Celebrating 20 Years of NCRIS

*NCRIS Directors at the Parliament House Reception. Image: Fanny Peters AuScope edited*

The National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS) has powered some of Australia's most important scientific discoveries. By investing in shared research infrastructure, expert technical staff and national collaboration, NCRIS has given researchers access to capabilities that no single organisation could build alone. To mark 20 years of impact NCRIS facility leaders, researchers, policymakers and industry partners gathered in Canberra on the 29th and 30th of June 2026 to celebrate this milestone.

Twenty years of investing in Australia's future

*The NCRIS@20 Symposium brought together researchers, policymakers, industry partners and NCRIS facility leaders. Image: Nicolas Rakotopare*

Since its establishment in 2006, NCRIS has transformed how Australia delivers research infrastructure. Rather than duplicating expensive equipment across institutions, NCRIS has created nationally coordinated facilities that are shared by researchers, government and industry. This unique collaborative model gives Australians access to world-class technology, trusted data and specialist expertise while delivering greater value from public investment.

Today, NCRIS supports 26 nationally significant research infrastructure projects that help address challenges including climate change, critical minerals, health, agriculture, advanced manufacturing and natural hazards. Together, these capabilities have received more than $5.5 billion in Australian Government investment.

"By investing in shared national research infrastructure, NCRIS has created the bedrock that allows Australia to respond to emerging technologies and national challenges."”
– CELEBRATING 20 YEARS of the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS), June 2026

More than infrastructure

*The Department of Education NCRIS 20th Anniversary Booklet highlights the impact of NCRIS’s 20 years. You can read it* *here*.

The success of NCRIS is not only measured by the facilities it supports, but by the people who make them possible. Across Australia, more than 1,900 technical experts work alongside researchers, helping them apply new technologies, solve complex problems and unlock discoveries that deliver benefits well beyond the laboratory. This combination of cutting-edge infrastructure and highly skilled expertise has become one of Australia's greatest research strengths.

"NCRIS is more than just the ‘kit’ – its success is turbocharged by the understanding that infrastructure alone does not drive discovery.
It is the investment in the highly skilled professionals whose expertise ensures researchers can fully realise the benefits of these capabilities."
– The Hon Julian Hill MP, Assistant Minister for International Education

NCRIS satellite events

*A selection of images from state-based celebrations across Australia. Image: Supplied*

To recognise these contributions, the NCRIS@20 celebrations held community breakfasts across Australia. Researchers, technical specialists, professional staff and partners came together to celebrate the people behind Australia's national research infrastructure, with each event live-streaming the Canberra symposium and marking the occasion with cake, badges, quizzes and shared celebrations.

AuScope's role in the NCRIS story

As Australia's provider of Earth and geospatial science research infrastructure, AuScope has been part of the NCRIS story since the beginning. Through nationally coordinated instruments, data platforms and scientific expertise, AuScope enables researchers to better understand Earth's structure, discover critical mineral resources, improve natural hazard monitoring and build the evidence needed to support Australia's environmental and economic resilience.

Looking ahead

Australia's world-leading research infrastructure has delivered extraordinary returns for two decades, driving innovation, strengthening sovereign capability and supporting economic growth. Yet without a long-term funding commitment beyond 2028–29, this national capability faces a significant funding cliff that risks eroding critical expertise, disrupting long-term research, and weakening Australia's future competitiveness.

As recognised in the NCRIS@20 Statement, national research infrastructure must be treated as a long-term sovereign asset. Now is the time for governments, industry and the research sector to work together to secure enduring investment that protects this essential capability for future generations.

As NCRIS celebrates its twentieth anniversary, AuScope joins research infrastructure providers across Australia in recognising the people, partnerships and shared vision that have made the past two decades possible, while looking ahead to the discoveries that the next twenty years will bring.

“Together, these achievements show why NCRIS has mattered for the past 20 years – and why it remains vital for Australia’s research future.”
– CELEBRATING 20 YEARS of the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS), June 2026

NCRIS@20 Statement

STORY IN A NUTSHELL

Researchers, government, industry and NCRIS leaders gathered in Canberra to celebrate 20 years of NCRIS enabled research infrastructure, recognising the national collaboration, expertise and shared investment that deliver world class research and impact for Australia.

FURTHER INFORMATION