AIBN building ties with US

In a major coup, UQ's Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology will host the first ever National Science Foundation (NSF) strategic workshop to be held in Australia.

The NSF is the main United States’ research funding agency and in cooperation with the Australian Research Council has chosen AIBN to host the workshop on Friday, February 22, to discuss Nanotechnology, Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Water, Energy and Materials.

AIBN’s Professor Max Lu, who was instrumental in organising this unique workshop, said the NSF had an annual budget of $5.92 billion and funded approximately 20 percent of all federally supported basic research conducted by America’s colleges and universities.

“This is an unprecedented opportunity for AIBN researchers to build links and establish collaborations with NSF teams with research interests similar to their own area of expertise,” Professor Lu said.

“This workshop is an exciting opportunity to network with a selected group of experts and decision makers from government, academia and industry.

"It is imperative for Australia’s economic growth that our science and technology capabilities continue at the leading edge, and to do this requires our researchers engage with the global scientific community."

NSF’s Director of Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental and Transport Systems, Dr Judy Raper said the NSF was keen to foster interchange of scientific information between the US and other countries.

“This workshop is the first step in building substantial links with the Australian scientific community," Dr Raper said

“We hope that this workshop will provide the impetus for many fruitful collaborations in nanotechnology.”

According to workshop co-chair Professor Lu, the US participants were selected and funded by the NSF in order to identify their synergies and develop possible collaborations with Australian researchers.

Professor Lu acknowledged the contributions of the AIBN, NSF and the Australian Research Council in organising this workshop.

Media inquiries:Russell Griggs (07 3346 3989, r.griggs@uq.edu.au)