Federal government saves Australian research facility with $520 million investment

The Turnbull government announced that it is injecting $520 million for a span of ten years to help Australian Synchrotron spur innovation in health, agriculture and mining.

This commitment will empower researchers to look for better farming techniques, better health outcomes for cancer patients and better mining methods, according to the facility which is operated by the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO).

“Long-term funding secures this world-class facility, and will allow it to reach its absolute potential in terms of capability,” said ANSTO CEO Dr Paterson. “The Synchrotron will be able to thrive and deliver more outcomes for Australia in areas.”

The ten-year investment will have dual benefits for the facility, the only one of its kind in Australia, according to Professor Andrew Peele, director of the Synchrotron. “For many years now, securing ongoing funding has been a priority focus, and has held us back from being able to put long-term plans in place,” said Peele.

He noted that operational funding on this scale gives the facility the room they need to grow, to seek new partnerships, and to expand their beamline infrastructure to increase both the capacity and capability of the Synchrotron.

The long-term operation and ownership of the Synchrotron will be transferred to the Federal Government through ANSTO, which is fitting given its experience operating large-scale infrastructure.

ANSTO also strongly welcomed the Prime Minister’s announcement of $1.5 billion in funding for the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy or NCRIS.

NCRIS supports 27 facilities around Australia, including ANSTO’s Centre for Accelerator Science, National Deuteration Facility, Camperdown Cyclotron, and the DINGO, BILBY and EMU neutron beam instruments.

According to its website, the Australian Synchrotron is the country’s largest scientific user facility, benefitting over 3,000 researchers from academia, medical research institutes, government and other research organisations and the industry.

It began operations in 2007, and has since been directly involved in the generation of more than 700 publications in various journals. Scientific research and innovation at the Australian Synchrotron spans a huge diversity of activities from medical and life sciences to advanced materials and engineering, and from earth and environmental sciences to accelerator science and synchrotron research methods. The facility also plays a vital role in training and educating the next generation of scientists and the scientifically aware.

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