it is less disliked than loathed in the research community. Australian Institute of Physics president, Sven Rogge (UNSW) points out the NIT is  outside application peer review and not part of the rejoinder process (CMM August 22).

New education minister Jason Clare says the NIT will stay but changed to be, “clearer, simpler and easily understood,” CMM August 31.