7 Application process
7.1 Eligibility Exemption and Eligibility Ruling Process
7.1.1 These Funding Rules describe a number of situations where it is possible to submit an Eligibility Exemption Request or an Eligibility Ruling Request for the purposes of obtaining an exemption or ruling from the ARC regarding the eligibility of a proposed Proposal. All such Requests must be submitted on the ARC Eligibility Exemption/Ruling Request Form via the Research Office of the intended Administering Organisation, and, subject to subsection 7.1.2, be received by the ARC by 5:00 pm (AEST) Friday 6 April 2007.
7.1.2 Subject to this subsection, Eligibility Exemption Requests and Eligibility Ruling Requests received after Friday 6 April 2007 will not be considered. The ARC may, in its absolute discretion, and only in exceptional circumstances, accept late Eligibility Exemption/Ruling Requests.
7.1.3 The ARC may grant an exemption from the eligibility requirements only if an Eligibility Exemption Request has been submitted in accordance with the requirements of Section 7.1. Similarly, an Eligibility Ruling may be provided by the ARC only upon receipt of an Eligibility Ruling Request which has been submitted in accordance with the requirements of Section 7.1. An Eligibility Ruling, however, does not constitute an exemption from the eligibility requirements – rather it provides an indication to potential Applicants about the likelihood of a Proposal’s satisfying certain eligibility requirements if the Proposal is submitted in accordance with the circumstances outlined in the Eligibility Ruling Request.
7.1.4 Eligibility Exemption and Eligibility Ruling Requests must include the supporting information required in each of the situations where exemptions/rulings are being sought, as described elsewhere in this document. The Research Office will be advised of the outcome of any such request as soon as possible to allow time for a detailed Proposal to be completed if appropriate. If an Eligibility Exemption or Eligibility Ruling is given, the ARC will provide an identifying number for the exemption/ruling which is to be quoted on any associated Proposal which is submitted to the ARC.
7.1.5 The ARC Eligibility Exemption/Ruling Request Form is available on the ARC’s Web Site.
7.2 Proposals
7.2.1 A Proposal should be submitted as a mature research plan ready for implementation. The Proposal must contain all the information necessary for its assessment without the need for further written or oral explanation, or reference to additional documentation, unless requested by the ARC or its College of Experts.
7.2.2 All details in the Proposal must be current at the time of submission.
7.2.3 In submitting a Proposal, the Administering Organisation and the CIs, IRF candidates, Mentors and Supervisors nominated in the Proposal are consenting to the Proposal’s being assessed under the ARC’s peer assessment procedures and agree to the release of the Proposal to third parties for assessment purposes.
7.3 Certification
7.3.1 The Administering Organisation must obtain the agreement of all parties necessary to allow the proposed project to proceed. These agreements must be attested to by hand-written signatures and certifications from all relevant persons and organisations involved in the Proposal. These agreements, certifications and signatures are to be retained by the Administering Organisation which must provide them if requested by the ARC. A form is available for this purpose on the ARC’s Web Site. If the Administering Organisation fails to provide this material upon request, the ARC may in its absolute discretion decide to not recommend the Proposal for approval.
7.3.2 A Proposal must be submitted through the appropriate Research Office. If a Proposal has not been submitted through the appropriate Research Office/Chief Executive Officer for certification, the Proposal will not be recommended or approved for funding.
7.4 Submission of Proposals
7.4.1 Proposals under Discovery Indigenous Researchers Development consist of two parts:
a. an on-line form which must be completed and submitted in the ARC on-line grants application management system accessible via the ARC’s Web Site; and
b. additional text which must be submitted as part of the paper version of the Proposal:
- Section B9, “Research record relative to opportunities” and, if an IRF is requested, details of the IRF candidate’s proposed contribution to the project, the research environment of the Host Organisation and reasons for the IRF candidate’s not moving to another organisation if he/she intends to remain at her/his current organisation;
- Sections C2 and C3, “Justification of funding requested from the ARC” and “Details of non-ARC contributions”;
- Part E, “Description of proposed project”.
