The University of New England (UNE) voted at last week's council meeting to join Intersect. UNE will become a subscribing member of Intersect for three years.
UNE's A/g PVCR, Prof Ray Cooksey says, "UNE, the first regional Australian university, is very keen to move forward and start working in collaboration with Intersect to pursue mutually advantageous strategic priorities. UNE is particularly interested in working with Intersect to evolve projects that address the needs of rural and regional researchers in a larger collaborative context".
"This is significant because UNE is the first university to sign since the foundation members started Intersect last year", says Intersect CEO Ian Gibson, "we welcome UNE as our seventh university member and look forward to working together in the coming years".
"Intersect is working to influence the national framework for research infrastructure, and in particular to secure Education Infrastructure Funding for the State. The Federal budget allocated an additional $312M over four years for Platforms for Collaboration, as part of its broader science and research investment program. Intersect currently has seven staff funded through various PfC programs. We expect this to increase substantially", he said.
Universities need to provide their views on the Federal Government's research and investment program, and the Super Science data storage initiative in particular, by October 2009.
"Intersect can bring these needs together, and ensure that NSW universities requirements are met. UNE's membership strengthens the NSW case and helps us represent research needs across the NSW university sector" said Gibson.