Australian Research Council Act 2001 - Linkage International - Funding Rules for Proposals for Submission in 2006
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1.1.1 This document sets out the Funding Rules for Linkage International, a scheme funded under the Australian Research Council’s National Competitive Grants Program (NCGP), which comply with the requirements of the ARC Act.
1.1.2 All parties involved in Proposals should read and understand the Funding Rules and the ARC’s standard Funding Agreement (which is available at: http://www.arc.gov.au) before submitting a Proposal to the ARC. Applicants are responsible for ensuring that their Proposals are complete and accurate.
1.1.3 These Funding Rules are current as at December 2005 and have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the ARC Act in force at that time. These Funding Rules are subject to change at any time, for reasons including any subsequent amendment, replacement or supplementation of the ARC Act.
1.1.4 Funding under Linkage International is provided to Administering Organisations, not to researchers. The ARC will accept a Proposal only from an Eligible Organisation and not from any individual researcher or researchers.
1.1.5 However, if, in the opinion of the ARC, any researcher nominated in a Proposal as a CI, OI, PI or ARCIF Fellow has caused or has significantly contributed to the failure of an organisation to meet its obligations under any current or previous funding agreement with the ARC, the ARC may in its absolute discretion, decide to not recommend for approval any or all Proposals involving that researcher.
1.2 NCGP Objectives
1.2.1 The ARC is an Australian Government statutory authority established under the ARC Act. The primary functions of the ARC, as specified by the ARC Act, are to make recommendations regarding the funding of research programs, to administer funding to support research programs, and to provide policy advice related to research.
1.2.2 The ARC has established a range of competitive funding schemes for the support of research and research training under the framework of the NCGP. A list of current NCGP funding schemes is available on the ARC web site at http://www.arc.gov.au.
1.2.3 By the operation of a range of funding schemes under the NCGP, the ARC aims to:
a. maintain and build on existing research and research training;
b. build the scale and focus of research and research training;
c. encourage cross-disciplinary approaches to research and research training;
d. facilitate collaborative approaches to research and research training; and
e. support research and research training in the following National Research Priorities:
i. An Environmentally Sustainable Australia;
ii. Promoting and Maintaining Good Health;
iii. Frontier Technologies for Building and Transforming Australian Industries; and
iv. Safeguarding Australia.
1.2.4 Descriptions of these National Research Priorities and their associated Priority Goals can be found in Appendix 1, and on the ARC web site (http://www.arc.gov.au). Assessment of the degree to which a proposed project would contribute to National Research Priorities and Priority Goals may be used as part of the selection process in NCGP schemes.
1.3 Linkage International
1.3.1 The ARC provides funding under Linkage International for movement of researchers between eligible Australian research organisations and centres of research excellence overseas, and to foster collaboration and networking between Australia-based and overseas researchers.
1.3.2 The objectives of Linkage International are to:
a. build collaborations among researchers, research teams and/or research centres of excellence in Australia and overseas;
b. generate opportunities for researchers to participate in leading-edge international research networks and strengthen their international research experience;
c. build Australian research capability by enhancing existing and developing new collaborations among researchers;
d. develop innovative modes of international collaboration; and/or
e. foster participation in global innovation networks.
1.3.3 Funding under Linkage International is available to support high-quality research collaboration in relevant disciplines or cross-disciplinary fields. Specifically, Linkage International provides three categories of support: Linkage International Awards; ARC International Fellowships (ARCIFs); and Internationally Coordinated Initiatives (ICIs).
1.3.4 Linkage International Awards
1.3.4.1 Linkage International Awards aim to fund collaborations that build links among researchers, research teams and/or research centres of excellence in Australia and overseas.