- If applicable, supporting documentation:
- Section D2, “Statements on progress of ARC-funded projects”;
- For IRF requests, details of the IRF candidate’s proposed contribution to the project and the research environment of the Host Organisation (Section B9.7); and
- For Mentors and Supervisors, a summary of the nature and level of support that they will provide.
7.4.2 Format
7.4.2.1 All documents must be written in English and must comply strictly with the format and submission requirements. If a Proposal fails to meet any format and content requirements, the ARC may in its absolute discretion decide to not recommend the Proposal for approval.
7.4.2.2 All pages of additional text should be in black type, use a single column and 12-point font size on white A4 paper, be printed on one side only and unbound, with all margins being at least 2 cm wide. As Proposals are scanned electronically, a highly legible font type must be used, such as Arial, Courier, Palatino, Times New Roman and Helvetica. Variants such as mathematical typesetting languages may also be used. References may be reproduced in 10-point font size. Colour graphs or colour photographs may be included but they will be reproduced in black and white and the reproduction quality may not be optimal. Finely detailed graphics and grey scale may also not be precisely reproduced.
7.4.2.3 The pages of the Proposal should be numbered consecutively starting from page 1.
7.4.3 How to complete and submit a Proposal
7.4.3.1 Administering Organisations must use the form within the ARC’s on-line grants application management system accessible via the ARC’s Web Site.
7.4.3.2 A separate document, Discovery Indigenous Researchers Development Instructions to Applicants for Funding Commencing in 2008, will be available from the ARC’s Web Site to assist in preparing Proposals.
7.4.3.3 Administering Organisations may have internal closing dates for Proposal preparation which precede ARC closing times.
7.4.3.4 Research Offices have access to the ARC on-line grants application management system and will allocate User IDs and passwords to enable researchers at their organisations to access the system and prepare Proposals. If a researcher has previously been allocated access, her/his User ID and password should still be current. If researchers do not have a Research Office or equivalent unit, they should <email> gamsids@arc.gov.au for assistance.
7.4.3.5 Research Offices should submit forms in the ARC’s on-line grants application management system and forward the Proposal and a copy which must, as far as possible, identically match the contents of the submitted on-line application form. Proposals should be sent:
| by mail to: OR | by courier to: |
|---|
| Discovery Indigenous Researchers Development Coordinator<br>Australian Research Council<br>GPO Box 2702<br>CANBERRA ACT 2601 | Discovery Indigenous Researchers Development Coordinator<br>Australian Research Council<br>1st Floor, 8 Brindabella Circuit<br>CANBERRA AIRPORT ACT 2609 |
7.4.4 Number of copies
7.4.4.1 In addition to the on-line form, a paper version of the Proposal must be submitted in duplicate (one original and one identical copy). The paper version must be clipped, not stapled. The paper version of the Proposal must be submitted with the additional text, including supporting documentation, interleaved appropriately (see Discovery Indigenous Researchers Development Instructions to Applicants for Funding Commencing in 2008).
7.4.5 Closing time for Proposals
7.4.5.1 Subject to subsection 7.4.5.3, the paper versions of a Proposal must be received by the ARC, and the on-line form completed using the ARC’s on-line grants application management system must be submitted, by 5:00 pm (AEST) Friday 4 May 2007.
7.4.5.2 Proposals may be withdrawn but additions, deletions and modifications will not be accepted after submission, unless invited by the ARC.
7.4.5.3 If a Proposal is received by the ARC after 5:00 pm (AEST) Friday 4 May 2007 the ARC may in its absolute discretion decide to not recommend the Proposal for approval. In deciding whether to recommend or not recommend such a Proposal the ARC may take into account whether:
- in the opinion of the ARC, exceptional circumstances apply; or
- the Administering Organisation is able to provide evidence to the satisfaction of the ARC that all the documents were despatched by the Administering Organisation sufficiently in advance of the closing time for the documents to have been delivered by the closing time in the normal course of events.