Tackling regional challenges through international scientific collaboration

International collaboration drives Australia’s scientific output, providing researchers with greater access to the world’s knowledge, expertise, technology, infrastructure and capital.

The Regional Collaborations Programme (RCP), launched in 2016 as part of the Australian Government’s Global Innovation Strategy, supports Australian researchers and businesses to build strong linkages in the Asia-Pacific region by funding multi-partner science, research and innovation activities that deliver innovative solutions to shared regional challenges.

Working closely with the Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources, the Australian Academy of Science draws on its network of Fellows, its national profile and its international reputation to deliver several Australian Government-funded science programs and initiatives to support international collaboration.

The Academy has delivered two rounds of the RCP, funding 14 projects and five workshops. To date, two projects and workshops have been completed, and Australian researchers have engaged with partners from 32 economies.

The RCP was designed to be flexible, and in response to COVID-19, the Department worked with the Academy to develop a suite of projects to address the global challenge of the pandemic:

• 26 RCP-COVID-19 Digital Grants were awarded to early and mid-career researchers to support digital methods of collaboration to address challenges related to the pandemic.
• A series of webinars on regional science and innovation responses to COVID-19 has brought together experts from across the region.
• A project examining the impacts of COVID-19 on women in the STEM workforce in the Asia-Pacific region, is building on the Rapid Research Information Forum’s report which found that women in STEM in Australia are disproportionately impacted by COVID-19.

This story was provided by the Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources, a supporting partner of Science at the Shine Dome