In FY2015, ACOLA has continued to deliver the first and second tranches ofthe program Securing Australia’s Future (SAF). The eight projects involved to date were designed to provide evidence-based research initially for the Prime Minister’s Science Engineering & Innovation Council (PMSEIC) and more recently for the Commonwealth Science Council.
Dr Margaret Hartley Chair, Board of Directors
ACOLA Secretariat Limited
ACOLA STRATEGIC STATEMENT
Australia’s four Learned Academies are independent organisations made up of the nation’s leading experts in all of the major fields of enquiry. More than 2000 of the nation’s most eminent scientists, researchers, scholars and practitioners contribute to this rich source of expert knowledge.
ACOLA provides the forum for the four Learned Academies to work cooperatively to develop cutting-edge thinking and integrated problem solving. ACOLA’S purpose is to harness expert knowledge from multiple disciplinary perspectives, to inform national policy and to develop innovative solutions to complex global problems and emerging national needs.
Chair’s Report
In FY2015, ACOLA has continued to deliver the first and second tranches of the program Securing Australia’s Future (SAF). The eight projects involved to date were designed to provide evidence-based research initially for the Prime Minister’s Science Engineering & Innovation Council (PMSEIC) and more recently for the Commonwealth Science Council.
In support of the program, which has seen as many as six research projects running simultaneously, the ACOLA Secretariat Melbourne staff was increased from EFT 3.85 to EFT 4.2. Part-time project managers continued to be employed in Canberra and Sydney.
In addition to the projects that comprised the program Securing Australia’s Future, ACOLA Secretariat continued management of a 2010 LASP project, Making Interdisciplinary Research Work. The final phase of this project was extended into FY 2015 by agreement with the ARC and has now been completed.
ACOLA Secretariat staff members are engaged across the research sector through the Research Agencies Meeting, the Australian Research Management Society and participation in occasional public events. Deep involvement with the production of interdisciplinary research reports and engagement with the emerging theoretical basis of interdisciplinary research management has fostered in-house and inter-Academy expertise in this area.
For the 2015 calendar year, ATSE provided the position of Chair of the Board. The ACOLA Secretariat Board has continued to serve effectively in support of the company, the ACOLA Council and its projects.
I take this opportunity to thank my colleagues for their diligence and collegial co-operation throughout FY2015.
Dr Margaret Hartley
Chair, Board of Directors
ACOLA Secretariat Ltd
