UNIVERSITY CAPABILITY SUPPORT

In a change to previous efforts focused only on research capabilities, our goal is to provide universities with a number of opportunities to share capabilities with industry stakeholders (ENA and API’s members) and to articulate areas of opportunity and where University teams welcome or seek support from industry.

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We will complete the 2023 assessment in 3 phases:

• Part 1: Research capabilities in line with the ENA’s research priorities (linked to $200K project grants)

• Part 2: Teaching and general research capabilities and support for universities

• Part 3: Career pathways information for the API to share + diversity issues

 

Our current focus is on Part 1, with Parts 2-3 to include input from our university and industry members on the information we will capture from universities.

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Part 1: ENA research priorities (February – March 2023)

The API and Energy Networks Australia’s Asset Management Committee (ENA AMC) are collaborating to identify and fund research and innovation projects that links university research teams with industry teams to undertake 2-year applied research projects.

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The projects will bring about improvements in asset management and network performance for electricity utilities, as well as exploring “non-network” solutions, with core funding of $100,00 funding per year (total $200K per project) from the ENA-AMC.

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Research priorities and specific research projects are defined by the ENA’s member community. Based on the mapping of university research capabilities relative to these research priorities, leading university-based research teams will be invited to submit proposals in response to industry-defined project briefs. Joint university-industry teams are then established with select university teams to progress with the projects (pending approval of the business case from the ENA-AMC).

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The API is currently capturing details of university research capabilities relative to 6x ENA AMC priorities for 2023, and 2x projects are expected to be supported in this round, likely commencing in 2024 and concluding in 2025 or 2026 (2 years max per project).

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The joint industry/university projects are encouraged to include other relevant stakeholders and funding opportunities, with past projects leveraging funding to the order of 1:10 ($200K ENA funding and $2M of other funding contributions).

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Projects that secure support from the ENA AMC are assisted by the API in sharing knowledge generated from the projects across industry, academia and into undergraduate teaching programs.

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How is Part 1 - University Capability Assessment data to be used?                             

The API will compile submissions from our university partners and share with the ENA AMC and with the API's members. The ENA AMC representatives will use this data to further shortlist their priorities and then identify project topics that align with industry needs and with the current capability of our university research teams.

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Based on the data provided, select university teams will be invited to submit proposals to the API and ENA AMC based on more detailed Project Briefs by ENA AMC industry representatives. The data provided may also lead to direct engagement by the API and ENA’s industry partners with your research team outside of the above process.                          

Stay tuned for updates as we roll out Phase 2 and 3 over the next few months.

 

Contact Kendall.Klingaman@api.edu.au if you would like to learn more.