News & Discussion: South Australian Economy

[stelaras]

Stelaras, scientific research isn't limited to just medical research.

Anyway, I bet that quite a chunk of the research dollars are defence related.

read my initial post carefully!

Whilst you would claim that the NHMRC (National Health and Medical Research Council) is purely a funding organisation for medical research it is not and never has been. It is the primary funding body for the Commonwealth of Australia and encompasses all research areas including, social services, traditional medicine, agriculture (flora and fauna), biotechnology (including some environmental agencies) and defence.

The research dollars posted are not just for medical/scientific research. However, medical and scientific research accounts for approx. $200 million (2007 figures) of the $500 million allocation.

The NHMRC acts as an administrator of these funds which are received on a competative basis.

There are obviously other forms of research such as weapons systems, ballistic systems but the government "claims" it does not fund these areas. Also, research conducted into major climate related issues (climate change, and environmental biology and toxicology) are dealt with from other departments. The pool of money here is approximately $250 million p.a.

[stelaras]

id be interested in knowing funding per capita

We have been asking for these figures for a while now, but they have not been provided. The numbers presented to us just get borken down to a dollar for dollar comparisson.

All i can say is that the Gov prefers to put money into states that have large internationally recognised and internationally competative research institutions. VIC has 6-7 of these, NSW has 3-5, QLD has 2, SA and WA have 1, the other states/territories have 1 each but are rather small in terms of opportunity.

CC it is never enough money though and we lobby to increase the funding pool every year. Independent studies show that for every 1 dollar invested in research the return is approx. 9 dollars. Those are pretty good odds in anyone's books. The caveat is that it isn't immediate and because of this fact the governement does not want to increase funding to the levels comparable (per capita) to the US and UK and thus much of the good work done in Australia is lost O/S and hence so is the profit!

[Will]

It is also importan to note that the NHMRC is not the only source of funding. Private companies, benefactors, as well as other countries finance research. I actually discovered that one of the labs in the complex where I'm at, is being funded by the US Department of Health.

[stelaras]

It is also importan to note that the NHMRC is not the only source of funding. Private companies, benefactors, as well as other countries finance research. I actually discovered that one of the labs in the complex where I'm at, is being funded by the US Department of Health.

Will you are correct. From your words i take it that you are relatively new to this game and are full of enthusiasm, which i hope will continue to thrive with whatever you want to do. However, as you mature and get more involved in this industry, you will notice the politics, unfairness and empty promises. This should not discourage you from wanting to do better though

Will, in Australia the NHMRC and associated bodies like the JDRF (juvenile diabetes research foundation), CCA (cancer council of australia), HF (heart foundation), OPA (osteporosis australia and RA (research australia) are organisations in which Australians are the only benefactors of the money

One of the grants i hold are from the US department of defence and a few of my buddies in Adelaide have NIH (national institute of health, USA) grant funding.

However, that needs to be put in context. They are internationally competitive awards, from which anyone in the world can apply for! They are highly competitive and you need to be pretty respected in the field or have the next best thing since sliced bread to get these awards. The money pool is quite small and every year that pool of money gets smaller as the economic situation in the US gets worse.

From major institutions around australia and if they are doing their job correctly, income from benefactors and philanthropic organisations can make up a total of about 30% of total income coming into an institution. However, that money usually goes to paying off building debts and infrastructure costs and purchasing common equipment. It is never used to purchase reagents or pay salaries or market a product.

It all helps though, but it is never enough and young non established researchers struggle with the "boys club" mentality of these organisations and the rules that govern them. Remember It is only a 22-27% of research proposals that get funded every year. That is the US, UK and AUS averages.

The Australian government needs to do much much more for the R&D sector.

[Will]

It is also importan to note that the NHMRC is not the only source of funding. Private companies, benefactors, as well as other countries finance research. I actually discovered that one of the labs in the complex where I'm at, is being funded by the US Department of Health.

Will you are correct. From your words i take it that you are relatively new to this game and are full of enthusiasm, which i hope will continue to thrive with whatever you want to do. However, as you mature and get more involved in this industry, you will notice the politics, unfairness and empty promises. This should not discourage you from wanting to do better though

.

