The Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research supports S&T collaboration with the European Union and a number of countries in Europe including: Germany, France and the United Kingdom.
European Union (EU)
The 27 members of the European Union (EU) and Australia have a long tradition of collaboration in the areas of science, research, technology and innovation. In 1994, Australia became the first non-EU member country to sign a Science and Technology Agreement with the EU. Since then, cooperation has been active and steadily increasing in a diverse range of research areas.
Further information is available from the Collaboration with Multilateral and Regional Associations page.
Germany
Germany is a key research and development investor and a leader of cutting-edge science and technology, not only within Europe, but throughout the world. Australia recognises great potential in further enhancing science and research cooperation with Germany in areas of mutual benefit.
The German Government continues to make significant investments in research and innovation. In June 2009, the German Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF) announced an €18 billion package to extend three key research and innovation initiatives that had been launched over the last decade, constituting the single largest investment to date.
Germany also has a well articulated international science and research strategy and identifies the building of stronger research linkages with the Asia-Pacific region as a strategic priority.
The main framework for Australian-German partnerships and collaborations is provided by the Australia-Germany Treaty on Science and Technology Cooperation, signed in 1976. The Australian Research Council also has a Memorandum of Understanding with its German counterpart, the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG).
The Department has supported a series of bilateral scientific workshops over the last four years with themes of biodiversity, nanotechnology, water and solar energy technologies. The workshops were jointly funded with the German Federal Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF). For more information on the Australia-Germany workshops, please see below.
In terms of joint publications with Australian researchers, Germany is ranked fourth behind the US and UK and just recently, China. The largest number of joint publications are in the clinical sciences, physical sciences, biological sciences and engineering.
Summary of the Australia – Germany Workshops
Visit of German Delegation to Australia for Discussions on Advanced Solar Photovoltaics, 15-19 February 2010
A German delegation of fourteen scientists and officials visited Australia from 15-19 February 2010 to explore opportunities for enhanced bilateral science and technology cooperation, particularly in the field of solar photovoltaics (PV).
A successful week-long program of site visits was arranged to various leading research institutions in Melbourne, Sydney, Newcastle and Canberra to showcase Australia’s world-class research in clean energy technologies.
To complement the site visits, the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (ATSE) organised a scientific workshop on solar PV in Canberra on Thursday 18 February on behalf of the Department of Innovation.
The site visits and workshop brought together eminent Australian and German researchers in the field, resulting in enhanced researcher linkages and an increased awareness of potential areas for future mutually beneficial collaboration.
Australia and Germany have held a number of other workshops including:
France
France and Australia share a long-standing history of science and research collaboration which is underpinned by an Agreement on Scientific and Technological cooperation, signed in October 1988. France is currently Australia’s sixth most prolific partner in terms of co-authored publications.
France is a strong performer in terms of scientific and research output, and has particular strengths in aerospace, transport and nuclear energy. France hosts or co-hosts major world-class facilities, including the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility and the CERN Large Hadron Collider.
The French-Australian Science and Technology (FAST) Program
The Governments of Australia and France facilitated research collaboration through travel grants awarded by the FAST program. The FAST program supported over 80 projects. Outcomes from previous rounds can be found at the ISL website.
Collaboration with the United Kingdom
Australia has a strong relationship with the UK, underpinned by closely aligned interests in a range of scientific and technological areas. In terms of science and research, the UK has consistently been Australia’s second largest collaborator on a number of indicators.
The United Kingdom is a strong scientific performer, producing just under 9 percent of world papers in 2007, and 12 percent of world citations. It has a strong reputation for world-class research and ranks second only to the United States in production of highly cited articles. In terms of impact per researcher, the UK is first in the world. Consequently, Australia highly values its growing relationship with the UK.
Australian researchers engage with those in the UK via a number of mechanisms including Government administered grant programs. In addition, there is healthy research collaboration involving researchers at the CSIRO and universities, and active relationships between the respective learned academies.
Areas of particular strength in collaboration include astronomy and astrophysics, molecular biology and genetics, and medical sciences, including neurosciences, and oncology.