Australian Research Council Act 2001 - Discovery Projects - Funding Rules for funding commencing in 2009
6Funding
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6.1.1 All amounts referred to in these Funding Rules are to be read as exclusive of GST (if any), unless expressly stated otherwise.
6.1.2 The minimum level of funding which will be provided by the ARC for a project under this DP funding round is $20,000 per calendar year and the maximum is $500,000 per calendar year. If a DP Proposal requests less than $20,000 or more than $500,000 for any calendar year, the ARC may in its absolute discretion decide to not recommend the Proposal for approval.
6.1.3 If an ARC Fellowship is requested, the Proposal should include a request for the Fellowship salary and on-costs in the budget. ARC Fellowships are funded at levels outlined in Appendix 3, Item 1.
6.1.4 The ARC reserves the right to recommend the levels of funding for a project at levels which may differ from those requested in the Proposal.
6.2 Period of funding
6.2.1 Financial assistance may be payable under these Funding Rules for DP projects in respect of the financial year 2008-09 and any subsequent years to which the ARC Act applies. Funding for approved projects will commence with effect 1 January 2009, unless other arrangements are approved by the ARC.
6.2.2 Projects may be funded for 1 to 5 years, subject to sufficient funding being available for DP, the provisions of the ARC Act, and continued satisfactory progress of the project.
6.2.3 APDs may be awarded funding for 3 years or 4 years. ARFs, QEIIs, and APFs may be awarded funding for 5 years.
6.2.4 For the purposes of these Funding Rules, the term of a researcher’s fellowship is determined based on the date on which the researcher commenced the fellowship. In the case of fellowships awarded under these Funding Rules, the commencement date will be 1 January 2009, unless the commencement has been deferred to a later date approved by the ARC.
6.2.5 The ARC may recommend funding for a project for a duration different from that requested in the Proposal.
6.3 Types of research supported
6.3.1 Subject to Sections 6.4 and 6.5, DP supports all types of research, including:
a. pure basic research which is experimental and theoretical work undertaken to acquire new knowledge without looking for long-term benefits other than the advancement of knowledge;
b. strategic basic research which is experimental and theoretical work undertaken to acquire new knowledge directed into specified broad areas that are expected to lead to useful discoveries. Such research provides the broad base of knowledge necessary to solve recognised practical problems; and
Section 6 - Australian Research Council Act 2001 - Discovery Projects - Funding Rules for funding commencing in 2009 - Funding | Zoe
c. applied research which is original work undertaken primarily to acquire new knowledge with a specific application in view. Such research is undertaken either to determine possible uses for the findings of basic research or to determine new ways of achieving some specific and predetermined objectives.
6.3.2 The following project costs may be supported under DP:
a. personnel (salaries and on-costs), including:
ARC Fellowships as outlined in Section 8.5;
research associates, technicians and laboratory attendants;
postgraduate stipends with an ARC contribution as specified in Appendix 3, Item 1.
but excluding those items not permitted pursuant to subsections 6.4.2.b and e;
b. teaching relief for Chief Investigators, but only where the request is justified to the satisfaction of the ARC (see subsection 6.4.2.c.);
c. equipment;
d. maintenance; and
e. the following travel costs:
domestic and international travel costs for CIs, ARC Fellows and research support personnel (excluding PIs). Funding is permitted for domestic and international travel associated with the project, including to foster and strengthen collaborations between researchers in Australia and overseas; and
domestic travel costs for PIs visiting from overseas as part of the short-term project support permitted under subsection 6.4.2.e for these investigators. (International travel costs are not permissible for PIs.)
6.4 Restrictions on budget items
6.4.1 DP funds only costs which directly support a research project. The ARC may in its absolute discretion determine whether any proposed costs meet this requirement.
6.4.2 DP has restrictions on the following budget items:
a. Capital works and general infrastructure
Capital works and general infrastructure costs are not funded, in whole or in part, under DP.
b. Salaries of Chief Investigators (CIs) and Partner Investigators (PIs)
The Commonwealth will not provide support, in whole or in part, to meet the salaries of CIs or PIs under DP. If a Proposal requests salary funding for a CI or PI, the Proposal will not be recommended or approved for funding.
c. Teaching and Teaching Relief
DP funding is not usually provided to fund teaching and/or teaching relief. Commonwealth funds may be used for teaching relief only if specifically approved for that purpose. The ARC may fund justified teaching relief for up to 6 months in each consecutive year. If approved, the funding contribution will be in accordance with Appendix 3, Item 3, and will be a Special Condition.
d. Special Studies Programs
Funds are not provided for travel or related expenses for researchers when on a Special Studies Program. However, some specified expenses may be funded for CIs, if approved by the ARC as a Special Condition, and provided that the Proposal clearly demonstrates that such expenses are not covered by a Special Studies Program, and that the research to be undertaken directly relates to the project.
e. Research support for Partner Investigators
Funds are not provided for PIs, apart from short-term project support for investigators visiting from overseas. Short-term project support may include support for travel within Australia for investigators visiting from overseas but excludes the cost of their travel to and from Australia.
f. International students’ fees, Higher Education Contribution Scheme (HECS) and Higher Education Loan Programme (HELP) liabilities
Funds are not provided to pay the fees of international students or the HECS or the HELP liabilities for students.
g. Basic facilities
The Administering Organisation must agree to provide the following basic facilities (where relevant to the Proposal), which will not be funded under DP:
accommodation (e.g. laboratory and office, suitably equipped and furnished in standard ways);
access to workshop services (e.g. machine tools and qualified technicians available to each member of staff, according to need, for research);
access to film or music editing facilities;
access to a basic library collection;
standard reference materials or funds for abstracting services;
provision of computers, including laptops (excluding access to high-performance computers or other specialised applications) and basic computing facilities such as printers, word processing and other standard software; and
use of photocopiers, telephones, mail, fax, email and internet services.
h. Publication costs
Publication costs, including printing and page costs, will not be funded under DP.
i. Costs not directly related to a project
Costs not directly related to a project will not be funded, for example costs of a personal nature.
