Australia’s universities are bracing for a significant funding crisis as reported by Vicki Thomson, the CEO of the Group of Eight Universities. She announced that these funding cuts have made Australian research projects ineligible, costing them about $300 to $400 million. This loss is especially felt on efforts to advance diversity, equity and inclusion in STEM fields and climate science. This alarming trend not only threatens the nation’s academic institutions but raises concerns over Australia’s sovereign research capability, which Thomson emphasizes is crucial for both economic and national security.
Those funding losses are hitting when the global landscape of research is changing. Thomson emphasized that even though challenges are everywhere, there are opportunities for growth as well. She stressed the need for greater federal and private-sector investment. As an encouraging counterpoint, she pointed to a booming interest in international markets outside the U.S.
Thomson’s remarks follow a series of cuts to U.S. research funding. The subsequent Trump administration hacked like a lumberjack through higher education with billions in cuts, especially at the most prestigious Ivy League institutions like Harvard and Columbia. This reduction is on the heels of a national trend of shrinking research dollars. Those in the field anticipate that this trend will lead to an even greater decline.
“With the US stepping back from its leadership role, Australia has a chance to step up in coming months and years. Many leading US researchers may be looking to move their labs, their families and their lives abroad. If we act decisively, Australia can be as or more attractive a destination for those researchers as Europe.” – Vicki Thomson
Earlier this year, Professor Richard Holden warned that U.S. research funding uncertainty has gone beyond “nuclear” levels. He thinks that it would further accelerate the current downward trend in Australia’s research capacity. He noted that Australia’s research and development (R&D) spending relative to GDP was approximately one-third higher during Kevin Rudd’s tenure as Prime Minister than it is today. Fifteen years of stagnating business and government spending on R&D in Australia. At the same time, university funding has increased, due in large part to the fees paid by foreign students.
As Thomson noted, US domestic cuts pose a major second existential threat to the Australian research funding landscape. She pointed out that U.S. agencies such as the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health are already funding research done all over the world. This meant establishing partnerships with Australian institutions. All of these agencies are experiencing deep cuts, some as much as 50%. And this will have an enormous ripple effect on Australia’s research and development achievements.
“Where we are very concerned is your big funding agencies out of the US like the National Science Foundation, the National Institute of Health, they fund research all over the world and in partnership with the US obviously. And their budgets have been cut by up to 50 per cent. So if their budgets are cut, that has to have a knock-on effect for our research here in Australia.” – Vicki Thomson
At the same time, China has poured fuel on the fire by massively ramping up its research investments. This imbalance is compounded by the recent tightening between China, Australia, and the U.S. Professor Brian Schmidt underscored this issue, stating that Australia’s ability to attract leading researchers hinges on its responsiveness to these emerging challenges. By embracing the opportunity, Schmidt is confident that Australia can stake its claim as the world’s most attractive destination for global talent.
“We have a choice. We can embrace this technological moment or miss it. We can meet this moment, or miss it; we can secure our research sovereignty or surrender it. I hope we’ll do the former.” – Professor Brian Schmidt
Schmidt stressed the role of Horizon Europe in meeting these challenges. With a budget of 95 billion euros over 7 years, it still offers an extremely important opportunity for Australian researchers. He is currently convinced that Australia has an unprecedented opportunity to win a much bigger share of this funding. That will do immeasurable harm to the country’s research competitiveness.
“What we are doing now is really working with our government on where we can look for other big pots of funding to support our research effort. One of those is Europe and that’s through Horizon Europe.” – Professor Brian Schmidt
The importance of addressing these funding gaps immediately should be clear. Professor Holden cautions that if we delay in improving our research capacity, we will pay a heavy price in the next set of contingencies. The changing character of conflict demonstrated by the Russia-Ukraine war further exacerbates this need.
“In 2025, we are seeing how quickly the nature of conflict is evolving within the Russia-Ukraine war, and we can expect new technologies based around small scale automated machines, hypersonic missiles, computer warfare to feature prominently if we are ever to have future conflicts between advanced economies.” – Professor Schmidt
So as the landscape is rapidly changing, university leaders must remain vigilant. They understand just how harmful cuts to funding can be on the negative effects on research output. Thomson summed up this feeling neatly when she said she was anxious about Australia’s capacity to stay ahead of what is happening in the world.
“It simply can’t continue because we will just fall behind.” – Vicki Thomson
