UOW dissolves key Innovation Campus research centre, jobs may be lost

University management has proposed changes to the AIIM which would result in the institute essentially being dismantled, with some of its parts being absorbed by general faculties.

It's part of the rolling restructures at UOW following external consultants' and internal reviews across the university.

The AIIM has long been a prominent part of UOW's Innovation Campus, with a purpose-built home front and centre of the campus since 2012.

The high-profile director of its Intelligent Polymer Research Institute, Distinguished Professor Gordon Wallace, is a former winner of the Eureka Prize and Wollongong Australia Day ambassador, while the other organisations are also led by eminent researchers.

UOW said researchers would stay on campus, but did not respond to questions about whether there may be job losses. The National Tertiary Education Union anticipates there will be.

Of AIIM's four research organisations listed by UOW, two - the Intelligent Polymer Research Institute (IPRI) and the Institute for Superconducting and Electronic Materials (ISEM) - would become part of the Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences.

A third, the University of Wollongong Electron Microscopy Centre (EMC), would be run by a centralised research management "platform" which will absorb AIIM's administration.

A statement from a UOW spokesman did not mention what happens to the fourth, the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Electromaterials Science (ACES).

NTEU Wollongong branch president Fiona Probyn-Rapsey said the move was worrying.

"Staff are deeply concerned about the centralisation of research funds and direction under the current deputy vice-chancellor (research) David Currow," she said.

Professor David Currow called the restructure "the beginning of a new chapter in our pursuit of excellence".

"The decision comes after extensive consultation and careful consideration, honouring the legacy and ongoing value of AIIM's programs," he said.

"Our commitment to our staff, partners, and the broader community remains steadfast and we will continue to uncover new opportunities, contribute to the field of materials research, and deliver impact for the good of our community."

The Mercury has been told a second consultation meeting about this proposal was planned for January when staff had returned from leave, but that vice-chancellor Patricia Davidson had gone ahead and approved the changes already.

AIIM was "a purpose-built facility at the University of Wollongong's Innovation Campus to help transform multi-functional materials research into commercial reality", the UOW website states.

A year ago the Intelligent Polymer Research Institute was part of a group awarded $7 million in funding for stem cell research into joint disease treatment.

It's dissolution is a blow for the Innovation Campus, where commercial tenants are no longer required to have a research component as part of their operations, as they were when it was founded.