$2m government grant for Melbourne Institute

Melbourne's St Vincent's Institute of Medical Research has attracted a $2 million Victorian government grant to boost its research facilities.

Innovation Minister John Brumby today announced the funding allocation, made out of the government's $310 million Science, Technology and Innovation initiative.

The cash is to be put towards extending and refurbishing the facilities at the Fitzroy institute.

Associate director of SVIMR Assoc Prof Matthew Gillespie said the state money was a crucial linchpin in securing a $3.5 million Commonwealth government grant.

Gillespie said the institute secured one of the federal infrastructure grants in March 2000, but it was contingent on SVIMR finding matching funds elsewhere.

He said that after missing out on the first round of Victorian STI grants, the institute feared it would have to relinquish the vital Commonwealth money.

But he said the $2 million from Victoria, together with money from the Sister's of Charity, had ensured the $3.5 million was fully matched.

Gillespie said the $7 million covered almost 70 per cent of the works, which when finished, would double the institute's size to 4000 square metres.

He said the institute was now working with philanthropists and private investors in the hope of securing the extra $3 to $4 million needed to complete the project.

Construction, which is expected to be complete in October 2003, will include a new extension adjacent to the existing Princes Street building and refurbishment of buildings already in place.

Brumby said the SVIMR was one of the state's leading research organisations in the area of biotechnology platform technology research, particularly in the fields of protein crystallography and protein chemistry/cell signalling.

"This platform technology work leads into the areas of cancer research, virology and immunology research," he said.

Brumby said the Victorian government, through the STI initiative, was committed to ensuring the state's world-class researchers had access to the resources and infrastructure required to do their work.

"Through this initiative, we are building on our scientific strengths and positioning the state as a pre-eminent location for research and development, new industry development, innovation and investment in science and technology," Brumby said.

"We believe very strongly that we have a responsibility to back our research community, to invest in innovation and research and to drive the commercialisation of research."