The Distribution of the Special Research Grant in Australian Universities

Abstract

Researchers in universities in the western ‘world are under increasing pressure from their governments to undertake more applied and socially useful research which is seen to be relevant to national needs. Australia is no exception. In the last few years several government initiated reviews of the management of research and the distribution of research funds in Australian universities have recommended concentration and selectivity in research funding in order to achieve the Government's aims. In 1988 restructuring of the tertiary education system, foreshadowed a year earlier, was begun. Research is one of the many areas which will be affected ‐‐ its funding, its administration and possibly also its direction. This paper outlines the ways in which research in Australian universities was supported before the changes were announced and describes how the universities allocated the government's earmarked Special Research Grant.