That is according to AFWI Executive Director Dr Joseph Lawrence, who heads the $200 million R&D body — backed by $100 million in federal funding — and said the next round of grants, up to $2.5 million per project, was designed to drive systemic change, not incremental improvement.

It comes as the federal government has committed $54 million to develop modern methods of construction in Australia — part of a broader policy package that has seen prefab and modular housing formally recognised under the National Housing Accord.

And the new call targets the full forest and wood products value chain, with a particular emphasis on modernising industrial timber construction across housing delivery.

Wood Central understands projects must align with at least one of AFWI’s four strategic pillars — Healthier Forests, Maximising Fibre, Climate Solutions, and Housing Innovation — and demonstrate strong co-design with industry partners.

Indicative grants range from $50,000 to $2.5 million. Matching co-contributions of at least 50 per cent of the total project cost are required, with projects able to run for up to four years.

The round follows a two-stage process: an initial expression of interest, followed by an invitation to submit full proposals. AFWI is encouraging researchers and industry proponents to make contact ahead of the opening.

Eligible applicants include universities, CSIRO, industry associations, Indigenous organisations, not-for-profits, state and local governments, and private companies. Projects must be primarily based in Australia and hold a valid ABN. First Nations-led projects, or those incorporating Indigenous perspectives, are specifically welcomed.

• To learn more about the latest AFWI Open Call for Research, click here for more information.

Now, Australian Sustainable Hardwoods (ASH) — the country’s largest hardwood processor — says a $600,000 AFWI-funded research project is helping the industry find its way forward, with new species, new engineered products and new performance data that could change how timber windows are specified in Australia.

Daniel Wright, ASH’s National Business Development Manager, told Wood Central that window manufacturers are a big part of the company’s supply chain — from commodity and painted windows through to high-end architectural manufacturers — mostly across south-eastern states, but with a growing presence in northern New South Wales.

And Wright said the fallout from the decision to cease harvesting in Victorian forests has been immediate. “The window manufacturers of south-east Australia have been forced into a lot of change with the cessation of native timber in Victoria — just like we have,” he said. “But they also have upcoming changes to the NCC, which will structurally change how many of them operate.”

“Of course, what impacts our supply chain also impacts us.”

That disruption created confusion. “We’ve recently seen imported plantation timbers in the window market that don’t meet the specs they are intended for,” Wright said. “This was a direct result of Victoria’s hardwood being suddenly ceased. The window makers were trying to do the right thing, but were forced to make quick decisions.”

As one of the major stakeholders in the AFWI–AGWA Modernising Timber Windows project, led jointly by the Timber Development Association and the Australian Glass and Window Association, Australian Sustainable Hardwoods is providing timber species for testing their performance in modern systems.

“When we were asked to be involved, we saw this project as an opportunity to work together and help the window makers collectively find pathways forward that not only suit their specific needs, but also comply with upcoming changes to the NCC,” Wright said.

The project is also a chance for ASH to advance one of its newer species — Plantation Oak — as the company rebuilds markets lost when Victorian ash was taken away. Made from Shining Gum logs grown in a plantation for pulp, Plantation Oak is upgraded by ASH into higher-end, longer-term applications. Wright said a small part of every log can be used for architectural applications, but the majority needs to be engineered to get the best out of it.

“We’ve had success with Plantation Oak in MASSLAM, but in order to use this fibre in other market segments, we need to help build the standards and examples that everyone can follow with confidence,” he said. ASH is one of 10 timber suppliers involved in the project, alongside the Pentarch Group and others.

Now, the testing programme is about to shift up a gear.

Speaking to Wood Central today, Kylan Low — the Structural Engineer at the Timber Development Association leading the project — said next week’s round will put four configurations through their paces: a double-hung window, an awning and casement window, an awning and double casement window, and a centre bifold door. Low said the configurations are designed to capture various hardware setups used across the industry and will be tested under combined air and water pressure for durations representing storm periods.

In January, Low told Wood Central that the industry had been craving this kind of data for a very long time: “Window data hasn’t kept up with changes in codes, glazing, and timber supply.”

The project has also given a platform to the next generation. Jesse Ross — a Graduate Engineer at AGWA who has been working alongside Low since the project’s inception — recently shared his reflections on what has become his first major engineering project. Ross said that, unlike uPVC and aluminium systems, there was no prime operator in the timber window sector, meaning the entire system had to be built from the ground up.

Early testing revealed that some Australian hardwoods, such as Spotted Gum and Blackbutt, could outperform European staples. But given the project’s focus on species substitution, the team chose to work with the lowest passing species it could find. Designs have settled on 55/58 mm sash profiles with 24 mm glazing pockets, accommodating modern insulated glass units and manufacturable by small-scale workshops.

