Prime Minister Announces $4.7 Billion for Infrastructure to Boost the Economy -- Higher Education Gets Its Cut. (December 12, 2008)

In announcing his infrastructure support package the prime minister, Kevin Rudd has allocated $1.6 billion for education and research projects at universities and TAFE.

$500 million of the funding will be to promote teaching and learning in Australian universities through a new Teaching and Learning Capital Fund for Higher Education, the Minister for Education, Julia Gillard said.

The new fund will provide a one-off investment targeting capital expenditure towards the development of teaching and learning spaces in Australia’s universities "that are physically and technologically appropriate for 21st century approaches to tertiary education".

The fund is to target the development of new infrastructure as well as the upgrading of existing facilities.

Funding will be distributed among universities through grants taking into account each university's share of total domestic students. Institutions with large numbers of students will be the major beneficiaries.

The Australian National University will receive an additional $10 million in recognition of its unique mix of teaching and research.

It will be left to the universities to determine the projects to be undertaken "consistent with their individual missions and campus needs".

In addition to the $500 million allocated for university "teaching and learning" $580 million will be fast-tracked into Australian universities through the Education Investment Fund.

Between them, the Minister for Education, Julia Gillard, and the Minister for Science, and Research, Kim Carr, have approved 11 successful projects which focus on capital expenditure and strengthening research facilities in Australian universities.

The 11 projects approved are:

The Centre for Obesity, Diabetes and Cardiovascular Disease at the University of Sydney – $95 million
    This project will result in the University of Sydney building the Centre for Obesity, Diabetes and Cardiovascular Disease – which is stage one of a major health and life sciences precinct at the university.

The Peter Doherty Institute for Immunity and Infection at the University of Melbourne – $90 million
    The Peter Doherty Institute will co-locate the University’s world-renowned Department of Microbiology and Immunology and a new Life Sciences Computation Centre, with a number of Victorian Government and World Health Organisation laboratories. The facilities will include a peak computing and bioinformatics capability; a high-throughput DNA sequencing facility; containment laboratories; and teaching & networking spaces.

The Institute for Photonics and Advanced Sensing at the University of Adelaide – $28.8 million
    The University will create an internationally leading transdisciplinary Institute which will allow it to develop new fibre-based platform technologies to underpin paradigm-changing tools for human health, the environment, industrial processes and defence systems. It will also facilitate breakthroughs in physics, chemistry, biology and environmental science.

The Hearing Hub at Macquarie University – $40 million
    Macquarie University will build a world-class hearing research and teaching facility, bringing together key University research groups in hearing and cognitive sciences, neurosurgery, special education, and electronic engineering with major organisations involved in developing hearing technologies and services.

The RMIT Design Hub at RMIT University – $28.6 million
    The RMIT Design Hub is 12,000 m2 building providing highly flexible design ‘warehouse’ spaces and collaborative technical workshops supporting cross disciplinary research and postgraduate education in design. Its scale, composition and range of facilities including workshops and a design archive make the Design Hub unique in Australia and the world.

The Energy Technologies Building at the University of New South Wales – $75 million
    The UNSW will build the Energy Technologies Building as the focal point for its new Centre for Energy Research and Policy Analysis (CERPA). The proposed building will support UNSW’s world-leading work in photovoltaics as well as research into carbon capture and storage, reservoir characterisation, nanomaterials and policy and market analysis.

New Horizons Centre at Monash University – $89.9 million
    Through physical and virtual collaboration, the New Horizons Centre brings together dispersed science and engineering expertise in a new, world-class research facility, at the heart of the Clayton Innovation Precinct.

The International Microsimulation Centre at the University of Canberra – $11 million
    The University of Canberra will construct a purpose built teaching, learning and research training Centre for the National Centre for Social and Economic Modelling (NATSEM) on the main campus at Bruce. The building will include a public gallery and auditorium as well as teaching and research spaces for NATSEM students, staff and international visitors.

The Materials and Minerals Science Learning and Research Hub at the University of South Australia – $40 million
    The university will construct a 5000 m2 dedicated building housing innovative, multidisciplinary laboratories and learning spaces designed to grow the next generation of engineering, material and mineral science graduates and provide the interface required to ensure effective knowledge transfer to regional, national and international industry.

The University of Queensland School of Veterinary Science at Gatton Campus – $47.2 million
    University of Queensland will build three state-of-the-art new buildings - the Veterinary Science building, the UQ Veterinary Hospital and the Veterinary Teaching and Research Facility - as well as completely renovating an existing building to house modern pre-clinical teaching laboratories.

The SMART Infrastructure Facility at the University of Wollongong – $35 million
    The University of Wollongong will create the SMART Infrastructure Facility, a world-first comprehensive research and training infrastructure facility of integrated laboratories that will transform the way that infrastructure-related disciplines are taught and researched. Facilities will include lecture theatres, specialised research and teaching laboratories and collaborative research spaces.