6.5 Areas of investigation/work not supported
6.5.1 DP does not support:
a. Medical and Dental Research;
b. activities leading solely to the creation or performance of a work of art, including visual art, musical compositions, drama, dance, film, broadcasts, designs and literary works. These areas are generally covered by other Commonwealth Government funding agencies, such as the Australia Council for the Arts;
c. projects such as uncritical compilations and purely descriptive catalogues or editions that do not involve original research;
d. production of teaching materials, even though some research may be involved in their production;
e. compilation of data, unless this is an integral part of a project, in which case the Proposal must include a statement indicating the research objectives to which the data would contribute; and/or
f. development of research aids and tools (including computer programs), unless they form an integral part of the Proposal, in which case the Proposal must include a statement indicating the research objectives to which these activities would contribute.
6.5.2 If the ARC considers that a Proposal seeks funding for a project that involves any of the items not permitted under Sections 6.4 or 6.5, then to that extent part or all of the Proposal will not be recommended or approved for funding. However, if the ARC considers other parts of the proposed project remain worthy of support, the ARC may recommend that a reduced amount of funding be approved for the Proposal.
6.6 Number of Proposals and funded projects
6.6.1 General requirements
6.6.1.1 Proposals may be submitted only to the extent that, if all were successful, the researchers nominated on those Proposals would not be involved in more than the maximum numbers of projects permitted in 2009 (see subsection 6.6.1.2). For the purposes of applying these limits, the number of Proposals and the number of ongoing research projects which are to be funded for 2009 on which a researcher is nominated, are evaluated as at the closing time for the submission of Proposals, regardless of any subsequent change in, or withdrawal of, Proposals, taking into account proposed relinquishment of Fellowships for those seeking a subsequent ARF/QEII/APF (see subsections 8.5.5.3d and 8.5.6.4). Submitting Proposals that exceed any or all of these limits may result in all Proposals involving the relevant researcher(s)’ not being recommended or approved for funding.
6.6.1.2 Specific limits on number of projects funded for 2009:
Limit type
Limit description
a. CI/Fellow limit
A researcher may not be involved in more than two DP projects on which he/she is a CI or ARC Fellow.
b. Sole CI/Fellow limit
A researcher may not be involved as a CI or ARC Fellow on more than one DP project on which there are no other CIs or ARC Fellows.
c. PI limit
A researcher may not be involved as a PI on more than four DP projects.
d. Limit for Specified Personnel for ARC Centres (CIs, Centre Directors, Centre Managers)
Subject to subsection 6.6.1.2.e, a researcher who is one of the Specified Personnel* for an ARC Centre may be involved in one DP project.<br>* For the purposes of these Funding Rules, the term “Specified Personnel” means the Specified Personnel for the Centre, excluding any PIs, as specified in Schedule A of the funding agreement for the Centre or as otherwise varied with the approval of the ARC. It includes the Centre Director, Research Director, Centre Manager and Chief Investigators who are performing the work of the Centre pursuant to the funding agreement for the Centre.
e. Federation Fellow limit
A Federation Fellow may be involved in up to two DP projects (one may be as a sole CI), in addition to her/his Federation Fellowship and irrespective of any association he/she may have with a Commonwealth-funded Research Centre.
f. Number of DP Fellowships
A researcher may be nominated for a maximum of one ARC Fellowship in this DP funding round.
g. ARC Fellowship researchers at Commonwealth-funded Research Centres
A researcher who holds an ARC Fellowship, or is nominated for an ARC Fellowship, for which the Host Organisation is a Commonwealth-funded Research Centre, may be involved in one DP project, in addition to her/his Centre/Fellowship activities.
6.6.1.3 For the purposes of the limits applying in these Funding Rules, a project for which funding was/is to be carried over, or deferred, into the next year is considered to be funded for the years notified in the letter of offer of funding provided by the ARC. For example, if a project was originally funded for four years and funding is subsequently carried over to a fifth year, the project will still be considered for these purposes as funded for the original four years.
6.6.2 Duplication
6.6.2.1 Only one Proposal may be submitted to DP in respect of a particular project in the same funding round, regardless of any variation in the listed researchers and/or Administering Organisation. If the ARC considers that a project described in a Proposal is the same as or similar (in whole or in part) to a project described in another Proposal that is submitted in the same funding round, the ARC may in its absolute discretion decide to not recommend for approval any or all of those Proposals, or recommend that a reduced amount of funding be provided for that or any similar Proposal. The ARC reserves the right to determine whether Proposals are duplicates or sufficiently similar to warrant one or more Proposals’ being not recommended for approval.
6.6.2.2 A Proposal may not be submitted if it is essentially the same as an eligible Proposal submitted in the DP funding round conducted in 2008 and that latter Proposal was ranked in group E (remainder of unsuccessful proposals) in that earlier round. If the ARC considers that a Proposal is for essentially the same project as a Proposal submitted in the previous round, the ARC may in its absolute discretion decide to not recommend the later Proposal for approval. However, if a DP Proposal was not funded in a previous round because the ARC considered it as ineligible for funding because it did not meet the eligibility criteria or accountability requirements, a similar Proposal which meets the eligibility and accountability requirements may be submitted in the immediately following round.