Political Meddling in Research Funding

On Christmas Eve last year, the Australian Research Council (ARC) announced the recipients of their annual Discovery Projects funding. But, 6 of these projects which had been approved by the ARC were blocked from receiving funding by the acting education minister, Stuart Robert – and a lot of people aren’t happy.  One of these people is Professor Toby Walsh, the  Australian Research Council Laureate Fellow of 2021. Alongside 62 other recipients, he penned an open letter expressing outrage at the process. He spoke to The Daily to explain why he – and many others – are so concerned.