PODCAST

On the train from New York City to Washinton DC for this Debate@Go8 Mini podcast, Group of Eight CE Vicki Thomson and Major General (Ret’d) Paul Symon AO, Co-Chair of the Go8 Defence & Security Committee and Senior Advisor at the University of Melbourne, discuss the Go8 delegation to the United States thus far and how the focus of this high-level mission to our largest single research partner will shift and we change cities. In New York, the focus was on research and industry collaboration and commercialisation, with a brilliant roundtable hosted with the American Australian Association and Australian Consulate-General in New York and an extraordinary visit to IBM Research Think Lab. In Washinton DC, that focus will move to government, politics and the intersection of the current geopolitical environment with universities, research security and national security. Recorded September 2026.

Great conversation with Anders Henriksen – former Head of Counterintelligence at the Danish Intelligence and Security Service (ASIS) and a leading European expert on research security – following the first Go8-Europe Research Security and Horizon Europe Roundtable at the Monash University, Prato Campus, Italy. Vicki and Anders explore how Denmark has been tackling research security issues and national security threats in this increasingly contested global environment, and also do a bit of a compare-and-contrast with Australia’s approach in this area. Recorded July 2026.

And that’s a wrap! Go8 CE Vicki Thomson – who is also Co-Chair of the European Australian Business Council (EABC) – gives us a wrap-up of this year’s EABC Mission to Europe along with the Hon. Brendan O’Connor, also EABC Co-Chair and EABC CEO Jason Collins. The conversations and contacts had during the EABC Missions to Europe are important every year, but this year they took on an extra resonance. As Vicki, Brendan and Jason explain here, we really are in a moment in time in Australia-EU relations. Australia and Europe recently signed three partnerships agreements that increase our collaboration across trade, security, and research and innovation. But that is really just the start. Now both Australia and Europe need to make sure we make the very most of those partnerships. Recorded June 2026.

What a great place for a conversation about R&D and innovation with David Gall, CEO of the National Reconstruction Fund Corporation – the Helsinki Shipyards! David Gall and Go8 CE Vicki Thomson discuss seizing the opportunities Australia’s imminent association to Horizon Europe could bring for collaboration and commercialisation of our world-class research & development. Recorded June 2026.

Back on the European Australian Business Council (EABC) Mission to Europe bus, Go8 CE Vicki Thomson caught up with Peter Halliday, CEO of Siemens Australia and New Zealand, and EABC board member. Siemens has a long history in Australia that goes back all the way to the original telegraph line that linked Darwin to Adelaide in the late 19th century. And that collaboration and innovation is stronger than ever today – a great example of which is Siemen’s Fusesaver – a vacuum circuit-breaker invented in Australia, that almost instantly cuts the power to powerlines, helping prevent bushfires. Fusesaver is manufactured in both Berlin and Australia and exported to more than 35 countries. Recorded June 2026.

Go8 CE Vicki Thomson chats with Professor Bronwyn Fox AO, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research & Enterprise) at the University of NSW on the EABC bus in Helsinki during the 2026 European Australian Business Council Mission to Europe. Professor Fox is a real champion for empowering university and industry collaboration, so she was very excited after the discussions we’d just had at an Industry & Innovation Roundtable at VTT Technical Research Centre in the Finnish capital. That discussion was centred around the possibilities for collaboration between Australian universities and research centres with the likes of VTT and others in Europe and how that can be super-charged by Australia’s impending association to Horizon Europe. Recorded June 2026.

Vicki caught up with H.E. Gabriele Visentin, European Union Ambassador to Australia, outside NATO HQ during the 2026 European Australian Business Council (EABC) Mission to Europe. This year the Mission comes at a real moment in time for the relationship between Australia and the EU, after the recent conclusion of negotiations for an EU-AU Free Trade Agreement, a defence and security partnership and of course Australia’s imminent association to Horizon Europe. Ambassador Visentin, who was instrumental in getting us to this very exciting position chats with Vicki about important work that needs to be done to ensure that Australia is best placed to capture the full benefit of the opportunities that arise from these historic partnerships.

Just before kicking off the 2026 EABC Mission to Europe, Go8 CE Vicki Thomson had a really great chat with Professor Duncan Ivison, Vice-Chancellor of The University of Manchester IN Manchester. Professor Ivison is a Go8 favourite ever since his time as Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) at the University of Sydney. Vicki and Professor Ivison discuss the differences between Manchester and Sydney unis; the serious, shared challenge of social cohesion and how Manchester University is tackling it; and defence research and research security. The University of Manchester is a defence research powerhouse – as are Group of Eight unis. How does Manchester University manage the complexities and could there be lessons for Go8 universities? Recorded June 2026.

Renowned epidemiologist, Professor Raina MacIntyre from the Kirby Institute at UNSW, tells Go8 CE Vicki Thomson how the $650 million cap on funding from the Medical Research Future Fund is not only putting at risk her own project for an AI-enabled early-warning system for pandemics – one-of-a-kind innovation in Australia and globally-leading technology – but coupled with the recent US funding cuts to medical research, squandering the opportunity for Australia to strengthen our medical research sector. Recorded November 2025.

Dr Adam McKay from the Monash Epworth Rehabilitation Research Centre at Monash University tells The Group of Eight CE Vicki Thomson that missing out on MRFF funding for his research around best-practice care for people suffering traumatic brain injury, was a lost opportunity to improve the way that care is provided for brain injury patients across Australian hospitals. Recorded November 2025.

Dr Amanda Poprzeczny from the University of Adelaide Medical School, wanted to fund research into obstructive sleep apnea in pregnant women – and whether treatment for the condition can improve outcomes for mother and baby. Sleep apnea during pregnancy can lead to hypertension, pre-eclampsia and potentially, pregnancy loss. But her proposal for a Medical Research Future Fund grant was knocked back. In this Debate@Go8 Mini, she tells Go8 CE Vicki Thomson that not getting the funding means that the immediate impacts on clinical practice – both in Australia and internationally – that could have come from her randomised clinical trial will not be realised – with the very real potential to impact women, their babies and their families.

While many kids’ asthma symptoms can be controlled with puffers and other oral medications, there is a group of children who are so sick with asthma that they need intravenous treatment. Problem is, doctors don’t know which of the known medicines are most effective for which kids. That’s why Professor Simon Craig from Monash University wanted to run a randomised trial comparing the effects of the most common treatments on these children. But his Medical Research Future Fund grant application to run the trial was knocked back – for the FIFTH time. Professor Craig, who is a paediatric emergency doctor, tells Go8 CE Vicki Thomson in this Debate@Go8 Mini that without the money for the trial – which was to run across several hospitals across Australia and New Zealand – doctors will miss out on the information that they need to properly inform their care of kids with chronic asthma in this part of the world. Recorded November 2025.

Takotsubo Syndrome is heart condition that can be brought on by physical or emotional stress and predominantly affects post-menopausal women – although nobody know why. It’s a serious condition that mimics a heart attack and has considerable long-term consequences – including reduced survival – but whereas there are a range of long-term treatments for a heart attack, there are none for Takotsubo Syndrome. Professor Graham Hillis from The University of Western Australia and Royal Perth Hospital wanted a Medical Research Future Fund grant to enrol Australian women in a UK trial looking into a potential treatment, but his funding was knocked back – leaving Australian researchers (and the women who suffer from the condition) out of the loop on international efforts to improve outcomes. Professor Hillis also tells Go8 CE Vicki Thomson in this Debate@Go8 Mini podcast that loss of access to international trials for Australian researchers poses a risk to our ongoing international research collaboration if international partners were to give up on us – leaving us behind. Recorded November 2025.

The latest data shows that 1-in-3 young people at the age of 24 have an alcohol-use disorder, says Associate Professor Lexine Stapinski from the University of Sydney. To deal with that astounding finding, she wanted to develop and trial an innovative e-health treatment program, co-designed with young people and service providers, and tailored to each individual’s particular reasons for using alcohol and their support needs. But her Medical Research Future Fund grant application to fund the research was knocked back. In this Debate@Go8 Mini podcast episode, A/Professor Stapinski tells Go8 CE Vicki Thomson that the MRFF has been a game-changer for innovative research and interventions, so the failure to get the funding for this research is a missed opportunity to address the many serious health, social, mental health and economic ills caused by alcohol misuse. Recorded November 2025.

Amazingly, exposure to sunlight can reduce the chances of kids developing myopia. But of course it’s no nearly as straight-forward as that, which is why renowned international researcher into the genetics of eye disease, Professor David Mackey AO from The University of Western Australia, put in an application for a Medical Research Future Fund grant for research that would help predict which children in Australia were at higher risk of developing the condition – and provide simple but effective mechanisms to avoid it and the serious complications that can result from it, like blindness. But his MRFF grant application was rejected. In this Debate@Go8 Mini podcast episode, Professor Mackey tells Go8 CE Vicki Thomson that the loss of this research will cost Australia much more than the cost of the MRFF grant, due to the expense of interventions that will be needed to deal with the effects of myopia on kids’ eye health as they grow up. Recorded November 2025.

Dr Georgios Karystianis from UNSW is now on his fourth attempt to secure a Medical Research Future Fund grant to fund his research aimed at filling serious gaps in national domestic violence surveillance, by developing new data infrastructure based on text-mining millions of police reports. The insights gained from this research would have informed an evidence-based national response to domestic and family violence. Go8 CE Vicki Thomson spoke with Dr Karystianis for this Debate@Go8 Mini podcast episode at Parliament House in Canberra in November 2025, where medical research leaders from across The Group of Eight joined Federal Member for Kooyong Dr Monique Ryan and other stakeholders to advocate for an end to the $650 million per year cap on funding from the MRFF.

Australia’s former intelligence chief, European Australian Business Council (EABC) Chair Duncan Lewis told Debate@Go8 Mini podcast that the challenges to global security ‘are of a magnitude’ he’s not seen in his previous working life, and at a time this like this, western democracies need come together. Speaking after the EABC delegation to Europe this month with Group of Eight Chief Executive and EABC Deputy Chair Vicki Thomson, he said competitiveness and sovereign capability around defence and security were the top priorities for EU member states and highlighted the need for Australia to maintain as close a connectivity to Europe as we can. On the EU-Australia FTA he said, ‘I’m confident both sides want this to happen because we need fellow travellers in this rather dangerous world’. Recorded July 2025.

Group of Eight CE Vicki Thomson speaks with Duncan Lewis, Chair of the European Australian Business Council (EABC) and Thales Australia, about the benefits of association to the world’s largest research and innovation fund. Speaking in London at the end of this year’s EABC delegation to Europe, Australia’s former intelligence chief told Vicki (who is also Deputy Chair of the EABC) that signing up to Horizon Europe would boost defence innovation, and that investment in R&D was one of the biggest levers available to improve productivity. Recorded July 2025.

Group of Eight CE Vicki Thomson chats with University of Sydney Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research Infrastructure) Professor Simon Ringer in Warsaw, on the sidelines of high-level meetings with European officials and business leaders as part of this year’s European Australian Business Council (EABC) delegation. The two discuss how university research & development had been so high on the agenda during those meetings as well as how Australia gaining Associate-level access to the $170 billion European research fund Horizon Europe would be a game-changer for Australian universities and Australian R&D. Recorded July 2025.

The Group of Eight CE Vicki Thomson and Frequentis Australasia’s Managing Director Martin Rampl discuss the many mutual benefits that flow from Australia–EU collaboration, in a break from meetings in Brussels during this year’s European Australian Business Council (EABC) delegation to Europe. Recorded July 2025.