Innovation, Industry, Science and Research Minister Kim Carr said the appointment of the ARC advisory council was the first stage of Federal Labor’s election promise to restore independence to the Australian Research Council.
Prof Sharma is deputy Vice-Chancellor for research and commercialisation at the Queensland University of Technology and has played a leadership role in ICT research and development in Australia.
Prof Sharma was involved in the founding of National ICT Australia (NICTA) and was the inaugural director at the NICTA Sydney research laboratory. Prior to that, he had been head of the prestigious School of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of NSW>
He was also involved in the founding of the Cooperative Research Centre for Smart Internet Technology and has been on the ICT Sector Advisory Committee of the CSIRO.
Senator said the appointment of the advisory committee would improve the independence of research in Australia. The committee is so far comprised of six appointees from a variety of disciplines from ICT, pharmaceuticals, physics and the humanities.
“Research is not a political plaything to be toyed with at the whim of the Government,” Senator Carr said.
“Research is a matter of vital national importance, the outcomes of which have a significant impact on Australia’s ongoing prosperity and standing in the world,” he said.
“It is our responsibility to seek and respect the views of those individuals most able to provide valuable insight into the issues faced by researchers and shape an environment that will deliver the best possible results for all Australians.”
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