Griffith is the first university to roll out CSIRO’s new ON Prime Lite Program to early and mid-career researchers looking to take their projects to the next level with industry.
The University is one of only five to partner with Australia’s National science agency, CSIRO, on the new online blended program, which will improve opportunities for researchers to collaborate with industry, and deliver outcomes in weeks, rather than years.
Deputy Vice Chancellor Research Professor Mario Pinto said Griffith had previously participated in the original ON program and was excited to lead the way with the new online pilot program.
“We are thrilled to partner with CSIRO on this opportunity, which would give our researchers an opportunity to work in a market-informed way and a real headstart bringing innovation to market faster.
“This is a purpose built online blended program aimed at assisting researchers to push their projects forward through industry collaboration and external engagement in a timely manner.”
Researchers from Griffith’s School of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) will be the first group within the University to participate in the ON Prime Lite pilot.
Professor Paulo De Souza
Professor Paulo de Souza, Head of School of ICT, said the program would be run over five weeks and involve up to 25 research participants, including academics and PhD candidates.
“They’ll be exposed to industry engagement opportunities, map industry ecosystems, develop an industry engagement plan, receive targeted group and individual coaching and take part in both self-paced and live weekly online learning modules,” Professor de Souza said.
“We have some really innovative research underway at the moment and this pilot will help our researchers make the most of potential market opportunities.”
“ON Prime Lite has been made specifically to provide researchers with the tools and ability to get out and talk to industry and the community and form fruitful collaborations or partnerships,” Alisa Becker, Manager of CSIRO’s ON Program, said.
“CSIRO is helping researchers create a real-world difference with their research, and we’re excited for a chance to foster these skills through our partnership with Griffith University.”
Professor de Souza said some of the exciting projects currently underway in the School of ICT included SmartBuoys, an intelligent remote water quality monitoring platform.
“The SmartBuoys system will provide local authorities, landowners, community groups and the general public with a tool to remotely monitor water quality in creeks, rivers, dams and lakes in near real-time every 15 minutes.
“The School of ICT’s App Factory located within Gold Coast co-working space, Cohort, is another example of the School’s commitment to developing entrepreneurial skills among our students and collaborating closely with the SME sector.
“We are also making progress in our Australian Research Council Industrial Transformation Research Hub (ARC ITRH) for Driving Farming Productivity and Disease Prevention, which aims to increase farm production and disease prevention through advancing and transferring new artificial intelligence technologies into industrial deployment.
“Griffith’s leadership in incorporating artificial intelligence (AI) into farming production to automate tasks such as strawberry quality control and larvae counting has funding support from the Australian Government.
“It is vital projects like this that will create lasting benefit to society.”
