Media releases

Federation University and the Australian Research Data Commons (ARDC) have announced a new project that will accelerate research innovation and enhance the Agricultural Research Federation (AgReFed) platform. 

The AgReFed platform supports collaboration and innovative insights in agricultural research, development and policy by improving the discoverability of trusted, reusable and analysis-ready agricultural research data across Australia.

This project is one of 16 new collaborative projects in the ARDC 2020 Platforms program designed to encourage radical changes in the way research is conducted and/or dramatically increase the speed of research.

Federation University will lead the new project to increase the platform’s ability to adapt to the way that agricultural researchers collect, describe, and disseminate their research findings.

This will address some challenges faced by about 80 per cent of agricultural researchers, who perform data management and analysis on desktop computers. Many have limited access to platforms, workflows and analysis tools designed for agricultural research. 

The changes will allow researchers to better access trusted, reusable agricultural data. This will facilitate data reuse and cross-discipline collaborations for novel research insights and practical applications in policy, reporting and on-ground decision making. 

Quotes attributable to Federation University Associate Professor Helen Thompson, AgReFed Council Chair and Director, Centre for eResearch and Digital Innovation 

“This funding will enable AgReFed to accelerate its activities towards providing access to agricultural research data from across Australia.” 

“We are delighted that Federation University, QCIF (EcoCommons), Sydney Informatics Hubs (University of Sydney) and international partners will collaborate on the AgReFed platform technologies.” 

Quotes attributable to Rosie Hicks, CEO, Australian Research Data Commons

“The ARDC is driving the adoption of technologies that enable researchers to pursue and solve problems in ways previously thought impossible.”

“In collaboration with Federation University and the many partners involved in the AgReFed platform, we’re catalysing research innovation by unlocking information that exists in the extensive agriculture data and providing world-class research infrastructure.”