The AISRF is the Australian Government's largest bilateral program dedicated to science. It has supported over 370 collaborative activities since 2006.
The AISRF Collaborative Research Projects Round 16 offered grants from $200,000 to $1 million per project, with $3.8 million available in total. Projects needed to address priority areas and challenges common to both countries.
Successful round 16 projects
- La Trobe University is partnering with the Indian Institute of Technology Indore to develop thermal insulation panels from recycled photovoltaic waste (PV panels). The project focuses on high-value reuse of difficult components including glass and silicon wafers. It supports Australia and India's net-zero commitments through sustainable e-waste upcycling.
- Monash University is partnering with the National Institute for Plant Genome Research to engineer thermotolerance in plants using artificial intelligence and genome editing. This will enhance agricultural productivity in rice, a staple food crop of significance to India and Australia.
- University of Southern Queensland is partnering with the Indian Institute of Technology Madras to address an e-waste issue. They will develop eco-friendly methods to recover critical materials from spent batteries using green solvents, ionic liquids and bioleaching.
- The Council of the Queensland Institute of Medical Research is partnering with CBI Society for Medical Education on a unique anti-viral technology for allogeneic T cell production. This collaboration will expand application of this technology to India to address a major unmet need for transplant recipients.
- Queensland University of Technology is partnering with Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology Delhi. This project will design proactive defence mechanisms in quantum machine learning based autonomous systems. It will demonstrate solutions for the safe use of quantum computing in autonomous vehicles.
Fellowships
Early and mid-career researcher fellowships under the AISRF will also support 12 emerging Australian research leaders to undertake 1-3-month collaborative projects at leading Indian scientific institutions. Round 5 supports early and mid-career researchers to build long-term international networks, strengthen research leadership, and accelerate their work through targeted placements with leading partners.
The fellowships will allow 2-way knowledge exchange, helping Australian researchers access complementary expertise, facilities, and methods, while strengthening bilateral linkages between institutions.
More about the program
This long-running program is reinforcing our strong links with researchers in India, with projects benefitting both countries. In 2026 we will celebrate AISRF's 20th anniversary.
India has bilateral research funds in place with many other countries, but AISRF has a few points of difference, including its:
- age and quality of research outputs
- support for projects in critical and emerging technologies like quantum
- focus on shared problems.
