Research Initiatives and Infrastructure

About Us

Research Initiatives and Infrastructure (RII) is a small and agile team within the Research and Innovation Portfolio at ANU. We support university-scale cross-disciplinary research entities and research infrastructure platforms by providing strategic advice and project management support across investment, governance, and policy development. 

RII contributes to the University's mission to address global challenges by enabling ambitious, collaborative research entities and cutting-edge research infrastructure. Our work underpins a high-impact ecosystem that supports research excellence at ANU.

Our Values

We are guided by five core values in everything we do: Integrity, Curiosity, Commitment, Creativity, and Kindness.

Our Work

Research Infrastructure

ANU hosts a rich and diverse portfolio of advanced research infrastructure capabilities across all research domains. As Australia's national university, we have one of the largest footprints of the Australian Government’s National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS). 

The RII team support this ecosystem by making strategic coordination on investments, leading and supporting a wide range of projects that aim to break down silos, facilitate collaboration, and enhance visibility and impact of our research infrastructure ecosystem. The team actively engage in national consultations and respond to evolving strategic priorities to ensure ANU remains a key contributor to Australia’s research infrastructure landscape.

The RII team coordinates the University’s participation in major national research infrastructure funding schemes and internal allocation programs of research infrastructure resource, including:

• ARC Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities (LIEF)
• National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Equipment Grants
• NCI ANU Merit Allocation Scheme (ANUMAS)
• Access to the Australian Synchrotron
• Major Equipment Grants (2022-2023) - View archived outcomes

RII directly oversees several research infrastructure teams and facilities across the University, including:

• ANU Collections
• ACCESS-NRI, Australia’s climate simulator
• Australian Research Data Commons ARDC
• Heavy Ion Accelerators (HIA)
• National Computational Infrastructure (NCI)
• Phenomics Australia (PA)
• Scholarly Information Services (SIS)
• Statistical Support Network (SSN)

RII also provide secretariat support to the Research Infrastructure Committee and the ANU-ANSTO Strategic Relationship Committee. 

Cross-Disciplinary Strategic Research Entities

RII support the governance and strategic development of cross-disciplinary research entities that align with Australia’s National Science and Research Priorities and ANU Cross-Disciplinary Research Priorities. 

We provide advice on governance framework and project coordination to help these University-level research entities connect disciplines, give a dedicated vehicle for engaging industry, policy makers and communities, and pursue high-impact research outcomes that address complex national and global challenges.

RII directly oversees several ANU cross-disciplinary strategic research institutes, including:

• Agrifood Innovation Institute (AFII)
• Defence Institute
• Nuclear Stewardship Initiative
• Institute for Space (InSpace)
• Integrated Artificial Intelligence (IAI)
• Institute for Climate, Energy & Disaster Solutions (ICEDS)

Learn more on our Strategic Research Initiatives website.