Ross said the industry engagement phase — travelling to state forums, meeting joiners, hardware suppliers and timber providers — was one of the most eye-opening parts of the experience. He found some joineries still working with outdated designs that didn’t fully comply with AS 2047 or accommodate drained insulated glass units.

“I learned that innovation is not just about creating new ideas,” Ross wrote, “but also about making them accessible to your audience.” The documentation phase — technical manuals, substitution procedures, shop drawings — is now underway, aiming to give any Australian joinery everything it needs to start building with confidence.”

The Modernising Timber Windows project is one of 30 research initiatives funded through AFWI — a $200-million-plus institute backed by $100 million in Commonwealth funding. It is generating new structural and performance data across a range of solid and engineered wood products, testing how timbers perform under AS 2047, Australia’s mandatory standard for windows and external glazed doors.

• To learn more about the Australian Forest and Wood Innovations programme, visit AFWI’s dedicated website.

When asked if they felt compelled to modify their manuscript with text they thought to be wrong, 22% of respondents said yes. According to Frédérique Bordignon, a bibliometrician and research integrity officer at École des Ponts ParisTech, one motivation was to speed up the review process: “It’s a bit concerning.”

The survey found that 88% of respondents had discovered errors in the papers they read, and nearly 4 in 5 took some form of action. And whilst most agreed that formally correcting the scholarly record is the best practice, Bordignon noted that “they prefer off‑the‑record activities like discussion with other peers.”

Forty‑two per cent said they raised issues in private conversations with colleagues, around a third cited problematic papers in their own publications to highlight the errors, and about 30% mentioned them to students during training. Other responses included 28% contacting authors directly to encourage retraction or correction, 22% choosing to ignore the error and never cite it, 13% writing letters or notes to journals, 4% launching replication projects, 4% publishing formal refutations, and 2% commenting on PubPeer, a site where scientists discuss work.

The survey also found that 56% of researchers believed errors should always be corrected, a figure that rose to 82% when considering their own studies. A third of respondents said corrections were necessary only if the error altered the paper’s conclusions.

According to François‑Xavier Coudert, a computational chemist at France’s National Center for Scientific Research who is not involved in the study, all mistakes should be addressed. “Identifying errors and their cause is often a lengthy and effort‑consuming process, so the results should be made available to all readers. This is the only way to have more reproducibility in research.”

Bordignon said greater transparency is needed in the field. “The problem is, it’s sometimes difficult to face the consequence of being critical of someone else,” she explained. “I think we should encourage researchers to be more open to critiques and be more open to flagging the research of others as well because that’s part of science.” She added that chemists should make more use of PubPeer, a view echoed by Coudert, who said, “PubPeer is one platform where that can happen, but it is not necessarily the only one,” before adding that research should be treated like “living” documents, updated dynamically as new results emerge.

“This is exactly what happens with preprints, where all readers know that the ‘final’ published version of the article will be different from the preprint version.”

For more information: Bordignon, F. (2025). On and off-the-record correction practices: A survey-based study of how chemistry researchers react to errors. Accountability in Research, 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1080/08989621.2025.2564106

Designed by Atelier Sérgio Rebelo, the winery is defined by its sweeping mass timber frame—a structure that Sérgio Rebelo, founder of the firm, vividly described as “the skeleton of an ancient, giant animal.” Speaking exclusively to Wood Central, Mark Thomson, chair of the judging panel for the category, called the timber roof “masterfully conceived as the primary architectural feature of this functional rural building, in a UNESCO region of Portugal.”

“Its hypersurface roof design is beautifully positioned in the challenging landscape. The laminated timber portals pay homage to timber’s important role in the winery industry over thousands of years, both in the storage of the wine and supporting the vines in the vineyards,” Thomson said.

Wood Central understands that several of this year’s awards featured mass-engineered timber, including T3’s Diagonal Mar Offices in Barcelona (for Office) and the Osaka-Kansai Expo 2025 Japan Pavilion (for Display), underscoring the material’s growing use in both structural and aesthetic applications. Judges Banu Ucak of Turkey and Eduardo Tibuzzi of Italy agreed that this year’s entries achieved the highest environmental standards they had seen at WAF, following seven hours of deliberation in the Production, Energy and Logistics category.

The winery itself is composed of a series of curving, barn-like volumes that step down the hillside, their geometry echoing the contours of the surrounding terrain. Rebelo explained that the design went through “many iterations until we found something that just seemed natural and as though it was always there.” His ambition was for the architecture to dissolve into its setting: “I wanted the building to blur with the landscape, in a way that you can’t tell where the building starts or ends.”

