The Australian Research Council's Linkage Projects scheme has awarded another $4.9 million to eleven Australian research-industry collaborations.
It is the second announcement since the scheme has adopted a continuous application modus and the awarded grants are still part of the 2016 funding round.
To date it has delivered $87 million to 246 projects, which were selected at a success rate of 32%.
On a per capita basis, the 2016 Linkage grants spread fairly evenly across the states (see infographic).
However, among the universities there are two clear stand outs in forging successful research-industry alliances: the University of Melbourne (38 grants) and the University of Queensland (33 grants). Together, the two universities account for almost 30% of the successful projects in the 2016 round.
Linkage grants address a broad range of issues, involve risk or innovation, and often have broader national significance.
Examples in the latest funding announcement include a project by the University of Melbourne and the Reserve Band of Australia which aims to develop the next generation of anti-counterfeiting features for future Australian banknotes.
The importance of such technological advancement became apparent last year when reports on increases in the circulation of fake $50 notes suggested that the security features provided through polymer banknotes may soon be outdated.
Through the project, the Reserve Banks aims to draw on nanophotonic metamaterials to stay abreast of criminal activity. This involves novel ultra-thin films that are patterned on the nanoscale to produce optical effects that can easily be recognised.
Another Linkage grant will help the University of Tasmania and Taiwanese-based optical manufacturer Young Optics to micro-engineer high speed, high fidelity 3-D printers. The technology will then form the basis of the next generation of portable analytical systems that can analysis complex samples on-the-spot, such as nutrients in fertiliser run-off.
The latest round of Linkage grants will also support: