Latest Insights
International Women’s Day: a balanced report
The theme for IWD2019 (8 March) is #BalanceforBetter: The better the balance, the better the world. The bad news We still have far to go before the Australian workforce is gender-balanced. Firstly, there are financial imbalances: Full-time average weekly...
Attitudes to part-timers and flexible work key to management diversity
In my youth, I didn’t think about diversity, much. My Hungarian father came to Australia on a boat with his resilient and resourceful parents in 1949, but that wasn’t unusual in our neighbourhood.
Turning 7!
To be frank, when I started gemaker, I hoped that it might last three years before I had to give up playing start-up CEO in my garage and find a ‘real’ job. My wildest dream was to make a positive difference to Australian innovation and research...
Highlights from Science Meets Business
Every year, Science Meets Business brings together leaders in STEM and private industry to increase understanding and cooperation between these two complex sectors. In 2018, Science Meets Business focused on the theme ‘High Tech and Big Data’. The opening video...
Networking not working? Here’s the smarter alternative
Who likes networking? I ask this routinely when training researchers in industry engagement. The response is always a collective groan. Maybe networking is fun for exceptionally extroverted people, but for most of us, it seems fitting that the word includes ‘work’,...
How small business can have a big impact on STEM education
To sustain Australia’s STEM industries, businesses need to step up and help schools and teachers to educate and motivate the next generation of innovators. You don’t need to be a large corporation to have a positive impact on STEM education, as demonstrated by...
Commercialisation and Startups
Commercialisation Recommendations and Cautions for CRCs
This article is based on Natalie Chapman’s presentation at the annual conference of the Cooperative Research Centres Association in May 2018. I’ve been commercialising innovations arising from research organisations for 17 years. Over this time, I’ve been involved...
#AUSinnovates Launch – So what’s innovation doing for us anyway?
A new social media campaign launching today aims to turn the talk about Australia’s R&D commercialisation on its head by celebrating and highlighting their marketplace success. The #AUSinnovates campaign is the brainchild of gemaker, an award-winning...
Commercialising your innovation: fund, market and focus…or fail
I’ve spent a good part of the last 16 years helping researchers and innovators bring their ideas out of the lab and into the market. I’ve witnessed the development of numerous innovations from ideas through to tests, prototypes and scale-ups,...
Commercialisation in botanical terms – Sowing the seeds of technology transfer
Download the industry engagement graphic which explains what technology transfer is, why it doesn't work so well in Australia and how we can improve it with better industry engagement by researchers. Originally I trained as a chemist, but...
Celebrating 5 years with lessons learnt!
Each phase is a learning experience, with new challenges and financial risk. We are on a steep growth trajectory, which causes some pain, but also brings plenty of opportunity and excitement.
Research-Industry Engagement
Highlights from Science Meets Business
Every year, Science Meets Business brings together leaders in STEM and private industry to increase understanding and cooperation between these two complex sectors. In 2018, Science Meets Business focused on the theme ‘High Tech and Big Data’. The opening video...
Networking not working? Here’s the smarter alternative
Who likes networking? I ask this routinely when training researchers in industry engagement. The response is always a collective groan. Maybe networking is fun for exceptionally extroverted people, but for most of us, it seems fitting that the word includes ‘work’,...
How small business can have a big impact on STEM education
To sustain Australia’s STEM industries, businesses need to step up and help schools and teachers to educate and motivate the next generation of innovators. You don’t need to be a large corporation to have a positive impact on STEM education, as demonstrated by...
Researchers need soft skills training to succeed
To address a lack of essential, transferable, ‘soft skills’ training, Deakin University (DU) and Macquarie University (MU) are developing a series of seminars for Early-to-Mid-Career Researchers (EMCRs) working in science, technology, engineering and mathematics...
Advice for early- and mid-career researchers from a diverse thinker (and doer)
If you’re an EMCR who’s considering changing direction and wondering how to reach your desired destination, then the following four tips gained from my successes and failures may help you
Innovation Insights
gemaker rewards young innovators at Australia’s largest science fair
For the tenth year in a row, the University of Wollongong ran the Illawarra Coal Science Fair on 29 November. The 2017 Fair was the biggest ever, attracting more than 1000 students from 85 schools around the region. Associate Professor Stephen Ralph, Head...
