Australia's national research agency, CSIRO, has a new chief. Metallurgist Geoff Garrett, currently head of South Africa's science agency, will succeed Malcolm McIntosh, who died this year.
Garrett says he will put a priority on expanding the reach of CSIRO's $450 million research program by forging alliances with multinational companies and sister institutes in other nations. Such partnerships could bring a particular payoff in technology transfer to industry, as "there are simply not enough large Australian companies to take advantage of what CSIRO has to offer," says acting CEO Colin Adam.
Garrett also takes a dim view of suggestions to break up CSIRO. The institute employs 6700 people and tackles everything from running the Southern Hemisphere's largest radio telescope to developing new mining and farming techniques. Keeping CSIRO intact, he says, will be essential to producing the multidisciplinary innovations--such as new bioinformatics software--that will help Australia keep pace in the new global economy.
