CSIRO Robot Olympics prize money to train next generation of Aussie scientists

31-08-2022

The CSIRO is providing $1.2 million to support eight robotics scholarships at Queensland University of Technology, targeting high-performing students in groups underrepresented in the industry.

The funds were sourced from the CSIRO’s winnings in its historic podium finish at the 2021 DARPA Subterranean (“SubT”) Challenge. The “SubT” Challenge is a competition organised by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency under the US Department of Defence. It aims to explore new approaches to rapidly map, navigate, and search underground environments.

A world-class robotics research and education institution, QUT has a track record of educating some of the best and brightest minds in the robotics industry.

Professor Elanor Huntington, CSIRO Executive Director of Digital, National Facilities and Collections said the scholarship fund was an investment in the future of Australian robotics and would spread the benefit of the win across the entire community.

“In 2021, a group of robotics experts from Queensland took on the world’s best in a competition dubbed ‘the robot Olympics' and came second in a photo finish,” Professor Huntington said. 

“Using that prize money to educate a diverse cohort of robotics experts – who might be a 2031 DARPA Challenge team - will help Australia seize the AU $22.17 trillion global AI opportunity.

“We know that diversity is the engine room of innovation, and we hope to inspire and support a dynamic new generation of robotics talent,” she said.

Diversity in the Australian robotics industry is one of the key obstacles to its growth according to Robotics Australia Group’s A Robotics Roadmap for Australia 2022 report released late last year. The government's 2021 STEM Equity Monitor reported men accounted for 87 percent of 2020s national STEM-qualified occupations. 

CSIRO and QUT will jointly oversee applicant selection, course design, education, and mentorship. Applications will open in September 2022 and close in 2027.

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