Water recycling fellowships to build skills and partnerships

A fellowship program aiming to stimulate collaborative research between the water re-use industry and academia has been launched by the Australian Water Recycling Centre of Excellence.

The Industry and Academic Exchange Program (Centre Fellowship) will provide the opportunity for water industry professionals and researchers to spend time in each others’ worlds to undertake collaborative projects, develop new skills and foster knowledge transfer.

Centre CEO Dr Mark O’Donohue said the fellowship represents a significant investment in the sustainability of the national water re-use industry and will result in strengthened working relationships.

“The scale of investment and structure of the program are a first for the Australian water industry - we’ve committed $250,000 and are allowing a great deal of flexibility in how the funding is used to support the fellows’ work,” Dr O’Donohue said.

“The Centre Fellowship provides opportunities for fellows to step outside their everyday work; to really expand their horizons and take a fresh approach to addressing a particular need or challenge.

“The centre is expecting a high level of interest in the program, particularly from industry professionals as they don’t typically have access to these types of exchange programs.”

Exchanges could last up to six months and be used to undertake a full research project, pilot or feasibility study, technical exchange or study of best practice methodologies. Project initiatives may be a proof of concept or allow the required industry/research collaboration to overcome an existing challenging issue within a broader project.

As well as demonstrating significant value for the fellow - including gaining new skills or knowledge - proposed projects need to have strategic relevance and value for each partner organisation.

“We’re looking for proposals that will create value greater than the individual benefits to the fellow and each partner,” Dr O’Donohue said.

“In particular, we’re interested in proposals that will enhance research linkages to form strong and lasting industry-academic relationships, leading to closer collaboration between industry and researchers in future.”

Interested water professionals and researchers should click here for further information on the Centre Fellowship and the application process. Applications are due by 28 February 2013.