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Australian Science, Australia's Future

Analysing Australia’s science capability to meet national challenges informed by the forces shaping our economy, the ASAF report identifies the eight science capabilities increasing most in demand over the coming decade.

Time to change

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The Australian Academy of Science has launched one of the most ambitious policy efforts in our history: Australian Science, Australia’s Future: Science 2035.

There has never been a national effort to systematically assess Australia’s science capability against its future needs – until now. The Australian Academy of Science has launched one of the most ambitious policy efforts in our history: Australian Science, Australia’s Future: Science 2035.
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What we found

This initiative analysed Australia’s science capability to meet three national challenges informed by the forces shaping the economy listed in the Australian Government’s 2023 Intergenerational Report.
See what the data reveals
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Gaps in capability

The Academy’s report projects capability gaps in eight key science areas that will be most in demand by 2035: agricultural science, AI, biotechnology, climate science, data science, epidemiology, geoscience, and materials science.
Deep dive into the gap analysis
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Our novel method

Australian Science Australia’s Future: Science 2035 uses a novel method to address a critical gap in science policy: how to measure and predict a country's future scientific capability against its national ambitions. The methodology was developed by the Australian Academy of Science and combined foresight techniques, qualitative research methods, and data forecasting to create a comprehensive evidence base for Australia’s scientific capability.
Explore the methodology
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Read the report

Australia faces unprecedented challenges: geopolitical uncertainty, rapid technological change, declining STEM participation and an aging population. To meet these challenges, we need a science and technology uplift in both skills and capability to prosper, and we need it now.
Read the report
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Chubb and Teasdale ASAF launch

Nation-leading science advice

The Academy is uniquely placed to deliver this type of project – its independence, convening power, the deep expertise of its Fellows, and the experience of its secretariat combine to provide authority, credibility and impact that is unmatched. If you would like to know more, we invite you to contact the Academy to learn more about applying our method to your initiatives and providing evidence to inform your decisions.
Find out more