UNSW has won the largest share of any Australian university in the latest round of Federal Government research funding, receiving 15 percent of the $31.6 million on offer under the Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities (LIEF) Projects scheme.

UNSW won more than $4.7 million in new equipment and facilities for a range of projects including the testing of motor vehicles for their safety during rollovers; new ways of designing materials and drugs; sophisticated genetic studies aimed at developing medical, agricultural and biological discoveries; and the search for planets elsewhere in the Universe.

The successful projects were announced by Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research, Senator Kim Carr.

Senator Carr said the grants would see Australian institutions collaborate with a large number of national, international and other government organisations.

The largest amount awarded to UNSW was $1 million to a team of researchers in the field of nanotechnology developing novel materials, polymers and drugs. The money will be used to purchase a high field solid state and multinuclear NMR spectrometer.

Another team was awarded $950,000 for a new genomics facility to undertake environmental, medical and evolutionary studies based on recent advances in DNA sequencing.

UNSW's funding was the highest amount awarded to any of the 22 successful universities. The Australian National University was second ($4.6m), followed by the University of Queensland ($2.7m), University of Western Australia ($2.5m), University of Sydney ($2.35m), Monash University ($2.3m) and the University of Melbourne ($2.1m).

Media contact: Steve Offner | 02 9385 8107 | s.offner@unsw.edu.au