Intelligent Island sets priorities

A head-hunting expedition to find 30 to 40 research staff will be among the first priorities for Tasmania's recently-announced $40 million bioinformatics centre of excellence.

The new centre will establish cooperative links with existing centres rather than engage in poaching expeditions, says John Hayton, executive director of Tasmanian's Intelligent Island program.

But it is planning to funnel more money into building up its human capital base in Tasmania than into bricks and mortar investments or outsourcing work to centres in other states.

The $40 million is made up of $20 million guaranteed by Federal government funding while half is expected to flow from State government, University of Tasmania and private sector contributions.

Staffing is one of the issues being dealt with by an interim board chaired by University of Tasmania chancellor Dr Mike Vertigan. Another of its tasks will be to finalise relationships with the University of Tasmania and the Menzies Centre for Population Health Research.

At least three university faculties are likely to be involved with the centre, according to pro-vice-chancellor of research, Prof Andrew Glenn. They include science and engineering (computing and maths), commerce (information systems) and law (ethics).

The centre's ability to attract high-energy research leaders with interesting projects will be a key to its success, said Sydney bioinformatics entrepreneur Dr Tim Littlejohn.

Its affiliation with the world-class medical and biological research at the Menzies Centre, plus Tasmania's clean, green image will both help attract a critical mass of outside talent, Littlejohn believes.

He sees the new bioinformatics centre as a natural bridge connecting other Australian centres of excellence in ICT and biotechnology to form "a beautiful troika".

Littlejohn, who is helping to launch a bioinformatics group within industry association AusBiotech, said the centre's $40 million funding base is large enough to attract the high-quality individuals needed to seed its staff.

The level of funding will also command attention from potential vendor partners such as IBM, HP and Apple.

But he warned the centre would have to ensure the availability of high-bandwidth telecom connections between the outside world and its Tasmanian-based human capital.