The Australian Institute of Physics is pleased to see the ARC Review Act pass into law.

We believe this is an important step forward that will strengthen our research funding system.

However, we are concerned that the advertised eligibility constraints for ARC Board members are too restrictive. In particular, we believe it is important for active research practitioners to be represented on the ARC Board, provided conflicts of interest are properly managed.

Read our letter to the Education Minister here.

Read the response from the Department of Education here.

The Australian Institute of Physics strongly endorses the position paper “Relieving Out-Of-Field Teaching in Australian Secondary Mathematics”, dated March 2024, prepared by a consortium of Australian mathematical associations.

Mathematics is the language of physics and is of foundational importance to all areas of STEM.

The shortage of high-school mathematics teachers in Australia has reached crisis point.

The teaching of mathematics classes by out-of-field teachers is prevalent in Years 7-10. This lack of suitably trained teachers is particularly severe in socio-economically disadvantaged areas, entrenching disadvantage and lack of opportunity.

As a result, strategies to support and up-skill out-of-field teachers are desperately needed.

The approach outlined in the position paper is a pragmatic and much needed short-term solution. The Australian Institute of Physics fully endorses this approach.

Read the position paper.

Read the AIP’s letter of endorsement.

Read the account in Cosmos magazine.

We are thrilled to hear the ARC Review Bill passed Parliament and will soon become law.

The AIP strongly advocated for change, as did many others in the research community. We are happy that we were heard.

Read the AIP's submissions to the Review here.

The AIP strongly supports the recommendations of the Review of the Australian Research Council Act, led by Prof Margaret Sheil.

As highlighted in our submission to the Review, the AIP strongly endorses the role of expert assessment by the research community in the evaluation of research grant applications. This is in line with international best practice.

We believe that Ministerial input should be focused on the research scheme guidelines and funding rules, rather than decision making about individual research projects. This puts the decision making in the hands of qualified experts, ensuring the best possible outcomes for our research funding investments.

The Government’s response to the Final Report of the Independent Review panel: Trusting Australia’s Ability: Review of the Australian Research Council Act 2001, was released on 20 August 2023.

“The report is very welcome news,” said AIP President Nicole Bell.

“The Government intends to implement all the key recommendations of the ARC review, including changes that the Australian Institute of Physics advocated for.”

The ARC’s Chief Executive Officer, Ms Judi Zielke PSM, said in a media release that the final report is a strong endorsement of the role and positive impact the ARC has had on Australia’s research capability over the last 20 years.

It affirms the broader reform schedule the ARC is already undertaking to restore stakeholder trust and drive excellent research for the advancement of all Australians.

“The Government’s response to the review confirms the ARC’s role in underpinning and shaping the national research landscape.

It will define in legislation our role in supporting basic and strategic basic research as well as applied research, research integrity, evaluation of the excellence, quality and impact of research in Australian universities, and the development of researchers through their career progression.”

“There is significant work already underway at the ARC to address the recommendations that do not require legislative change, such as those relating to grant guidelines improvements and reduction of administrative burden for researchers, universities and partners.

We are also consulting with Indigenous researchers regarding the establishment of an ARC Indigenous Forum,” Ms Zielke said.

Australian Academy of Science President Professor Chennupati Jagadish said in a media release that the underlying theme of the review is that of trust with a strong emphasis on the critical role of the ARC in Australia’s research system.

“The role of the ARC, its leadership and the execution of its functions should reflect our aspirations for the research landscape, for research excellence and how they can best support our national ambitions,” Professor Jagadish said.

“The recommendations in the review provide a strong basis to support this purpose and the ongoing effectiveness of the ARC.

“The Academy welcomes the recommendation that the commitment to funding basic research should be incorporated into the ARC’s purpose under the Act.

“The Academy views this as important to safeguard fundamental research that grows our knowledge base.”

The Academy also endorsed several other noteworthy recommendations to:

• restore the ARC Board and populate it with members with the right combination of skills and experience
• discontinue Excellence in Research Australia (ERA) and modernise ARC capacity and requirements for data collection and analysis
• streamline National Competitive Grants Program (NCGP) guidelines to reflect international best practice and reduce the administrative burden on academic and research organisations.

