68 new projects funded through National Industry Phd Program

The Australian Government is investing $12 million in 68 new research projects announced today in the fourth round of the National Industry PhD Program.

Projects under the fourth round include the development of new therapies for people battling an addiction to methamphetamines and optimising the way electric vehicles integrate with household energy systems to reduce costs and the strain on our energy grid.

The National Industry PhD Program is part of a $296 million government initiative to bring together trained researchers to solve industry problems across agriculture, food production, medical research, environmental sustainability, manufacturing and AI.

The program’s first three rounds funded 120 successful projects and invested more than $20 million into their development.

Assistant Minister for Education Anthony Chisholm said the program drives collaboration to make the most of Australia’s important and valuable research.  

“More than 140 submissions under this round, including those that were successful, were deemed to be of an outstanding quality, demonstrating the high calibre partnerships Australian universities and industry can create through this Program,” Assistant Minister Chisholm said.

“In addition, a record number of applications were received for this round which signals the strong growth of the Program and appetite for universities to partner with industry on research and development projects.

“It’s also incredibly encouraging to see that 45 per cent of applications in this round were from regional universities and around 33 per cent of all successful industry partners are based in regional Australia.”

Distinguished Professor Calum Drummond AO, Deputy Vice-Chancellor Research and Innovation at RMIT said the National Industry PhD Program was supporting students, universities and Australian businesses to create a better future for all Australians.

“The National Industry PhD Program is supporting us to create new relationships, and grow existing ones with industry, to collaborate on exciting research with tangible outcomes for Australia,” Distinguished Professor Calum Drummond AO said.

“The RMIT project will help revolutionise the way electric vehicles interact with residential energy systems to create a more efficient, cost-effective, and sustainable energy ecosystem.

“The potential outcomes of this research will come at a time that the Australian Government is forging ahead with new standards to allow vehicle-to-grid charging in Australia.”

Details of the successful Round 4 of projects are available here. Applications for the fifth round of the National Industry PhD Program will open in 2025.