"Universities are strong supporters of collaborative research and have been heavily involved with industry for some time. Any move to strengthen these highly effective linkages is to be applauded," said Universities Australia CEO, Dr Glenn Withers.
"The program announced today will build upon those successful linkages facilitated through programs such as Cooperative Research Centres and the ongoing success of the Linkage Projects scheme.
"As the Prime Minister said today, Australia is endowed with top quality researchers and top quality industry. Aligning the two provides a win-win outcome.
"Through collaboration, our researchers are able to work on the issues that are important to the success of Australian industry and which in turn, can help drive national productivity.
"One of the greatest features of university and industry collaboration is how they enrich each other. Universities gain access to latest industry practices and in return, industry gains access to Australia's top minds.
"Furthermore, when our PhD students work with industry they gain `real world' exposure further equipping them as the innovators of tomorrow.
"We look forward to working with government on further enhancement of these partnership and collaboration programs, particularly as new resources permit their further development," Dr Withers concluded.
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