CRCSI-2

Letter to all CRCSI-2 participant personnel …

Progress report on creation of CRCSI-2

 

I am writing to you in my capacity as Chair of the Steering Committee for CRCSI-2 to update you on progress.

 

Minister Carr approved the establishment of CRCSI-2 on 6 August 2009.  Approval was granted for the CRCSI-2 proposal as submitted at the time of application. But the Commonwealth funding was $8.0 million less than requested, which means the total cash budget will now be $60.6 million. This change will require careful planning and adjustment to the range of activities for the CRC in order to meet it original objectives.

 

The Commonwealth has asked us to start CRCSI-2 on 1 January 2010. This will require us to complete two critical agreements fairly quickly. The first is the Commonwealth Agreement which secures the $32.2 million of Commonwealth funding over the next 8½ years. The second is the Participants’ Agreement which brings in all of the 115 or so founding participants in CRCSI-2. Both of these agreements will need to be executed in mid-December 2009.

 

A number of briefings are in train to ensure that everyone who is a member of a participant organisation in CRCSI-2 has the opportunity to become engaged in its development.  These include:

 

• a roadshow of briefings lead by Peter Woodgate with invitations to all participants for discussions on establishing CRCSI-2. We hope participants will raise any issues that are of concern at these meetings. The proposed dates for these meetings are:
  • Adelaide:                     Monday 9 November
  • Perth:                          Tuesday 10 November
  • Brisbane:                     Monday 16 November
  • Sydney:                       Tuesday 17 November
  • Wellington NZ:            Thursday 19 November
  • Melbourne:                  Friday 20 November
  • Darwin:                        Tuesday 2 February 2010
  • Canberra:                    Thursday 4 February
  • Hobart:                        Friday 5 February
  • Armidale:                     Monday 8 February

These briefings will last up to 2 hours. Times and venues will be advised shortly.

 

• workshops for each of the programs and sub-programs to continue the development of the research strategies prior to Christmas.  These workshops will be open to interested participants in CRCSI-2.  Dates and venues will be advised separately.

 

• a Participants’ Forum for all people involved in CRCSI-2 in March 2010. The date and venue will be advised in due course.

 

The current focus of planning for CRCSI-2 is on the legal requirements and timelines to meet the Commonwealth signoffs.  At this stage there have been no decisions regarding formulation of specific research projects, recruitment of researchers, or allocation of budgets.  Such decisions will be held over until the new Board is appointed. I suggest we hold the first board meeting in late January or early February 2010. We anticipate that detailed development of the overall business plan for CRCSI-2 will happen in February-May 2010 with a view to significantly ramping up research activities in July and beyond.

 

This is a most exciting time for us all. Thank you all for your ongoing support and for your timely response on the legal document drafts sent out recently.

 

Kind regards

 

 

Mary O’Kane

Chair, CRCSI-2 Steering Committee