UWA awarded $8 million to lead two new Industrial Training Centres

Two new centres led and co-led by The University of Western Australia have been awarded more than $8 million in funding from the Australian Research Council (ARC) Industrial Transformation Training Centres scheme.

The scheme fosters close partnerships between university-based researchers and other research end-users to provide innovative higher degree by research and postdoctoral training, for research industries that are vital to Australia's future.

The ARC Training Centre for Next-Gen Technologies in Biomedical Analysis, led by UWA, will deliver a workforce trained in the development of transformative technologies that will rapidly expand the Australian pharmaceutical, diagnostic and defence sector.

The centre has been awarded more than $3.9 million over four years and will be led by Associate Professor Killugudi Swaminatha-Iyer, from UWA’s School of Molecular Sciences.

The centre will increase Australia’s manufacturing capability by fast tracking screening, and integrating 3D printing, advanced sensing, big data analytics, machine learning and artificial intelligence for the delivery of optimal solutions in diagnosis, treatment and wellbeing.

Associate Professor Swaminatha-Iyer will lead the centre, supported by Chief Investigators Professor Donna Geddes, Professor Charles Bond, Associate Professor Brendan Kennedy, Dr Nicole Smith, Dr Haibo Jiang, Associate Professor Keith Stubbs and Dr Nicolas Taylor. UWA’s Professor Fiona Wood and Adjunct Associate Professor Alka Saxena are Partner Investigators.

The ARC Training Centre for Behavioural Insights for Technology Adoption, led by the Queensland University of Technology in collaboration with UWA and The University of Queensland, will boost national productivity by identifying, designing and evaluating ways to encourage Australians to adopt innovative technologies. It will work across multiple sectors, including health, agriculture and cybersecurity.

The centre has been awarded more than $4.2 million in funding from the ARC, and is co-led by Associate Professor Marit Kragt from UWA’s School of Agriculture and Environment. Other UWA Chief Investigators are Dr Andrew Guzzomi, Associate Professor Ben White, Associate Professor Fay Rola-Rubzen, Dr Fiona Dempster and Professor Steven Schilizzi.