The UNSW-Jiangsu Industrial Technology Research Institute Collaboration Fund is an $8 million investment that will support 10 major projects in technological innovation undertaken by UNSW researchers and Chinese institutes. It is part of the Torch Innovation Precinct, a $100 million partnership launched in 2016 that will deliver funding for Australian research through the first Torch science and technology park outside China. The precinct, based at UNSW, will see collaboration between Australian research teams and major Chinese companies with the capacity, capital and access needed to translate research breakthroughs into new products, technology and services.
The UNSW-JITRI collaboration provides a springboard for Chinese and Australian collaboration that will bring industry, academics, entrepreneurs and investors together. Professor Ian Jacobs, President and Vice-Chancellor of UNSW Sydney, said the $8 million investment would provide a further boost to collaboration between UNSW and China that will drive innovation in advanced materials, biotechnology, energy, and environmental engineering.
“It highlights the importance of Australian-Chinese collaborations and national innovation planning and Australia’s bilateral relationship with China, our largest trading partner,” he said. One of the major projects under the collaboration will offer new opportunities to scale up UNSW’s Centre for Transformational Environmental Technology, the University’s first research base outside Australia that will translate environmental research into industrial application in China.”