1.3.4.2 Section 12 provides further details regarding Linkage International Awards.
1.3.5 ARC International Fellowships (ARCIFs)
1.3.5.1 The following types of ARCIF are offered under Linkage International:
a. Fellowships to fund Australia-based researchers to work in overseas research organisations (Section 13.2);
b. Fellowships to fund overseas researchers to work in Australia (Section 13.3);
c. Fellowships funded by the ARC under long-term international agreements:
i. ARCIF pursuant to the International Research Fellowship Agreement between the French Ministry of National Education, Research and Technology and the ARC (Section 13.4);
ii. ARC Ferdinand von Mueller Fellowship pursuant to the International Research Fellowship Agreement between the Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung (AvH) and the ARC (Section 13.5); and
iii. ARCIF pursuant to the International Research Fellowship Agreement among the Korea Science and Engineering Foundation (KOSEF), the ARC, the Australian Academy of Science (AAS) and the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (ATSE) (Section 13.6).
d. Fellowships co-funded by the ARC and another party under long-term agreements:
i. Australia-Israel Fellowships (AIFs) co-funded by the Australia-Israel Scientific Exchange Foundation (AISEF) and the ARC (Section 13.7); and
ii. Anglo-Australian Observatory Fellowships co-funded under an International Research Fellowship Agreement between the United Kingdom Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council and the ARC (Section 13.8).
1.3.5.2 Section 13 provides further details regarding Linkage International ARCIFs.
1.3.6.1 From time to time, the ARC may collaborate with overseas funding agencies to fund ICIs. When an ICI is being conducted, the initiative will be included in Appendix 4 and the ARC will issue a specific call for Proposals for the relevant initiative.
1.3.6.2 Proposals for Linkage International ICI funding may be submitted only when invited by the ARC by means of a call for ICI Proposals for funding. The ARC may invite Proposals from one or more Eligible Organisations.
1.3.6.3 Section 13.8.3 provides further details regarding ARC Linkage International ICIs.
1.4 Fundamental principles and requirements
1.4.1 Ethics and Research Practices
1.4.1.1 The National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) web site, http://www.nhmrc.gov.au, provides a series of publications which outline the principles of ethical conduct in research. All Proposals and ARC-funded research projects should conform to the principles outlined in the following and their successor documents:
a. the Joint NHMRC/AVCC Statement and Guidelines on Research Practice (1997);
b. as applicable, the NHMRC’s National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Research Involving Humans; and
c. as applicable, the NHMRC’s other codes on animal research.
1.4.2 Non-duplication
1.4.2.1 The ARC will not provide financial assistance to meet the costs of a project to the extent that those costs have been, or are likely to be, met by Commonwealth funding obtained from another source (including other ARC funding). The ARC reserves the right to determine whether a Proposal includes such costs and to deem a notional amount for such costs.
1.4.2.2 Where a significant portion of the costs for a proposed project has been, or is likely to be, funded by the Commonwealth from other sources (including other ARC sources), the ARC may decide to recommend that the Proposal not be funded at all. In other cases, the ARC may decide to recommend a reduced amount of funding for the proposed project.
1.4.3 Conflict of Interest
1.4.3.1 All parties involved in or associated with Proposals and ARC-funded research projects are required to disclose to the ARC affiliations with or financial involvement in any organisation which has, or is likely to have, a direct interest in the subject matter or outputs of the project. Such parties are required to disclose at the time of submission of Proposals, or in reporting on ARC-funded research projects, any conflict of interest which has the potential to influence, or appear to influence, their research and activities, publications and media reports, or requests for funding.
1.4.4 Acknowledging ARC support
1.4.4.1 The Funding Agreement requires that any ARC contribution to research and other activities funded by the ARC be appropriately acknowledged. When, at any time during or after completion of a project, the researcher or any other party publishes or produces material such as books, articles, newsletters or other literary or artistic works which relate to the research project, the Administering Organisation must ensure (wherever possible) that the ARC’s contribution and support of the project is acknowledged in a prominent place and in an appropriate form. This acknowledgement should include the mention of the ARC as a funding body. Similar efforts should be made to acknowledge ARC support when participating in television and radio programs, and when interviewed by the print media.
1.4.4.2 Advice on acceptable forms of acknowledgement and use of the ARC logo is provided on the ARC web site at http://www.arc.gov.au.