Image: John Piggott AO,
Words by John Piggott AO, CEPAR Director and Scientia Professor of Economics at UNSW Business School
In this final newsletter of the year, I want to begin by paying tribute to the CEPAR community. COVID-19 and the associated restrictions have made life challenging for many of us. Meeting face-to-face has become a kind of luxury.
But CEPAR ends the year with an outstanding record of publication, grant application, conference organisation and participation, outreach and engagement, and mentoring, as excellent as it has ever been. This has only been possible because of the commitment of our researchers, and equally our professional staff, who have responded to the new environment in which we have all been working with determination and creativity. Marc de Cure, our Advisory Board Chair and Adjunct Professor at CEPAR, UNSW Business School, and our Advisory Board, have provided valuable input on the various actions we have taken to retain impetus, and the Board’s engagement has been stronger than ever through this difficult time.
The positive Mid-Term Review by CEPAR’s primary funder, the Australian Research Council (ARC), was very heartening. Measured against the seven ARC Centre of Excellence Program objectives, we were judged to have met all to a high standard. We have responded to all the recommendations that flowed through from the Review, and implementation has already begun.
As we enter 2022, we will begin to explore how CEPAR’s legacy can be carried forward beyond the end of the funding term, which concludes during 2024. Outcomes from grant applications, and various other initiatives, will determine this future.
I would also like to take this opportunity to particularly congratulate CEPAR Senior Research Fellow Dr Tim Neal, who received a prestigious Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia (ASSA) Early Career Research Award this year. Please join me in congratulating Tim, and all our researchers who have received awards and prizes this year.
This will be the last newsletter of the year. Let me take this opportunity to wish all of you peace and happiness this holiday season, and I look forward to engaging with you in the new year. We are very much looking forward to 2022, which we hope will present us with expanded opportunities to pursue our very important mission.