At its core, the project is a study in timber. Laminated wooden frames, infilled with cross-laminated timber panels and glass-fibre-reinforced concrete, form the gabled volumes. The twisting framework has been left exposed both inside and out, transforming the vernacular gable roof into what Rebelo calls “a sinuous, continuous and organic sculptural element that flows through the tangential curves of the vineyard slope.”

Visitors enter at the lowest point of the building, through a cave-like shop and up a sculptural concrete staircase. At the heart of the winery lies a double-height ageing hall, partially sunk into stone retaining walls to stabilise temperature. Here, industrial vats and barrels are overlooked by steel balconies and a glazed tasting room. “The section of this space is very similar to a church—about 10 meters high—with natural light coming from above,” Rebelo said. “In a way, this makes the room feel very spiritual and with a special connection to timelessness.”

The festival concluded with a gala dinner, during which the winery was also highly commended in the Best Use of Timber and Best Use of Natural Light categories. To learn more about the World Architecture Festival, including the winner of the Future Prize, the Gelephu International Airport, which will use a massive timber diagrid system, click here for Wood Central’s special feature from Friday.

A keen participant in local shows and school visits, he understands the importance of reaching out and addressing difficult questions. “We are obvious businesses in our communities and frequently sponsor sporting clubs, schools’ events, festivals, field days and the like, and it is so important to ensure you are part of the community,” he said.

He said that many timber businesses underestimate the value of spending time with kindergarten, primary and high schools when you understand the ideology that many of them are taught during the school year. Young people often ask direct and challenging questions, but if you answer them honestly and provide the scientific basis behind forestry, they are generally accepting of the need for a forest industry.

According to Hurford, the Hurford Group decided many years ago to support Forest Learning and has provided a significant amount of the vision and photographic material for their educational programmes. “We have just finished covering the Lismore and Kyogle Shows, which and Primex Field Days at Casino, and during the past few years we also exhibited at Nimbin,” he said.

The Commonwealth-supported North East Regional Forestry Hub has begun exhibiting at local agricultural shows and regional shows. “It’s good to watch people listen to the experts and the science.”

He’d found out about the Gottstein Trust Skills Development Grant through a colleague and encourages others to apply, something they must do before this year’s round closes in just a few days.

Based at Eden, NSW as Resources Supervisor – South, his role encompasses Batemans Bay, Tumbarumba and Eden management areas of the state hardwood forest estate. “Working in forestry and on coastal NSW is pretty special,” according to Joel

“The Gottstein Trust were great to work with in the application process. I found the application process really straightforward through the online form. If you have any idea of an area you’d like to upskill in don’t hesitate to apply, as it’s a fantastic opportunity,” he said.

Gottstein Trust chair Suzette Weeding noted the panel’s anticipation. “Our selection panel feels a real sense of anticipation about what applications will come in for the annual grants, and know we face tough decisions about which will receive offers.”

The 2025 grant categories are:

• Skills Development Grant: Open to professionals at any level. Eligible activities include conference fees, field trip attendance, short-course enrollments, and travel to acquire specialised skills or machinery operation expertise.
• Gottstein Scholarship: For individuals pursuing a TAFE vocational qualification or an undergraduate/postgraduate university course. Recipients may allocate funds to course-related costs or general living expenses at their discretion.
• Gottstein Fellowship: The premier award for applicants who have developed an industry-relevant research project. Proposals are assessed on topic relevance, methodology and the applicant’s capacity to deliver. Fellowships often involve international travel, with findings published in a written report. Previous projects are available at https://gottsteintrust.org/projects-reports.

“We encourage people throughout the industry to apply for these fantastic opportunities,” Weeding said, adding that individuals associated with the forest products sector—including students—can submit applications online.

“In particular, we invite company human resource/people and culture teams, business owners, company executives and managers everywhere to alert their personnel about these industry opportunities and encourage them to apply,” Weeding said. “As the Gottstein Trust does not have a large marketing budget, we do rely on the support of industry to get the word out as widely as possible”.

Shortlisted candidates will be interviewed by a trustee panel, and offers will be extended in December. Testimonials from past recipients, highlighting the transformative impact of the grants, are available at https://gottsteintrust.org/testimonials.

“We find it so satisfying, as trustees, to assist with a written application transitioning into a reality. Enabling someone to pursue an idea and a goal, in a way that will not only benefit the person but also the industry they are part of, is the real heart of the Gottstein Trust,” Weeding said.

For full details and application guidelines, please visit www.gottsteintrust.org.

Founded in 2022, Timber Unlimited counted TDS among its founding members alongside BRANZ, SCION’s Bioeconomy Science Institute group and WPMA: “This partnership creates a natural synergy – TDS provides technical depth while Timber Unlimited drives broader adoption of wood in construction across New Zealand,” said Lisa Oliver, President of TDS.

