Universities Australia is an organisation founded in Sydney in May 1920, which attempts to advance higher education through voluntary, cooperative and coordinated action. After being based for a time in both Sydney and Melbourne, its offices relocated to Canberra in 1966. It is a private company whose members are Australia's 39 universities. The universities are represented by their vice-chancellors.
The European Research Council (ERC) is a public body for funding of scientific and technological research conducted within the European Union (EU). Established by the European Commission in 2007, the ERC is composed of an independent Scientific Council, its governing body consisting of distinguished researchers, and an Executive Agency, in charge of the implementation. It forms part of the framework programme of the union dedicated to research and innovation, Horizon 2020, preceded by the Seventh Research Framework Programme (FP7). The ERC budget is over €13 billion from 2014 – 2020 and comes from the Horizon 2020 programme, a part of the European Union's budget. Under Horizon 2020 it is estimated that around 7,000 ERC grantees will be funded and 42,000 team members supported, including 11,000 doctoral students and almost 16,000 post-doctoral researchers.
Mahatma Gandhi University (MGU), commonly referred to as MG University, is a state owned public university headquartered in Kottayam in the state of Kerala, India. It was established on 2 October 1983 on Gandhi Jayanti day. Mahatma Gandhi University (formerly Gandhiji University) has been approved by University Grants Commission (UGC) and accredited (A) by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council of India. The university has around 300 affiliated colleges spread over five districts in central Kerala.
Margaret Elaine Gardner is an Australian academic and long serving university leader who is the current Vice-Chancellor of Monash University, in office since 2014. She was previously Vice-Chancellor and President of RMIT University from 2005 to 2014, and has a background in economics.
Chris Brink, CBE, FRSSAf is a South African mathematician and academic. He was the Vice-Chancellor of Newcastle University between 2007 and December 2016.
Sir Gareth Gwyn Roberts was a Welsh physicist specialising in semiconductors and molecular electronics, who was influential in British science policy through his chairmanship of several academic bodies and his two reports on the future supply of scientists and how university research should be assessed. He was knighted in 1997 for his services to higher education.
The Office of the Chief Scientist (OCS) is part of the Department of Industry, Science and Resources. Its primary responsibilities are to enable growth and productivity for globally competitive industries. To help realise this vision, the Department has four key objectives: supporting science and commercialisation, growing business investment and improving business capability, streamlining regulation and building a high performance organisation.
Tertiary education in Australia is formal education beyond high school, consisting of both government and private institutions and divided into two sectors; vocational education and training and higher education. 69% of Australians aged 20–64 have a non-school qualification, and 24% have multiple qualifications.
Alan Simon Finkel is an Australian neuroscientist, inventor, researcher, entrepreneur, educator, policy advisor, and philanthropist. He was Australia’s Chief Scientist from 2016 to 2020. Prior to his appointment, his career included Chancellor of Monash University, President of the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering (ATSE), and CEO and founder of Axon Instruments, and CTO for the electric car start-up Better Place Australia.
Fay Gale AO was an Australian cultural geographer and an emeritus professor. She was an advocate of equal opportunity for women and for Aboriginal people.
Sir Vito Antonio Muscatelli is the Principal of the University of Glasgow and one of the United Kingdom's top economists.
The Government Office for Science is a science advisory office in the UK Government. The office advises the Government on policy and decision-making based on science and long-term thinking. It has been led by Professor Dame Angela McLean, the Government Chief Scientific Adviser, since 23 February 2023.
Sir Michael Bayldon Barber is a British former public servant and educationist, best known for serving as Head of the Prime Minister's Delivery Unit under Tony Blair’s government. He was knighted in 2005 for his contributions to improving government. He is the founder and chairman of Delivery Associates, a global advisory firm focussed on working with governments and other public and social impact organisations to help deliver improved outcomes for people around the world.
The University of Nottingham is a public research university in Nottingham, United Kingdom. It was founded as University College Nottingham in 1881, and was granted a royal charter in 1948. The University of Nottingham belongs to the research intensive Russell Group association.
The Campaign for Social Science was launched in 2011 to advocate social science to the UK Government and to the public, at a time of significant change in the higher education system. It campaigns for the restoration of the post of Government Chief Social Science Advisor, promotes social science in the media and on the web, and organises roadshows and other events to emphasise the value of social science.
The Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA) is Australia's independent national quality assurance and regulatory agency for higher education.
Tan Sri Zakri bin Abdul Hamid has had a distinguished career in science as a researcher, educator, administrator and diplomat.
The Australia-China Council (ACC) is a long-standing institution in the Australia-China bilateral relationship. ACC was established by the Government of Australia in 1978 to promote mutual understanding and foster people-to-people relations between Australia and China. ACC combines the cross-sectoral bilateral expertise and advisory capacity of an independent Board appointed by the Minister for Foreign Affairs with the policy-making and management base in the Department of Foreign Affairs & Trade. By the time of the ACC's fortieth anniversary in 2018, it had "funded over 2,600 projects at a value of more than $23 million".
Isabella Caroline McMillen, is an Australian medical and health academic and the incumbent Chief Scientist of South Australia since October 2018. She is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences, a Fellow of the Royal Society of New South Wales and a Bragg Member of the Royal Institution of Australia. She is a Director of Compass Housing Services Co Ltd, the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute, the Australian Science Media Centre and a member of the Council of the University of South Australia.
Julie Leask or Julie-Anne Leask is an Australian social scientist and professor in the Susan Wakil School of Nursing and Midwifery, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney. Leask is a leading researcher on social and behavioural aspects of vaccination and infectious disease prevention. Leask’s research focuses on vaccine uptake, communication, strengthening vaccination programs and policy. Leask’s flagship project is Sharing Knowledge About Immunisation (SKAI) - a vaccination communication package designed to improve vaccination conversations between parents and health care workers. Additionally, Leask is an advisor to the World Health Organization (WHO) on vaccine acceptance and demand issues and was the chair of the WHO Measuring Behavioural and Social Drivers of Vaccination working group (2018-2022).
