The Australian government is to invest AU$249 million in establishing a research initiative aimed at strengthening Australia’s manufacturing sector.
The Industrial Transformation Research Programme, announced on 9 December, will see manufacturers and researchers collaborating on problems in key sectors such as the metals, food, energy, textiles, building and automotive industries.
The programme includes: research training centres providing industrial doctoral and postdoctoral training for up to 600 PhD students each year; research hubs bringing together researchers and industry representatives to design and engineer solutions to major industrial problems; and more than 1,000 engineering cadetships over the next four years providing students with work experience to facilitate their careers in manufacturing and other Australian industries.