Notwithstanding various changes that improve the National Competitive Grants Program (NCGP), the Regional Universities Network (RUN) believes that the longer-term net effect of the new model will likely result in diminished NCGP grant success amongst regional universities, leading to:
Fewer opportunities to grow the research capabilities, research infrastructure, and research services relied upon by regional Australians.
Reduced opportunities for regional Australians to train and enter Australia’s research-trained workforces – particularly those Australians from underrepresented backgrounds, who are considerably more likely to already be enrolled at a regional university.
A continued and accelerated concentration of national research opportunity, capacity, infrastructure, and workforces towards a small handful of metropolitan universities.
RUN views the new NCGP model as a missed opportunity to arrest the continued gravitation of research opportunities towards metropolitan Australians, at the expense of regional Australians. As such, the new NCGP should be viewed as largely incompatible with the objectives of the Australian Universities Accord. RUN universities are disappointed that the new NCGP model contains no dedicated scheme, nor collaborative requirements or incentives, that seeks to support the research infrastructure, research capabilities, or research-trained workforces of Australia’s regions and the university services they rely upon.
