Based at the University of Adelaide (UoA), the Australian Research Council (ARC) Training Centre for Innovative Wine Production (TC-IWP) was one of the first funded Centres in 2013.
Led by Professor Vladimir Jiranek, the experienced IWP team (with 75 prior HDR completions between them) recruited 13 HDR students to work collaboratively in a ‘grape to glass’, multi-faceted approach to tackling key issues facing the wine industry.
The high quality and innovative team supervision environment was underpinned by four key elements:
- formalised, structured and diverse supervision – panels of 2 or more, including university academic(s) of complementary expertise and a relevant industry expert, usually from a partner organisation.
- no student works alone” – ensuring collaboration among all the Centre projects
- a menu of development opportunities – informed by training needs assessments, a range of skills development programs and supported by biannual road trips and technical tours of wine regions
- acknowledging and supporting research as a national and international pursuit – through national visits and seminars and international placements
The outcomes of the TC- IWP were significant: 12 timely completions, 34 HDR authored or co-authored scientific articles, 12 trade articles and 10 technical notes along with a wide and impressive range of industry collaborations and commercial outputs. Most importantly, all 12 HDR graduates found employment in a diverse range of settings: 2 as lecturers, 4 as post docs, 2 in government, 4 in industry and one started his own wine business.
Other members of the Award winning IWC team are:
A/Prof David Jeffery
Prof Kerry Wilkinson
Prof Steve Tyerman
Dr Renata Ristic
Prof Leigh Schimdtke