Bavaria-Queensland Research Alliance awards seed grants for the first time

A research alliance between the Free State of Bavaria and the Australian state of Queensland was launched in April 2024. Seed funding has now been awarded to research projects for the first time.

Bavaria's Science Minister Markus Blume emphasizes: "We are separated by around 15,000 kilometres, but we are joining excellent research teams from Bavaria and Queensland to secure prosperity and stability:  With the first 'Seed Grants' as part of the research alliance with our Australian partner state, we are laying the groundwork for pioneering innovations on two continents. In ten projects on key topics such as AI or energy storage, we are providing excellent Bavarian research teams with up to € 10,000 to collaborate personally with scientists in Queensland. This will turn initial ideas into long-term international collaborations and ultimately market-ready innovations in line with our values – entirely in the spirit of our 5.5 billion Hightech Agenda Bavaria!"

Seed grants have now been awarded for the first time since the research alliance was founded. They amount to up to €10,000 and run for 12 months. The focus is on supporting trips by Bavarian researchers to Queensland in order to promote the establishment of long-term collaborations.

In April 2024, Science Minister Blume gave the go-ahead for a research alliance to promote research projects between Bavaria and Queensland. Funding programs will support collaborations between researchers from different disciplines in both states.

Together with partners from industry and business, Blume and Queensland Science Minister Leanne Linard are driving forward joint research at university level on topics such as greener fuels, energy storage and emissions reduction technologies and the bioeconomy.

„The Queensland-Bavaria Collaborative Research Program is an important component in our ongoing collaboration some of the world’s finest research institutions as we work towards sustainable solutions to the challenges faced around the globe. We continue to move toward a zero-emissions, renewable energy, and a more diversified economic future, and it is crucial we enhance our scientific knowledge and capabilities in the essential areas that will drive this transition. One of my first official acts as Science Minister was signing the research agreement between the Queensland and Bavarian state governments to formalise our cooperation on world-leading research into greener fuels, energy storage, emission reduction technologies, and the broader bioeconomy. It is very pleasing to move into the next phase of this program – seeing real world projects coming to fruition.”

The funding programs will be organized and coordinated by the new Bavaria-Australia Coordination Unit at the University of Bayreuth. 

The researchers can now get started:

"We are excited that the Seed Fund is enabling us to explore a novel collaboration with the teams in Queensland that would not have been possible under most other funding schemes." Prof. Dr. Nicole Strittmatter, Professor für Analytical Chemistry, Technical University of Munich

"The Bavaria-Queensland Research Alliance will support pilot experiments at the project partners' test facilities. In this way, globally unique experimental conditions can be achieved, which, among other things, enable the extensive testing of a novel, high-time-resolution measurement methodology."   Prof. Dr.-Ing. Tim Rödiger, Professor of Fluid Mechanics, Heat Transfer and Energy Technology, University of Applied Sciences Landshut