Federal grant system ‘biased against social sciences’ inquiry told

Australia’s leading social scientists are demanding major changes to federal research funding, claiming the system heavily favours science, technology and engineering grants.

The Academy of Social Science in Australia says 80 per cent of federal research funding presently goes to STEM projects. This is despite Australia’s high global research rankings in areas such as archaeology, anthropology, law and political science.

“All in all, the social sciences lead Australian comparative advantage in research, representing over half of the top ten global disciplinary rankings achieved by Australian universities,” the ASSA says in its submission to a federal inquiry into research funding.