The Cooperative Research Centres Programme
The Cooperative Research Centres programme was initiated in Australia in 1990 to strengthen the linkages between producers and users of research and thus ensure that research results were commercialized where appropriate. In this article, the author discusses the development of centres of expertise in Australian universities against the background of paradigm shifts in innovation, competitiveness and university-government-industry relationships. The Cooperative Research Centres programme represents the most ambitious of the various developments in recent years and he describes the selection, organization and linkages of these Centres. He analyses their impact on universities and on the research culture in Australia. Significant changes are occurring in the attitudes of researchers and traditional systems will need to be adapted to accommodate these changes. The Centres also offer opportunities for a new approach to international cooperation.