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Science and the making of VictoriaRoyal Society of Victoria
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Table of Contents

A Consortium Approach to Marine Science

Introduction

The Origins of VIMS and Its Consortium Approach

Benefits and Problems of a Consortium Approach

Realizing the Benefits, Overcoming the Problems

VIMS' Role in the Consortium

Building on the Consortium Approach

Conclusion

References


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Introduction (continued)

Consideration of a consortium approach must be set against the current national context, in which consortia, under a variety of labels, are a favoured model. In the emergence of this national trend there have been several different elements: the steps taken by the Australian Research Council to shift the emphasis to larger grants and team-based research, the Key Centre and Special Research Centre initiatives in the higher education sector during the 1980s and the great hope of the 1990s, the Co-operative Research Centres.

Many of these elements, particularly the various 'centres' initiatives, are attempts by Government and bureaucracy to engineer or facilitate the formation of research and education consortia—a form of market intervention (see Anon., 1992).

But the consortium of marine research and education organizations in Victoria is different in a very important way—it is not a government-driven and funded entity. It is a product of the clear recognition by various organizations of their common interests, and how they might be furthered, and in many respects it is much the better and more productive for that. It is not a legal entity, but rather an accepted way of working together. It involves six and soon all seven of Victoria's universities, together with VIMS and several other state agencies such as the Museum of Victoria. However, because it is 'a way of working together', a consortium approach does not imply a static consortium. Rather, the boundaries expand and contract, depending on the initiative under consideration and the desirability of including different partners, sometimes outside those listed above.


Organisations in Australian Science at Work - Victorian Institute of Marine Sciences

People in Bright Sparcs - Law, Phillip Garth

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Hammond, Laurie 1992 'A Consortium Approach to Marine Science', Education, Antarctica, Marine Science and Australia's Future: Proceedings of the Phillip Law 80th Birthday Symposium, 23 April 1992, Royal Society of Victoria, pp. 63-70.

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