I am delighted to announce that six Australian researchers holding prestigious positions overseas will be returning to Australia after being named among the first recipients of the Federal Government's Federation Fellowships.
A further eight of our best researchers will be retained in Australia under this important initiative announced earlier this year as part of the $3 billion Backing Australia's Ability innovation action plan.
These Fellowships help ensure Australian ideas translate into Australian jobs and a higher standard of living.
Our researchers are vital to Australia's future in an increasingly competitive and technologically advanced world.
Whether returning from prestigious posts abroad or remaining here, this elite team places Australia at the forefront of innovation in a range of important and potentially lucrative fields including telecommunications, biotechnology and quantum computing.
I congratulate the Fellowship recipients. I, along with all Australians, look forward to the outcomes of their research and the flow-on economic and social benefits for Australia.
Under the Fellowship scheme, each recipient will receive a salary of $1.125 million over five years, or $225,000 a year, making it the most prestigious and richest publicly-funded research Fellowship ever offered in Australia. It is awarded on the advice of the Australian Research Council (ARC).
The Government will award a total of up to 125 Federation Fellowships over the next five years. The next round of recipients will be announced in the early part of 2002. The funding is part of an extra $736 million for the Australian Research Council over the next five years.
25 September 2001