Forest & Wood Products Australia (FWPA) has welcomed the Australian Government’s recent announcement of $5M in funding for a new Australian Research Council (ARC) Training Centre in Plant Biosecurity. Source: Timberbiz
The funding is part of $64M in funding being awarded to eight ARC Industrial Transformation Training Centres and five new ARC Industrial Transformation Research Hubs.
This is a key initiative to mentor and train Australia’s next generation of research professionals, and to support partnerships between universities and industry that will generate real-world outcomes that are vital to Australia’s economic growth.
The ARC Training Centre in Plant Biosecurity will launch an innovative training program for future leaders, with a cohort of graduates innovating in the areas of novel diagnostic technologies, data-driven decision platforms, and addressing barriers to biosecurity adoption.
This suite of graduates and technologies will transform the plant biosecurity sector to protect Australia’s $5.7 trillion natural and productive ecosystems.
“This research is of key importance especially for our grower members, as biosecurity is a critical part of Australia’s efforts to prevent, respond to, and recover from pests and diseases that impact and threaten the forestry industry,” said FWPA Forest Research Manager Jodie Mason.
“Our grower members identified forest health and biosecurity expertise as an area of critical importance for capacity building. True to their vision, the growers collectively contributed $250,000 to the Centre to fund two PhD students to work on industry biosecurity challenges with industry. It’s really pleasing to now see this initiative supported through the ARC funding.”
The ARC Training Centre will help meet the emerging needs of plant biosecurity by partnering with Research and Development Corporations (RDCs), including FWPA, industry representatives, Commonwealth, State and Territory Governments, and research and technology organisations to train a new generation of biosecurity leaders and innovators.
“This great initiative helps to prepare our industry for the biosecurity challenges of the future and shows a proactive and collaborative approach to improving industry capacity and productivity,” said Dr Phil Lacy, Chair of Forest Health and Biosecurity (FHaB).
The Australian Forest Products Association’s (AFPA) FHaB sub-committee provides policy, technical and operational advice to the plantation forest sector on all matters related to biosecurity or forest health.
The ARC Training Centre will commence in 2024 and is led by The Australian National University in collaboration with James Cook University, the University of Canberra and with over 20 partners from across industry and government.
“ARC Training Centres provide PhD and early career researcher training for industries vital to Australia’s future. Plant biosecurity is critical to Australia’s primary production and natural ecosystems, and ANU is delighted to be collaborating with partners across government, academia and industry towards a shared vision,” Professor Keith Nugent, ANU Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research and Innovation) said.
