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Staying in the game
UA ’ s CEO on some of the key issues facing the sector in a time of uncertainty .
Catriona Jackson interviewed by Martin Betts
CEO of Universities Australia Catriona Jackson joined the HEDx podcast in the aftermath of the ministerial non-approval of six ARC
Discovery grants , the tightrope-walking around foreign interference and research partnerships , and as campuses reopened with staff and students , particularly women , having some reluctance regarding what they were returning to .
Immediately following a HEDx Live event on gender equity and culture , and with a federal election on the horizon , this episode raises the importance of robust , straight-talking for the future of the sector .
MB : What do you make of what has happened at the ARC and what are UA ’ s priorities in advocating for research funding policy in 2022 ? CJ : The rejection of grants just before Christmas is clearly the Christmas present you don ’ t want . We need to remember very clearly that every single one of those grant applications has been the result of an enormous amount of work by people who ’ ve spent their lives trying to better understand whatever topic it might be .
Certainly we have some very profound concerns about that intervention when those grants have been very meticulously peer reviewed and recommended all the way up through the process . That ’ s a sober and continuing and forthright conversation with the acting minister and with the government as we grapple with those issues around the ARC .
It ’ s the biggest non-medical granting body we have in this country , and there are a couple of things that are fundamental . It needs to have really robust governance , really robust peer review , internationally high standard peer review and merit-based decision making processes . The third thing is transparency in all that it does .
We all know that transparency is absolutely the best medicine . Seeing what is going on is fundamental , but also we
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