Cosmos Editorial
The Australian Academy of Science welcomes the Australian Government’s commitment to fund a much-needed upgrade to Australia’s national supercomputer in today’s Mid-Year and Economic Fiscal Outlook (MYEFO).
The National Computational Infrastructure has received $69.2 million funding in 2017/18 and $0.8 million in 2018/19.
Secretary for Science Policy at the Academy, Professor David Day, said a new supercomputer is a critical piece of Australia’s economic, social and scientific infrastructure.
“This technology is vital for weather forecasting, health and medical research, climate change modelling, hazard management and ocean-safety,” Professor Day said.
“The new supercomputer will allow Australian scientists to continue to tackle complex challenges which would be impossible, unwieldy or inefficient without a supercomputer.”
The Academy also welcomes confirmation of $50 million funding for the Australian Brain Cancer Mission to improve the survival rates of people living with brain cancer, $70 million to support Australia’s next generation of medical research fellowships; and $30 million to support Australia’s biomedical technology sector.
The Academy remains concerned about the potential impact of the higher education measures on both the pipeline of STEM graduates and vital research that is undertaken in Australian universities.
