Wollongong team puts Cooperative Research Centres under the microscope

23 April 2001

The Federal Department of Industry, Science and Resources (DISR) has commissioned the University of Wollongong's International Business Research Institute (IBRI) to carry out a six-month study on 'Qualitative and Quantitative Outcomes of the Cooperative Research Centres Program'.

The contract for the institute, located within the University's Faculty of Commerce, recognises Wollongong's expertise in analysing and evaluating cross-sector collaborative research and development.

The study team is led by IBRI head Associate Professor TimTurpin and comprises Associate Professor Sam Garrett-Jones (Centre for Research Policy and Innovation Studies - CRP), Ms Helen Hasan (Information Systems), Professor David Steel (Mathematics and Applied Statistics) and Mr David Aylward (CRP).

"Research and development (R&D) collaboration between industry, universities and public research agencies is often difficult and risky, yet is flourishing around the world", Professor Turpin said.

What motives and structures sustain the partners in collaborative arrangements like Australia's Cooperative Research Centres (CRCs), what benefits do they gain, and what implications do these have for the effective management of R&D collaboration? How, for example, how can we measure the success of Australian CRCs compared with similar government-sponsored centres in other countries?, Professor Turpin said.

The purpose of the study is to evaluate the effectiveness of the CRC Program in relation to its objectives and to provide a baseline of performance measures against which the program's impact can be assessed in future.
In consultation with the CRCs and other stakeholders, the study will develop a framework of qualitative and quantitative performance measures that can be used to evaluate the performance of the CRC Program and of individual CRCs. The study will involve the development of improved questionnaires and databases designed to capture appropriate measures of the outcomes of collaborative research within the CRCs that can be used as benchmarks.

To support their on-going research on cross-sector R&D collaboration, Professor Turpin, Associate Professor Paul Couchman (Marketing) and Professor Garrett-Jones have also won ARC Small Grant funding for 2001 to investigate risk management issues within CRCs at the level of the research project and of the partner firms and institutions. The project is a pilot for a larger longitudinal study of CRCs, submitted for ARC Discovery funding in 2002, with Professor Liz Fulop (Griffith University).

For further information contact:
Tim Turpin, Professor in International Business and Director, International Business Research Institute, phone: (02) 4221 3270 or email tim_turpin@uow.edu.au