The Federal Government is offering a share of $5 million to organisations and individuals who boost scientific knowledge in the public sphere and to people who “might not have been interested.”
Minister for Science and Research, Senator Chris Evans, announced the ‘Inspiring Australia’ grants last week, spruiking it as an opportunity to spark social interest in science.

“To be most effective and unlock our country’s full potential, these grants will boost schemes to reach Australians who, due to geography, ethnicity, age or social circumstances, might not have been interested or able to access or engage in science,” said Senator Evans.

The first round of funding is on offer to museums, universities, local governments and other organisations who can demonstrate potential projects that engage different groups in science. Applications are open up until February 29.

The NSW Government is offering its own slice of science funding on an international scale, offering up to $500,000 in support of NSW and Chinese researcher partnerships.

The grants are offered through the ‘NSW Science Leveraging Fund – China Research Leveraging Program’ for research on everything from agriculture, environmental and energy science to physics, astronomy and planetary sciences and even ICT.

“International research collaborations are critical in building the State’s knowledge capacity and keeping NSW at the cutting-edge of new technology and innovations,” said NSW Deputy Premier and Minister for Trade and Investment, Andrew Stoner.

“China is an economic powerhouse and is NSW’s largest bilateral trading partner,” he added.

“The NSW Government is determined to build stronger relationships with China in a number of areas including research, which we hope will bring benefits to both of us.”

Applications for NSW-China research grants close on February 15.