WA scientists hope the upcoming federal budget will
provide more dollars for scientific research.
Image courtesy of iStockphoto

With both state and federal budgets due soon, Western Australian scientists working in diverse fields were asked for their budget wish list.

Professor of Physics at the University of Western Australia, David Blair, is calling for the federal government to wake up to the loss of scientific talent across Australia due to a decade of penny-pinching.

He said the previous federal government's cuts to science funding had demoralised researchers and driven many offshore in search of countries that take scientific research more seriously.

Despite the change of government since the last budget, Professor Blair said there was little sign of change coming from Canberra.

"My hopes are not particularly high because the government has said so little about science," he said.

"Science was completely left out of the election process - it seemed to be sidelined."

Professor Blair is Western Australia's Scientist of the Year after winning the prestigious award last year for his internationally renowned research into detecting gravitational waves.

In this budget, he is calling on the federal government to improve funding for big research projects, many of which have national links and serve to benefit the whole country, as well as for more funds across the university research sector generally.

"For the last ten years there has been an incredibly depressing situation in relation to funds for major national projects," he said.

"Competitive research funding is abysmally low - the government gives 50 per cent of what you ask for and only 20 per cent (of research grant applicants) get anything at all."

He would also like to see the proportion of university research projects that are funded increased to at least 35 per cent of applicants, up from the current 20 per cent. And he is calling for grants that fully fund research, instead of giving a "paltry" 50 per cent of the amount needed to conduct studies.

"When a scientist prepares the most modest budget they can, they shouldn't have that cut in half by the government,'' he said.

In contrast, he said the State Government had announced a number of science initiatives recently.

"The federal government shouldn't be feeling it can get away without funding science, leaving the state government to take up the slack," he said.

Western Australia Institute of Medical Research director Peter Klinken agreed that a boost in research funds was crucial. He told ScienceNetwork WA that he hoped the federal budget would contain an overall increase in National Health and Medical Research Council funding to help keep Australia's best researchers in the country.

He was also keen to see further support of young scientists through the creation of more NHMRC Fellowships.

Professor Blair agreed that the federal government's pledge to set up Future Fellowships was promising, as the move would give more security for mid-career scientists who currently try to live year to year on scant research funds.

And it's not just researchers who are missing out on budget dollars - it's the sustainable energy industry too, according to WA Sustainable Energy Association CEO Dr Ray Wills.

Last year, Dr Wills described the Western Australian 2007 budget allocation to climate change action as "embarrassingly skimpy", offering $20 million per year over five years, which he called "tinkering around the edges".

This year, he is calling for a State budget that delivers investment in energy efficient buildings, appliances and vehicles.

He said WA had a wealth of untapped renewable energy solutions including PV, solar thermal, wind, wave, tidal, geothermal, biogas from wastes, biomass and biofuels.

"With the right funding, WA has a great opportunity to position itself at the cutting edge of renewable energy and greenhouse gas management research and practice," he said.

If the Government charged the public the true cost of energy generation, it could fund the development of renewable energy into the future, he said.

"To get to cost-reflective pricing, we need to raise gazetted tariffs by 15 per cent per year for four years," he said.

Peter Clarke, CEO of Scanalyse, the company that won last year's Inventor of the Year award, said he hoped the budget would recognise the importance of innovators through both grants and tax concessions.

"Many small and large companies in Australia are very innovative and benefit from current programs such as Commercial Ready grants and the R&D Tax Concession program," he said.

"These programs are effective and should be at least maintained if not increased."

Mr Clarke said the State Government-funded Inventor of the Year Award was worth keeping as it raised the profile of science.

"I think the government has a very important role to play in encouraging, recognizing and supporting innovation in Australia. Award programs such as the Inventor of the Year Award raise the profile of science, technology and innovation and as such play an educational role."