What Australian research and innovation can learn from Iceland’s soccer team
Iceland’s win wasn’t a happy accident. The country made a conscious decision to be good at soccer and invested in the sport.
What a party – Tech23 2015 – Celebrating Australian Innovation!
It’s an annual event that showcases 23 startups with high growth potential and technical expertise that are tackling big problems.
Anyone can Innovate!
So what is Innovation and what do you need to do it? Do you need to be a Steve Jobs or Mark Zuckerberg? The answer is no!
Presentation: Innovate or Die – Perquisite Women in Business Dinner
Innovation is the latest buzzword in business and government as it’s been recognised as essential for productivity growth and the transformation of industries in Australia.
Funding Insights
The most overlooked source of funding
The Research and Development (R&D) Tax Incentive is an eligibility entitlement program administered jointly by the Department of Industry, Innovation & Science and the Australian Taxation Office (ATO). The department manages the registration of the company’s...
The R&D Tax Incentive – Supporting Medical, Health and Life Sciences Research
Are you in the medical, health or life sciences sector? Is your company developing cutting-edge technology? If you answered yes, then you’re in good company! Registered expenditure for the R&D Tax Incentive scheme on Medical, Health and Life Sciences...
Reward for innovation: an update on the R&D Tax Incentive
For start-ups and other innovative companies, the R&D Tax Incentive is designed to reduce the cost and risk of undertaking research and development, by reducing their tax.
Strength from the storm: lessons learnt in winning a $450K grant
How would you feel if your start-up received A$450K in an Accelerating Commercialisation grant under the Australian Government’s Entrepreneurs’ Program?
Applying for a funding grant is like applying for a job
You may be the best applicant but it doesn’t guarantee success.
Women in STEM Insights
International Women’s Day: a balanced report
The theme for IWD2019 (8 March) is #BalanceforBetter: The better the balance, the better the world. The bad news We still have far to go before the Australian workforce is gender-balanced. Firstly, there are financial imbalances: Full-time average weekly...
Attitudes to part-timers and flexible work key to management diversity
In my youth, I didn’t think about diversity, much. My Hungarian father came to Australia on a boat with his resilient and resourceful parents in 1949, but that wasn’t unusual in our neighbourhood.
Turning 7!
To be frank, when I started gemaker, I hoped that it might last three years before I had to give up playing start-up CEO in my garage and find a ‘real’ job. My wildest dream was to make a positive difference to Australian innovation and research...
Networking not working? Here’s the smarter alternative
Who likes networking? I ask this routinely when training researchers in industry engagement. The response is always a collective groan. Maybe networking is fun for exceptionally extroverted people, but for most of us, it seems fitting that the word includes ‘work’,...
How small business can have a big impact on STEM education
To sustain Australia’s STEM industries, businesses need to step up and help schools and teachers to educate and motivate the next generation of innovators. You don’t need to be a large corporation to have a positive impact on STEM education, as demonstrated by...
More Insights
Turning 7!
To be frank, when I started gemaker, I hoped that it might last three years before I had to give up playing start-up CEO in my garage and find a ‘real’ job. My wildest dream was to make a positive difference to Australian innovation and research...
Advice for early- and mid-career researchers from a diverse thinker (and doer)
If you’re an EMCR who’s considering changing direction and wondering how to reach your desired destination, then the following four tips gained from my successes and failures may help you
Bioreactor PhD launches careers
Swinburne University's innovative Bioreactor PhD Program was launched only three years ago, with funding from the Australian Research Council (ARC), but the benefits of its entrepreneurial focus are already clear to the program's supervisors, the first cohort of...
Trademarking – to do or not to do, that is the question
What is a trade mark? A trade mark is a ‘sign’ used to distinguish a good/service from similar goods/services of other traders. It could be a business name, a product brand name, a logo, a slogan or a combination of these things. It could even be a colour, shape,...
Notes from Science Meets Business
This year’s Science Meets Business conference was an inspirational mix of policy, practice and promotion aimed at researchers, policy makers and industry partners. Policy There were four presentations from business and political leaders, discussing the...