The NSW government has allocated $40 million to a new Biosciences Fund.
Liberal minister for science, innovation and technology, Alister Henskens, said fund would provide a platform for the state’s best minds and most agile new businesses to solve pressing issues in areas such as health and the environment.
The fund is intended to boost the NSW government’s support of innovative researchers, entrepreneurs and start-up businesses in the biological sciences space over the next four years. The structure is based on the NSW government’s Physical Sciences Fund.
“This new program will provide financial and entrepreneurial support for start-ups developing cutting edge technologies, helping navigate the often difficult transition between early-stage development and commercial success,” Henskens said.
“We want to foster fresh ideas and innovations that will address challenges in energy, health the environment and waste, and grow successful businesses that create new jobs and industries that will help secure a brighter future for NSW.”
The fund will consider applications that target one of three priority industries identified in the government’s NSW Industry Development Framework: agriculture/agrifoods, medical and life sciences, and clean energy and waste management.
NSW chief scientist and engineer Professor Hugh Durrant-White, said the fund was designed to build on areas where NSW had a competitive advantage.
“This fund will support projects across the branches of the biological sciences including exciting and relatively new fields such as biomanufacturing, genetic engineering, synthetic biology and agrifoods,” Professor Durrant-Whyte said.
Image: NSW minister for science, innovation and technology, Alister Henskens.