Sailing the Marine Knowledge Landscape with RLA

The Challenge

The Fisheries Research and Development Corporation (FRDC) invests in research and development (R&D) for fishing and aquaculture. It is currently the only RDC operating primarily in the marine science space and, thus, has a unique research landscape to understand compared to other RDCs that have a primarily agricultural focus.

To date, there have only been a handful of initiatives undertaken to synthesise cross-RDC research, and even fewer attempts to synthesise RDC-funded activities with research generated outside the RDC sphere (i.e. by universities). The FRDC seeks  to actively explore research from the broader corpus of marine knowledge, enabling informed decisions on research investments and enhancing the discoverability of its own research.

The Response

Currently, the FRDC and other RDCs make research discoverable via websites, cross-RDC platforms such as GrowAg, or initiatives such as the RDC Knowledge Transfer and Commercialisation (RDC KTC).

The ARDC Research Link Australia (RLA) platform provides an opportunity to trial how FRDC research can be made more discoverable and accessible, complementing these existing mechanisms. Furthermore, the RLA service provides an opportunity for the FRDC to explore and better understand the marine science landscape, explore the agricultural innovation landscape, and identify potential research partners. Also, RLA presents an opportunity to facilitate more cross-sectoral research opportunities.

Capitalising on RLA, this project seeks to:

1. share FRDC research project details to be made available on the RLA platform, thereby making it more discoverable, accessible and usable
2. explore different knowledge tools (i.e. RLA-generated dashboards or applications of large language models or LLMs) to better understand the marine science space and explore the agricultural innovation landscape
3. make the RLA platform known within the wider marine science community and across different RDCs and encourage adoption.

Our Partners

• Fisheries Research and Development Corporation (FRDC)
• National Marine Science Committee
• Volve

Target Outcomes

This project aims to:

• make FRDC research more discoverable, accessible, and usable
• explore and better understand the marine science and agricultural innovation landscapes, and identification of potential research partners
• explore and facilitate more cross-sectoral research opportunities.

Key Resources

• Visit ARDC Research Link Australia.
• Learn about the main Research Link Australia (RLA) Project.