International research collaboration receives funding boost from the German Research Foundation
The University of Melbourne will partner with German universities to deliver research excellence and impact with co-funding for two new International Research Training Groups (IRTGs) from the German Research Foundation or Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG).
The funding bolsters the University’s existing research partnerships with the University of Bayreuth and the University of Potsdam.
It will support the training of the next generation of researchers to carry out impactful research in biomaterials and cultural contexts, through co-funding of 48 joint PhD projects over the next five years.
University of Melbourne Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) Professor Mark Cassidy AM said the University was a partner on two of the three IRTGs funded by the DFG in this round.
“This is testament to the strength of our global research excellence across disciplines, the power of our precincts as collaboration hubs and the value of international joint PhD cohorts as a vehicle for deep, long-term and impactful partnerships,” Professor Cassidy said.
“The joint PhD provides a unique international experience for our graduate researchers, allowing them to build strong networks and access the best equipment and expertise across two continents and regions.
“With our expanding network of research and research training collaborations, and the opportunities coming through Australia’s new association to Horizon Europe - the world’s largest collaborative research program - our European research connections have never been stronger.”
The Multidimensional Biomaterials [MB]2 IRTG is led by Professor Andrea O’Conner (University of Melbourne) and Professor Thomas Scheibel (University of Bayreuth), in partnership with Monash University and Swinburne University of Technology.
This IRTG brings together research experts from chemistry, physics, cell biology, materials science and medical engineering to develop new biomaterials, like 3D printed human tissues, and new ways of creating these materials. The Aikenhead Centre for Medical Discovery and the Victorian Medtech Skills and Devices Hub in our precinct will support the research training of PhD candidates in the IRTG.
Professor Chris Healy (University of Melbourne) and Professor Anja Schwarz (University of Potsdam) are leading the Cultures of Repair IRTG, helping to bridge the gap between Western and Indigenous contexts of knowledge and culture.
The research projects in this IRTG will contrast the concepts of progress and innovation with the concept of repair. They aim to critically examine existing narratives and open a constructive, future-oriented perspective for research in fields across the humanities. This is the first humanities and social sciences IRTG for the University of Melbourne.
These new programs add to the University’s existing DFG-funded IRTGs tackling climate and biodiversity crises with Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, advancing electronic and photonic technologies through semiconductor materials with the University of Bayreuth, and in health outcomes through immunity and infection research with the University of Bonn.
This IRTG funding was part of a broader DFG announcement of 10 new research training groups (RTG), with total funding of about €70 million over five years.