Unveiling the Regional Research Collaboration Program: A groundbreaking partnership initiative
The MedAg Hub partners La Trobe University and Cann Group have joined with SuniTAFE through the Regional Research Collaboration Program (RRCP) to develop an education and training program in protected cropping, with medicinal cannabis as an exemplar. The Australian Department of Education’s RRCP NextGEN - Next Generation protected cropping in a regional manufacturing facility project – will bring high technology research and upskilling for protected cropping to the regions. Working with Cann Group and PharmOut, we are developing an integrated pipeline of education and training to upskill in protected cropping.
La Trobe University has welcomed more than $5 million for an Australian-first, next generation ‘protected cropping’ research and training project that will innovate medicinal cannabis production, and enhance other agricultural industries.
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La Trobe University is committed to delivering distinctive and high-quality degrees that incorporate the needs of businesses and future employers for medicinal agriculture. The recently established AgriBusiness degree is an example of La Trobe’s leadership in this area.
The ARC MedAg Hub recognises the importance of investing in education and training that prepares graduates for a range of careers in industry, from both the perspective of students and employers. This underpins the ARC MedAg Hub’s Capacity Building Platform’s key goal: to enhance industry human capital by developing, co-ordinating and delivering new courses focused directly on challenges faced by the medicinal agriculture industry.
To facilitate this, La Trobe is contributing to the ARC MedAg Hub dedicated supervisors and stipends for PhD Scholarships. The research projects of PhD students will be developed to complement the ARC MedAg Hub's research aims and will be developed in collaboration with the hub's partner organisations to address challenges specific to the Australian sector.
The ARC MedAg Hub will develop multi-disciplinary integrative undergraduate (Honours) and post-graduate (Masters/PhD) projects that include coursework relevant to medicinal agriculture. Students will also receive regulatory and policy framework training, industry mentoring, workshops on project management, IP and commercialisation, public communication, and regulatory and policy framework.
A medicinal agriculture subject will be developed and integrated within La Trobe's existing Masters in Biotechnology and Bioinformatics and made accessible as an elective to undergraduate students enrolled in the Bachelors in AgriBusiness and Bachelor of Agricultural Sciences.
Lead organisation, La Trobe University is key to the educational opportunities and development of the workforce through training and employment opportunities presented through our industry partners.