Collaborations

Working together delivers research excellence. Over the past 10 years (2013–2022), there have been over 3,000 India–Queensland joint research publications, an increase of over 50% from the previous period. These publications have attracted over 130,000 citations. Most India-Queensland collaborative research was in: biomedical and clinical services (38%); biological sciences (25%); engineering (22%); and agricultural, veterinary and food sciences (15%). The top Queensland collaborators were The University of Queensland (UQ), Queensland University of Technology (QUT) and Griffith University.

Some recent examples:

  • UQ collaborated with a range of Indian organisations, including the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, with whom UQ share a joint PhD program. In the past five years, UQ has collaborated with six Indian institutions on seven research projects. Key India partners include the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Jamia Millia Islamia University, and Symbiosis International Deemed University.
  • UQ has partnered with Indian-based researchers on 950 co-publications in the past five years. The top research areas include Astronomy & Astrophysics, Plant Sciences, and Agronomy.
  • QUT is one of the partners in the Australia India Water Centre, a consortium of Australian and Indian universities, research institutions and water businesses to promote cooperation and collaboration in water research, education, training and capacity building.
  • QUT and the Indian Institute of Technology Madras are collaborating on developing a new class of intelligent robotic imaging system for keyhole surgeries. The project is funded by the Australia–India Strategic Research Fund (AISRF).
  • The University of Southern Queensland and the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University collaborate on enhancing climate change adaptation processes for farmers and agribusiness. The project also received AISRF funding.
  • Griffith University has formal partnerships with several Indian universities, including the Indian Institute of Science, the ATLAS SkillTech University and the Manipal Academy of Higher Education.
  • University of Southern Queensland has partnered on areas of common interest with India, such as space-related research programs with Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), agriculture engineering and climate change with agricultural research institutes in India, and aviation management programs with IndiGo airlines.

Our collaborations continue to grow, encouraged by initiatives such as inter-country missions and partnership support. The Queensland–India Trade and Investment Strategy 2018–2023 identified five key sectors for collaboration with India based upon some of Queensland’s major export industries: international education and training; tourism and major events; mining and mining equipment technology and services (METS); food and agribusiness; and healthcare.

Funding

The Queensland Government supports scientific research in Queensland through policies, strategic science and innovation initiatives as well as funding assistance and financial incentives under the Advance Queensland program.

Other funding programs:

Australia–India Strategic Research Fund: Australia's largest fund dedicated to bilateral science collaboration, which is jointly administered and funded by the Australian and Indian governments. The fund helps public and private sector researchers to participate in leading research projects and workshops. Since 2006, it has supported over 300 Indian-Australian collaborative projects. The priorities of 2023 Round 15 of the Collaborative Research Projects grants, valued at between AUD$500,000 and AUD$1,000,000, follow:

  • Indo–Australian Science and Technology Fund priorities: AI and machine learning; new and renewable energy technologies; and urban mining and electronic waste recycling.
  • Indo–Australian Biotechnology Fund priorities: antimicrobial resistance, and RNA vaccines and therapies.

The Australian Government grants information system provides details of the many grants available via national government departments and institutions, including those supporting international research collaborations.

Queensland–India collaborations