During the rebid process in 2009, the Poultry CRC applied for a Science Leveraging Fund (SLF) Grant from the New South Wales Government and was successful in obtaining $500,000.
This fund was specifically designed to support poultry research facilities in NSW-based universities that were partners in the Poultry CRC bid. At the time of the application, the University of New England (UNE) was the only university that provided the necessary information enabling the CRC to submit the application in time. The CRC, in turn, provided these funds to UNE to deliver the Services to the CRC, under the leadership of Professor Steve Walkden-Brown and Mr Andrew Gasbarri.
This agreement represents a tremendous opportunity for the Australian poultry industry in terms of enhancing research capacity and skills development. The project has a number of objectives, including the establishment of the world’s first closed circuit calorimeter facility at UNE, which will be an invaluable resource for the nation’s nutrition researchers and aligns directly with the CRC’s focus on Net Energy research. Another objective pertains to the upgrading of UNE’s Poultry Research Farm which will greatly improve the State of New South Wales’ and the nation’s ability to deliver world-class education and training in poultry science and production.
The NSW SLF is designed to add to the State’s research and development capacity by increasing the competitiveness of bids made by NSW research consortia, to a range of Commonwealth research funding programs. The fund is an important innovation tool, allowing the NSW Government to invest across the innovation landscape to provide research infrastructure, skills development, education and training in line with the State’s policy priorities in areas such as Health, Agriculture, alternative energy, ICT and Climate Change.