Yeah, that's true. I only started a few weeks ago, and still have a few weeks to complete my first degree.

[skyliner]

EXTRA! EXTRA! EXTRA!

READ ALL ABOUT IT

Fantastic article on SA in Financial Review 11/2/08 - All P60 and part of P61 GET A COPY or ask newsagents to pull out a spare from 11/2 if you get there on 12/2. Too much to put on the thread with my limited computer skills.

6.Title - 'Plenty To Crow About In SA'

After a derogatory introductory set of comments by the Vic. premier referring to Adelaide as a 'backwater', the article outlines SA economy relative to the 1990'a and the other states as well.

4 very useful graphs - unemployment rates, 5 year employment growth, gross state product, resources.

Some excerpts-
1. Australia's economic future is now firmly based in states like WA, QLD and SA'

2. BHP Billiton is planning to enploy about 4000 people in the $6.7m expansion of Olymplc Dam....now empolys 1750 there'.

3. 'We have a mining boom of unparalleled proportions' (SA)

'4.In the year to the September quarter, mineral exploration expenditure in SA was $297m, up by 73%and second of all the states'.

'5..About 70% of all defence companies are in SA'.

'6. Adelaide attracted 23000 overseas students last year".

'7. SA population...recorded growth of 1.0% to the end of June, to 1.6m".

8. 'major projects worth $443b either under way or in the pipeline'.

9. BHP Billiton alone is planniing to expand it's workforce in SA from 6200 to 15000 over the next few years'.

And on and on...and on...

If anyone wants me to print out any of the paragraphs linked to the above 9 points, just print the number in your post and I will get to it.

The article is a great everview of SA and boots this backwater idea to the trash can, where it belongs.Big change from the SA of the 90's. It's re-invented itself into a potential star amonst the states

[AG]

Can someone please scan the article? Thanks.

[AtD]

I'll grab it from work for yas.

[skyliner]

Sorry to cause you so much trouble guys. I'll haveto up grade both skills and computer to make some decent contributions to the site.

[crawf]

Yeah that will be great AtD thanks, then post it on SSC to silent those individuals.

[Tyler_Durden]

And..... home of the Mighty Adelaide Crows.

Plenty to Crow about indeed.

[Will]

Good to see that our population has reached 1.6 million!

It shows that the state is turining around because we took only 7 years to go from 1.5 million to 1.6 million.

I remeber back in 1999, and based upon the census data of 1996, it was predicted that by 2049, the sate population would decline to 1.2 million. It is amazing that in less than 10 years, we have had a turnaround of 1 million people, because from memory it is suggested that based on current trends the state population will exceed the 2 million target in 2050, and may even be 2.2 million by 2050.

[Wayno]

Good to see that our population has reached 1.6 million!

It shows that the state is turining around because we took only 7 years to go from 1.5 million to 1.6 million.

I remeber back in 1999, and based upon the census data of 1996, it was predicted that by 2049, the sate population would decline to 1.2 million. It is amazing that in less than 10 years, we have had a turnaround of 1 million people, because from memory it is suggested that based on current trends the state population will exceed the 2 million target in 2050, and may even be 2.2 million by 2050.

Just curious, how many baby-boomers are there in sth australia? their demise around 2050 will probably put downwards pressure on the population.

[Will]

Good to see that our population has reached 1.6 million!

It shows that the state is turining around because we took only 7 years to go from 1.5 million to 1.6 million.

I remeber back in 1999, and based upon the census data of 1996, it was predicted that by 2049, the sate population would decline to 1.2 million. It is amazing that in less than 10 years, we have had a turnaround of 1 million people, because from memory it is suggested that based on current trends the state population will exceed the 2 million target in 2050, and may even be 2.2 million by 2050.

Just curious, how many baby-boomers are there in sth australia? their demise around 2050 will probably put downwards pressure on the population.

I dont know exactly. But I recall that they account for something around 35% of the population.

[omada]

Here's the scan, sorry about the filesize, but wanted to make sure we could all read the text....sorry to all the dialupers

Maybe right click and download to your local machine, and view it from there, probably easier..

plentytocrow.jpg (524.48 KiB) Viewed 14460 times