The Cooperative Research Centres Association is a not-for-profit organisation operating to promote the pursuit of science, particularly through the Australian Government’s CRC Program.
The Cooperative Research Centres (CRC) Program was established in 1990 to improve the effectiveness of Australia’s research effort through bringing together researchers in the public and private sectors with the end users. The CRC Program links researchers with industry and government with a focus towards research application. The close interaction between researchers and the end users is the defining characteristic of the Program. Moreover, it allows end users to help plan the direction of the research as well as to monitor its progress. The CRC Program offers support to industry, research and the community through two elements:
- Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) grants – supporting medium to long term industry-led collaborations, up to 10 years. Since the commencement of the Program, there have been nineteen CRC selection rounds, resulting in the establishment of over 215 CRCs. CRCs operate across the Manufacturing, Information and Social Services, Mining and Infrastructure, Agriculture, Environmental Services, and Medical Service sectors.
- Cooperative Research Centres Projects (CRC-P) grants – supporting short term, industry-led collaborative research, up to 3 years.
