New ‘virtual’ biotechnology research institute

Biotechnology research in New South Wales universities has previously been quite fragmented, but in an attempt to create synergies and collaborative opportunities to bring people with an interest in biotechnology together, Macquarie University has created a new 'virtual' institute - the Macquarie University Biotechnology Research Institute.

The Institute brings together a number of interdisciplinary research areas from within the University, providing them with opportunities to interact with each other more easily. The aim is to consolidate the University's approach to biotechnology and to take a leading role in the Asia-Pacific region in research, education and postgraduate training in the biotechnology area.

The Institute also has members from other Australian and New Zealand universities where there has been a tradition of co-operation and collaboration. Accordingly it fits in well with the concepts recently agreed to by the eastern state premiers on a 'pact' for the promotion of Australian-sourced biotechnology solutions.

Director of the Institute, Professor Peter Bergquist, explains that it is deliberately a 'virtual' institute with no building of its own and no structural home within any of the University's Divisions or Departments.

"This is to foster the multidisciplinary future of biotechnology," he says. "The Institute will provide access to facilities and technologies and will hold workshops and seminars to bring together the many scientific disciplines that contribute to contemporary biotechnology."

In addition, the Institute will offer a number of postgraduate research scholarships to attract bright potential PhD candidates to the Institute. Two types of scholarship will be offered - the Research Awards for Areas and Centres of Excellence (RAACE) scholarships, for Australian citizens and permanent residents and New Zealand citizens, and international Macquarie University Research Scholarships (iMURS) available only to international postgraduate students of exceptional promise.

Item provided courtesy of Macquarie University