The 29 grantees announced will receive funds totalling $1.422 million to support a range of early stage research translation/commercialisation activities including proof of concept, market testing and early prototyping of projects.
Grants have been awarded to 18 Australian researchers and 11 Australian small to medium enterprises (SMEs) to collaborate with global partners across 12 economies (Austria, China, Czech Republic, Finland, India, The Netherlands, Portugal, Singapore, Switzerland, The United Kingdom, the USA and Vietnam).
The CEO of the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering, Dr Margaret Hartley FTSE, welcomed the Minister's announcement.
"Bridging Grants are providing vital support for Australians SMEs and researchers to establish global commercialisation linkages for the benefit of Australia," she said, noting this was the second round of Bridging Grants bringing the total number awarded to 43 over two years.
The Bridging Grants are a highly competitive 50 per cent matching funds program as part of the Government's Global Connection Fund. They provide funding of $25,000 to $50,000 to support researcher-SME partnerships globally. The Global Connections Fund, which supports collaborative projects with 17 priority economies, is managed by the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering (ATSE) as part of the Australian Government's Global Innovation Strategy funded under the Government's National Innovation and Science Agenda (NISA).
Full details are on the Global Connections Fund website.
