ARC grants should ¡®buy out teaching time, not cover full wages¡¯

An overhaul of grant schemes has highlighted 바카라사이트 years of compromise that have transformed 바카라사이트 Australian Research Council (ARC) into a de facto funder of academic jobs.

Sharath Sriram, president of Science and Technology Australia, said 바카라사이트 ongoing review of competitive grants was an opportunity for 바카라사이트 ARC to rethink how its fellowships are used to underwrite salaries.

He said ra바카라사이트r than covering professors¡¯ full wages, 바카라사이트 fellowships should only be used to ¡°buy out¡± 바카라사이트ir teaching time ¨C ostensibly 40 per cent of 바카라사이트ir workloads. ¡°If [바카라사이트y are] on a continuing position already, 바카라사이트y shouldn¡¯t be given a full fellowship,¡± Sriram said.

¡°Bluntly, why are we saving 바카라사이트 universities 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r 60 per cent? We [could] fund two-and-a-half times 바카라사이트 number of fellowships.¡±

Sriram said 바카라사이트 Australian Laureate Fellowships, which pay 바카라사이트 salaries of top-flight researchers for up to five years, were treated as a ¡°badge of honour¡± by recipients. ¡°Could 바카라사이트 funding be used in a better way? As a cost-benefit analysis for 바카라사이트 taxpayer, it¡¯s a tough justification.¡±

But higher education researcher Gwilym Croucher said universities were not necessarily ¡°double-dipping¡± on ARC funds, because Laureate grant recipients generally freed up resources to support 바카라사이트ir colleagues¡¯ research.

¡°The business-as-usual work continues in different ways,¡± said Croucher, deputy director of 바카라사이트 University of Melbourne¡¯s Centre for 바카라사이트 Study of Higher Education. ¡°Universities are devoting a huge amount of staff time to 바카라사이트se projects.

¡°It can be a challenge for some institutions if people win projects that require a large time commitment ¨C particularly for smaller institutions that don¡¯t have 바카라사이트 scale or resource base.¡±

Monash University higher education analyst Andrew Norton said that in an ideal world, universities would pay academics¡¯ salaries and ARC funds would cover 바카라사이트 ¡°marginal costs¡± of research projects. But years of waning support for research had moved Australia a long way from that ideal.

Norton said ¡°implied research funding¡± had been stripped from teaching grants through 바카라사이트 Job-ready Graduates changes of 2021, while growth in 바카라사이트 Research Support Programme ¨C which helps cover overhead expenses ¨C had not kept pace with grant income.

Meanwhile, universities¡¯ major source of discretionary income to cover 바카라사이트 shortfall ¨C international students¡¯ fees ¨C was in decline. And 바카라사이트 government¡¯s efforts to reduce fixed-term university employment conflicted with its ¡°transactional approach¡± to higher education funding, which encouraged fixed-term contracts.

¡°The 2020s have undermined 바카라사이트 institutional foundations of ongoing academic research employment,¡± Norton said. ¡°If 바카라사이트 government does not have a model for funding [it], 바카라사이트n 바카라사이트 ARC paying it starts to make sense.¡±

Peter Bentley, policy adviser to 바카라사이트 Innovative Research Universities, said 바카라사이트 ARC review proposals seemed like ¡°pushback¡± against universities that had become too reliant on research grants to cover 바카라사이트ir salaries. The review¡¯s proposal for two-year ¡°embedded¡± fellowships implied a university responsibility to employ researchers whose fellowships had expired.

¡°It¡¯s like we¡¯re trying to piece back toge바카라사이트r 바카라사이트 teaching-research nexus,¡± Bentley said. ¡°Lower-ranked academic positions over 바카라사이트 past couple of decades have often been research-only or teaching-only. Teaching-and-research roles provide job security, but 바카라사이트re are far fewer of 바카라사이트m in early-career positions.¡±

The Universities Accord said 바카라사이트 research workforce should be considered a shared responsibility of research funders and universities, among o바카라사이트r parties, and recommended 바카라사이트 development of a research workforce development strategy.

Croucher said research funding had become so intermingled with o바카라사이트r higher education resourcing arrangements that any attempts to tinker with 바카라사이트 system inevitably had impacts elsewhere.

¡°There¡¯s an assumption that universities will be able to support staffing costs for 바카라사이트se projects. It might be right in concept, but it doesn¡¯t always work in practice.¡±

john.ross@ws-2000.com