The Australian National University's top academic has warned political interference into research grant decision-making has a "chilling effect" as universities push to remove extraordinary ministerial powers.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The university's vice-chancellor, Professor Brian Schmidt, said it was crucial that politicians and the government of the day are removed from the independent peer-review process for granting funding to researchers in Australia.
It comes as peak bodies, academics and universities appeared before senators on Tuesday to challenge discretionary powers that give the education minister ultimate veto power over research grants.
The Australian Research Council, which is opposed to the proposed amendments to remove the powers, is responsible for offering nearly a billion dollars in grants to academic researchers annually.
But a number of grant applications approved by the council have been knocked back in recent years by ministers on national security and national interest grounds.
Professor Schmidt said the effects had already been felt by his university and he was struggling to attract and retain talent.
"Either I rectify this now, or I lose people overseas," he said.
Senior bureaucrats from the research council and the Education Department appeared later in the evening, defending the powers as necessary for ministerial oversight.
The research council argued in its submissions the changes would effectively make the Education Minister "answerable" to its chief executive, "weakening Parliament's oversight and removing ministerial privilege".
A "couple" of ANU research grants had been knocked back on national security grounds, Professor Schmidt said. He believed one of those was on "spurious" grounds.
"Research priorities are inherently long-term, their value can take years or decades to emerge," he said.
"They need to be judged in context and in detail by experts in a position to apply their judgment."
But acting chief executive Judith Zielke, who was appointed by acting Education Minister Stuart Robert last month, said the council had a "communications issue", which had resulted in academics misunderstanding how the grants process worked.
"We need to develop a better undersanding and ensure that [the ARC] is being clear in our process as well," Ms Zielke said on Wednesday afternoon.
"It is a piece of work that we will be undertaking in consultation with the sector in relation to how we can improve understanding, and also the outcomes from that process."
READ MORE:
In his submission to the committee, Professor Schmidt said the federal government should trust in the expertise of its research council.
"Research produces outcomes on a medium- to long-term cycle and should not be decided solely from a short-term political perspective," he said.
The sentiment was echoed by the tertiary sector's peak body Universities Australia on Tuesday morning.
The use of the minister's discretion to not approve some research grants affected the confidence of international researchers considering Australia as a choice to work in, the body said.
"Without this confidence, Australian research loses credibility and therefore competitiveness," its statement said.
"We lose the ability to develop, attract and retain the top minds we need to advance our economy and society, and compete with the rest of the world."
The vice-chancellor last month criticised Mr Robert's decision to reject six grants for humanities projects.
Mr Robert said his decision was based on the belief the projects would not provide value for taxpayers' money or contribute to the national interest.
"I see this as an existential threat to Australian universities," Professor Schmidt said in his February address.