Australia’s universities and national science agency have been thrown a lifeline in yesterday’s budget, the country’s first since the pandemic began. As part of a major spending spree designed to kick-start the economy, universities are set to receive Aus$1 billion (US$710 million) in new funding to support research next year, and the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) will receive an extra Aus$459 million over four years.Researchers say the funding is a welcome boost, particularly for universities, which say they are in a dire financial situation because of the coronavirus pandemic. But academics maintain that the government needs to do more to sustain future research.The Aus$1 billion “will help universities deal with the immediate crisis we face and hopefully retain people who are potentially on the way out the door in the short term”, says Duncan Ivison, deputy vice-chancellor for research at the University of Sydney. But it doesn’t...
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