Despite its brief existence, Timber Unlimited has already delivered significant outcomes under a New Zealand Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) grant. “We benefit from strong collaboration with our founding members,” explained Daniel Scheibmair, Chair of Timber Unlimited. “TDS continues to provide invaluable support as we expand our reach.”

Timber Unlimited’s website has quickly become the go-to resource for timber design information, inspiration and best practices. The initiative also partners with SPEC Toolbox (formerly CLT Toolbox), offering New Zealand designers free access to software that streamlines complex design methods and compliance with updated standards.

Looking ahead, Timber Unlimited plans to revive the popular Timber Design Awards in 2026 and foster deeper collaboration across the value chain. These efforts aim to build a thriving community of timber enthusiasts who share knowledge, skills and innovative techniques. “Unlocking timber’s potential and building trust in its possibilities is at the heart of our mission,” Scheibmair said. “Whether you’re new to timber or an industry veteran, Timber Unlimited aspires to inspire you with the endless possibilities of wood in the built environment.”

• To learn more about Timber Unlimited – New Zealand’s all-in-one home for timber information – click here for Wood Central’s special feature in August 2023.

Lee Stamm, who is employed by Forestry Corporation of NSW, has recently completed a Gottstein Fellowship detailing the latest generation Geiger Mode Light Detection and Ranging ( LiDAR ) and advanced processing techniques, which allow for remote capture of data accurate enough to identify individual native species trees.

Foresters would be well versed with LiDAR which has been around about 60 years, but the far more powerful next generation of Geiger mode LiDAR made its first commercial application in 2015. This relatively new technique can detect single photons reflected from deep in the forest canopy to help build a picture of each individual tree, known as a single tree inventory. Interrogating the massive data load is only made possible through machine learning— a subset of AI that trains algorithms to learn from data and make decisions or predictions without being programmed explicitly.

The Gottstein Trust, or, by its full name the Joseph William Gottstein Memorial Trust Fund, is a national educational trust started in 1971 to encourage innovation within Australia’s renewable wood products and forestry industry. As a recipient of a Gottstein Fellowship, Stamm was able to visit organisations in Scandinavia and North America which routinely use data covering millions of hectares, detailing derived single tree points and mapping products for foresters in the form of Digital Twins. Digital Twins which mirror large and complex physical systems are well known in automotive and aerospace engineering worlds but relatively new in forestry. 

Stamm’s report states that, “One use case for Digital Twins … is the ability to temporally and spatially visualise larger habitat trees that are legislated to be retained in perpetuity within NSW native forests under the Coastal Integrated Forestry Operations Approval (CIFOA) process. Within a Digital Twin, defining their existence before harvest, and monitoring their persistence during and after harvesting ensures regulatory compliance”.

For forest managers, the data within a digital twin model, segmented to single tree inventory, can also be used to identify fuel loads (and flammability) combined with past, current and predicted climate data to inform to mitigate the risk from un-managed fires.

“Being awarded the fellowship by The Gottstein Trust was a valuable opportunity to deepen my understanding of how companies and researchers worldwide are measuring forests”, said Stamm.

“I gained insights into the technologies available to help land managers work more efficiently and safely. This knowledge enables me to contribute meaningfully to shaping strategic research priorities for the forest industry and land management agencies,” he went on to say.

Please note: Applications are open for the 2025 round of Gottstein Trust fellowships. Scholarships and Skills Development Grants until midnight Monday, 27 October 2025

Today, Wood Central spoke to Helen Murray, convenor of this year’s course, who said that up to 30 course attendees boarded the bus to Wangaratta in regional Victoria to visit the Alpine Truss facility, which along with a tour of Alpine MDF Industries facility bookmarked an action packed day which also saw Vince Hurley, Managing Director of Australian Sustainable Hardwoods, the country’s largest hardwood manufacturer, and Kim Harris, General Manager – Technical for AKD, the country’s largest timber frame manufacturer, present to attendees during morning tea.

The visit comes after Wood Central last year revealed that the Alpine Truss plant had been acquired by Metcash, the country’s second-largest hardware retailer, as part of a $558 million mega deal. This deal also saw the retailer buy out Superior Foods and South Australia-based Bianco Construction Supplies. In recent years, Metcash has been busy expanding its footprint into timber suppliers and hardware to compete with Bunnings through its Independent Hardware Group (IHG), whilst Bunnings, which has a 50% total share of the market, has invested heavily in frame and truss to capture an even greater slice of the commercial market.

Please note: Wood Central will have exclusive coverage from the Gottstein course all week.