December 2017 Newsletter
Note from the Manager
SIEF has had a busy and exciting year with the EDP well underway, and the commencement of the MEP program, aimed at supporting collaboration and new ventures with the purchase of and access to medium equipment.
From the entire SIEF Team, best wishes for the holidays. We look forward to your continued interest in SIEF in 2018.
Dr Melissa Straffon
SIEF Manager
Melissa.Straffon@SIEF.org.au
Experimental Development Program
Two of the Experimental Development Program projects are now complete, both with very successful outcomes. The TranspiratiONal team and their biodegradable polymer membrane for agriculture resulted in funding of a second phase of the project, and the Hovermap team generated significant interest in, and market awareness of, their early adopter program, paving the way for successful commercialisation of improved drone navigation systems.
Five projects are currently well underway including work to reduce disease impacts in prawns, develop new products for gold discovery, enhance crop water productivity, support an Australian renewable hydrogen export industry, and generate pure CO2 from ambient air.
With several more applications in progress and an expectation of more to come in the New Year, we look forward to supporting Australian researchers to progress worthwhile innovations and technology to a stage suitable for attracting commercial investment and market uptake.
If you are considering submitting a proposal to the SIEF EDP, please contact the SIEF Team prior to commencing your application to discuss key aspects including eligibility.
Clayton Research Infrastructure Launch
On August 31, the then Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science, the Honorable Arthur Sinodinos, launched the BMTF.
The Biomedical Materials Transformation Facility (BMTF) is CSIRO’s main contribution to Monash MedTech (M2) – a collaboration between CSIRO, Monash University and the Monash Health Translation Precinct.
M2 provides the research infrastructure to rapidly transition new discoveries from the bench to scale-up, prototyping, pre-clinical testing, industry evaluation and adoption.
The BMTF houses equipment needed to help MedTech companies to develop their products at pilot scale.
SIEF has provided funding of $10m to support the establishment of M2.
Medium Equipment Program (MEP)
The Medium Equipment Program (MEP) is a new subprogram of the Research Infrastructure (RI) Program, designed to address a gap in funding for equipment in the medium range ($500k-$4m).
The Program aims to enhance capability and capacity, and encourage collaboration – national, international, and with industry. The MEP encourages co-investment in research infrastructure, creating greater collaboration both between organisations and researchers, stimulating multidisciplinary research and fostering linkages
Round 1 of the Program saw 5 applications funded. Round two is currently under review.
Recognition of a life’s work
Congratulations to SIEF Forests for the Future Research Project leader Graham Farquhar as the recipient of two prestigious awards recently. In November, Graham won the ACT Senior Australian of the Year Award, and has recently also been awarded the prestigious 2017 Kyoto Prize in Basic Science – the first Australian to win the prize. No stranger to awards, Graham also won the Prime Minister’s Prize for Science in 2015. We wish Graham every success as he represents ACT for the national Senior Australian of the Year Award, to be announced in January.
SIEF Logo Guidelines
The SIEF Guidelines for Acknowledgement and use of Logo [PDF, 528KB] were updated in October 2017. Please ensure you are using the most current version as details in the ‘About SIEF’ section have been amended.