Professor Jagadish said the focus of ministerial discretion on the NCGP guidelines and funding available, rather than on individual grants, would place the recommendations and approvals in the hands of the people with the expertise to assess their merit.

“It is positive to see the recommendations to advance Indigenous Australians in research and recognition of the impact of the ARC on attracting and retaining research talent,” Professor Jagadish said.

The Report and the Government’s response can be found at: Review of the Australian Research Council Act 2001 - Department of Education, Australian Government.

Last week, the Universities Accord interim report was released. In November 2022, Education Minister Jason Clare appointed a panel to conduct a review to drive lasting reform in Australia’s higher education system, to deliver a system that meets the current and future needs of the nation, and targets to achieve this.

The Australian Institute of Physics, the professional body representing Australian physicists, considers this interim report a missed opportunity to recommend the real changes that are needed to secure Australia’s future. We hope the final report will go further.

The report includes several potential proposals including significantly increasing immediate investment in the Australian Research Council, increasing PhD stipend rate, and moving NCRIS to sustainable ongoing funding. The AIP would like to see these proposals elevated to priority actions in the final report.

However, the failure to recommend a visionary scale-up of Australia’s research sector, to drive stronger job creation, is a significant missed opportunity. Only with stronger investment in research can science address the challenges of the future. This is particularly concerning in light of the latest official data (published in May 2023) that shows that Australian Government investment in R&D has plummeted to its lowest level since 1978.

We share the view of Science & Technology Australia president Professor Mark Hutchinson that “The final report should enshrine an ambitious target for Australia’s R&D investment – mirroring the 3% of GDP target the Australian Labor Party promised the Australian people before the last election – and recommend a plan and timetable to achieve it.”

The Australian Council of Deans of Sciences (ACDS) is revising their Threshold Learning Outcomes for Science graduates in Australia. The AIP National Executive has gratefully embraced the ACDS's invitation to provide comments, and provided the following letter.

The AIP National Executive's key recommendation is to ensure that the recognising the TLO's emphasise, as a key principle, that science is a form of evidence-based inquiry that seeks to establish objective and verifiable truths independent of belief or opinion.

The Australian Institute of Physics (AIP) welcomes the recommendations of the ARC Review report , which reflect the major issues we highlighted in our submission to the ARC Review consultation process.

Our advocacy efforts to lobby for a modernised ARC are summarised in a recent COSMOS article. 

The AIP hopes to see the implementation of these recommendations as soon as possible.

The National Executive of the Australian Institute of Physics wishes to  encourage AIP members and the public to take note

of proposed changes to the NSW School Curriculum for the Sciences, and to provide feedback to the NSW Education Standards Authority through their own survey by 5 December.

A full brief on this action from the AIP's Advocacy team is included here

2022_11_AIP_NSW_School_Syllabus_Comment.pdf

We have recently submitted an open letter to the Australian Research Council (ARC) following reports from several of our members that their funding applications were returned to their institutions with requests to modify their National Interest Test (NIT) statements.

The applications affected were for those for the Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DECRA) and Future Fellowship. As a result, the announcement of outcomes for these awards have been delayed.

Unexpected delays negatively impact the early- and mid-career researchers for whom these awards are targeted – especially the former, who rely on clear timelines for career planning.

The NIT statements, which are a short summary of the research project proposed, is excluded from the peer-review process. There is currently no avenue for the applicant and their host institution to respond to the NIT assessment in their rejoinder.

In the letter we published on 17 August, we express our willingness to support the ARC through consultation and feedback on the peer-review process since we believe a clear and transparent process is essential.

Read our open letter here.

AIP President Professor Sven Rogge was also recently interviewed by Campus Morning Mail regarding pre-prints, the role of the ARC, NIT statements, research translation and more.   

Listen to his interview (Expert Opinion: Episode 11) here.

Read The Guardian's coverage of the issue, which also quotes Prof Rogge, here.