First, research sector, admit the problem

Australia must acknowledge it has failed to properly build collaborative partnerships between industry and researchers in order to achieve the kinds of links needed to benefit society, a leading figure has said. Addressing delegates at the Times Higher Education World Academic Summit in Melbourne this week, deputy vice-chancellor of research and innovation at RMIT University Calum Drummond likened Australia’s plight to that of alcoholics seeking to reform their ways. “Like the alcoholic, the first step is admitting we have a problem that needs to be addressed,” Drummond said. “The conduct of excellent research in Australia is certainly vital but not sufficient. That research needs to be made relevant to society.” Drummond’s comments followed the suggestion earlier in the same session from a visiting senior research fellow in global higher education policy at the University of the West of England, Libby Hackett, that OECD figures indicating Australia was lagging in industry and research collaboration painted a picture that was perhaps worse than the real situation. Hackett responded to Drummond’s comments by saying that while the OECD figures might be overstating the depth of Australia’s problem, there remained much work to be done in order to improve links between industry and research in Australia as well as in the UK. Advancements regarding such links in Hackett's native UK, she said, had been possible only through bipartisan political support. UK Government funding had also helped to achieve the cultural shift needed to foster long-term changes. Despite this, the broader acceptance by many academics that research needed to be relevant to society remained “a battle to be won”, she said.