The value of good researchers

Nobel Laureate Prof Peter Doherty is lending his name to a new prize to be awarded at Australia's first Commercialisation Forum and Fair of Ideas, which started in Sydney today and runs to March 28.

The Peter Doherty Prize for Innovation will be awarded to the most outstanding research commercialisation opportunity drawn from a public sector research institution, providing $100,000 to the research group to kick-start the process of commercialising their innovation. The prize comprises $40,000 cash, plus $60,000 as in-kind commercialisation services from PricewaterhouseCoopers and the Australian Institute of Commercialisation.

Paul Field, the director of biobusiness programs at ATP Innovations, and a vice-chairman of Knowledge Commercialisation Australia (KCA), the industry body responsible for the prize, says that Doherty is an excellent choice of scientist for whom to name the award.

"He's an inspiration to Australian researchers, a most eminent scientist and a great innovator, and that's the start of commercialisation." Field says.

For his part, Doherty believes the award is a good initiative. "It's an innovative thing to do, it's good to encourage people to think in these terms," he says. Bringing the scientific and business communities together is "clearly a good thing to do."

"The big question is how to add value to what we've got. Part of that is drawing on scientific and intellectual resources and bringing that together with the commercial sector. We want to know how to best use what we've got, that's what this forum is about."

Doherty is a basic research scientist by his own admission, and has never considered himself an expert on biotechnology, but he passionately believes that Australia needs to recognise the value of the research performed in the public sector, and be aware of opportunities for capitalising on useful discoveries.

"The real challenge is to preserve the capacity to do discovery science but at the same time have the consciousness to recognise something of use and take it forward," Doherty says.

This process needs to start at the level of education, he believes, so that it is introduced into the mindset of everyone who does science. But it is also important to recognise that while some researchers will need little encouragement to think about science in terms of potential commercial opportunities, not everyone will fit into that mould, he says.

"The problem with new technology is that you don't know where it will come from, it can come from everywhere," Doherty says.

Commercialisation culture

But introducing a new culture of commercialisation into Australia has its problems, according to Doherty. While the research paradigm is shifting towards one that encourages commercialisation, it's going to be a slow process in part because the pathway to commercialisation of an idea can take a long time to reach its endpoint.

"I keep saying this is a long-term thing, you can't expect major advances in five years," he says. "But we're talking about building a culture that can implement advances."

This new and opportunistic culture is building already, says Doherty, who points to our capacity to run high quality, relatively low-cost clinical trials, and the formation of biotechnology-focused institutes such as the Centre for Biomolecular Science and Drug Discovery in Queensland.

In addition he believes the increased support and recognition of the importance of providing research infrastructures that will encourage the formation of innovative cultures by government leaders like Victorian Premier Steve Bracks and Queensland Premier Peter Beattie, as well as agencies including the ARC and the NHMRC, is crucial and very encouraging.

But Australia needs to recognise the value of its universities, says Doherty, and this is where the culture has to change. University researchers in any field have a much more difficult time of it than they used to and providing adequate resources, such as good salaries and a balance between research and education duties, is important.

While it is not critical, and can be considered desirable, that young researchers head overseas to seek experience, Doherty finds it worrying that established researchers also find the need to seek opportunities elsewhere, something he himself did when he left for the US in the early eighties, not really expecting to return to do science in Australia.

"It used to be that there were more good jobs than good people, but now there are more good scientists than good jobs for them," he says.

Australia has the potential to really be an innovative society, he says. "The thing that excites me about Australia is that there are only 20 million of us, and we have a reasonably good culture, a good education system, and a willingness to experiment -- we could really do things if we wanted to."

The innovation prizes

The Peter Doherty Prize for Innovation is not the only award that will be presented at the Commercialisation Forum and Fair of Ideas. In addition, awards for innovation in biotechnology, ICT, engineering and manufacturing, and environmental science will be given as well as a postgraduate innovation prize and state prizes. These awards are all worth $5000.

According to Paul Field the main prize will not necessarily be awarded to a biotechnology or medical devices project, although given that the vast majority of the two hundred or so applications received are in that category, he believes it is quite likely.

The applications all represent ideas that are "early-stage by any definition," Field says. "Some groups have incorporated, others are research projects waiting to go forward. All are in the stage of looking for the first round of funding."

An independent panel of judges, including Nanyang Ventures' Mike Hirshorn, ARC chairman Tim Besley, Garry Butler from the Australian Institute of Commercialisation, Craig Lawn from PricewaterhouseCoopers, TGR Biosciences CEO Leanna Read, and Telstra New Wave's Chris Rowles, is charged with the difficult task of sorting through the entries to select the winners.