CRCs and Australian biotechnology-oriented research

The Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) program was established in 1990 to br ing together the research efforts of Australia's universities, the Commonwe alth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), industry, and other research providers. It was hoped that long-term strategic research r elationships would be more effective than the existing arrangements, and th at a cooperative research effort would involve research users and also prov ide a broader education and training experience. To date, 68 centres have b een established from five highly competitive selection rounds. A sixth sele ction round is presently under way to select a new round of centres to comm ence in 1999. There are 35 centres which have been involved in biotechnolog y at one level or another. These centres are in the manufacturing, agricult ural, environmental, and medical sectors. The activities in biotechnology c over such areas as genetic engineering, molecular genetics, cell culture an d fermentation, pest management technologies, plant genetics, germplasm eva luation, reproduction technology, vaccine development, waste treatment, env ironmental biology, therapeutics, and the development of diagnostics. The C RC program has brought about a cultural change in Australian research and r esearch management. Significant achievements are now being identified as ou tcomes from the program. Some of these achievements can be seen as commerci al outcomes, but noncommercial outcomes such as improved postgraduate and e xtension education services, technology transfer, and improved research man agement have also been important. Drug Dev. Res. 46:171-175, 1999. Publishe d 1999 Wiley-Liss, Inc.