KEY POINTS
- The Australian Scheme for Higher Education Repositories (ASHER) program assists with establishing university digital data storage systems.
- The Australian Government is providing $25.5 million through the ASHER program over three years (2007-09) to assist eligible higher education providers (HEPs) with the establishment of digital repositories.
FACTS AND FIGURES
Relevant Legislation - Higher Education Support Act 2003
Funding for the ASHER program was provided to assist eligible HEPs to develop their data systems to prepare for the Research Quality Framework which is being replaced by the Excellence in Research for Australia initiative. It will allow HEPs to make their research outputs more widely available to other researchers, business and the community.
The Australian Government is providing $25.5 million through the ASHER program over three years to assist eligible HEPs with the establishment of digital repositories. This will allow institutions to place their research outputs, including journal articles and less traditional outputs such as digitised artworks or x-ray crystallography images in an accessible digital store.
The ASHER program is yet another way that the Australian Government continues to show its commitment to making publicly funded research more readily available.
Length of Program and Proposed Annual Budget
The program will provide grants over three calendar years (2007-09) to eligible HEPs. Information is provided below for the 2007 and 2008 calendar years.
The 2007 and 2008 funding allocations for the ASHER program were announced on 21 August 2007.
No decision has yet been made regarding the allocation of ASHER grants for 2009.
|
Grant Year |
2007 |
2008 |
|
Total ASHER Funds ($m) |
5.466 |
10.207 |
These amounts are to be indexed from time to time in accordance with the method set out in Part 5-6 of the Act.
Eligibility
Table A providers are eligible under item 10 of the table in subsection 41-10(1) of the Act, for grants to support the development of systemic infrastructure used by HEPs.
In accordance with item 10 of the table in subsection 41-10(1) of the Act, the following bodies corporate are eligible for grants to support the development of systemic infrastructure used by HEPs:
(a) Bond University
(b) The University of Notre Dame Australia
(c) Melbourne College of Divinity