The NSW Government has announced $12.5 million in funding to support the expansion of the Innovation Precinct at the Lucas Heights campus of the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO).
Following the expansion, ANSTO’s Innovation Precinct will include a next-gen nuclear medicine cluster, to knowledge-share and advance the development of diagnostics and therapies to progress the treatment of cancer and other diseases.
It will also include a graduates centre, including 25 new scholarships for graduate students, who will work to grow advanced technology businesses in NSW.
ANSTO CEO, Dr Adi Paterson, said the expansion would support the delivery of significant medical and technological advances that could have an impact on all Australians.
“ANSTO is a world-leading nuclear research facility – the ground-breaking technology being developed here is amongst the best across the globe,” Dr Paterson said.
“The thing with ground-breaking techniques and technologies is that you have to keep breaking the ground, and for that you need investment, so we are very pleased to welcome Minister Anderson here today.”
He said the funding support from the NSW Government would help advance the development of nuclear medical technology and boost the local economy, with the potential for 5,000 additional jobs to be created in the broader precinct over coming years.
“It will be a place where research and industry meet, to ensure that what happens in a lab or at a science facility is developed into real outcomes that benefit all Australians,” Dr Paterson continued.
“With a vision for this scale, you have to start somewhere, and that is nandin. This funding will evolve nandin into a full-service innovation hub to enable research by design, collaboration, innovation and entrepreneurship.”
Minister for Better Regulation and Innovation, Kevin Anderson, who visited ANSTO to be briefed on how the NSW Government’s investment will assist scientists, students, start-ups and industries in NSW, said the investment into a world-class precinct for business, students, scientists, and startups will ultimately end up delivering improved treatments for cancers and other diseases.
“And this initiative which is evolving here today will prove to be the training ground for the next generation of scientists and engineers. We are talking about the smart jobs of the future right here in NSW,” Mr Anderson concluded.
