Australian Research Council Act 2001 - Linkage International - Funding Rules for Proposals for Submission in 2006
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3.1.1 All amounts referred to in these Funding Rules are to be read as exclusive of Goods and Services Tax (if any), unless expressly stated otherwise.
3.1.2 The minimum level of funding which will be provided by the ARC for a project is described at subsections 12.1.5 and 14.5.1 respectively for Awards and ICIs. There is no specified minimum for ARCIFs. The ARC reserves the right to recommend the levels of funding allocated to a project.
3.1.3 If an ARCIF is requested, the Proposal should include a request for the Fellowship salary and on-costs in the budget (see Appendix 3, Item 1 for ARC Notional Fellowship Salaries for Funding Commencing in 2007).
3.2 Duration of funding
3.2.1 Funding for projects may be awarded for the durations specified for the particular category, subject to sufficient funding being available for Linkage International, and the provisions of the ARC Act.
3.2.2 The ARC may recommend funding for a project for a duration different from that requested in the Proposal.
3.3 Types of research support
3.3.1 Subject to Sections 3.4 and 3.5, Linkage International supports a range of activities in support of research which involve the movement of eligible researchers between eligible Australian research organisations and centres of research excellence overseas, and the fostering of collaboration and networking between Australia-based and overseas researchers.
3.4 Areas of investigation/work not supported
3.4.1 Linkage International does not support:
a. clinical medical and dental research and training. These areas of research are generally covered by other Commonwealth Government funding agencies, such as the NHMRC;
b. activities leading solely to the creation or performance of a work of art, including visual art, musical compositions, drama, dance, designs and literary works. These areas are generally covered by other Commonwealth Government agencies, such as the Australia Council for the Arts;
c. scholarly investigations that, while important in themselves, do not lead to conceptual advances or discoveries, or to novel practical outcomes or applications. Projects such as uncritical compilations and purely descriptive catalogues or editions that do not involve original research are not funded;
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
f. development of research aids and tools (including computer programs), unless they form an integral part of a Proposal, in which case the Proposal must include a statement indicating the research objectives to which these activities would contribute.
3.4.2 If the ARC considers that a Proposal seeks funding for a project that involves any of the items listed in subsection 3.4.1, 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.
3.5 Restrictions on Budget items
3.5.1 Linkage International supports only costs which directly support research collaboration. The ARC may in its absolute discretion determine whether any project costs meet this requirement.
3.5.2 Linkage International has restrictions on the following budget items:
Capital works and general infrastructure
Capital works and general infrastructure costs are not funded in whole or in part under Linkage International.
b. Salaries of Chief Investigators (CIs), Overseas Investigators (OIs), and Partner Investigators (PIs)
The Commonwealth will not provide support, in whole or in part, to meet the salaries of CIs, OIs and PIs under Linkage International.
c. Teaching
Linkage International funding is not provided to fund teaching or teaching relief.
d. Special Studies Programs
Funds are not provided for travel or related expenses for researchers when on a Special Studies Program. Some specified costs may be supported within a Linkage International project 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. In these cases the use of funds needs to be approved as a Special Condition.
e. Research support for OIs and PIs
Funds are not provided for OIs and PIs apart from short-term project support for investigators visiting from overseas.
f. International students’ fees and Higher Education Contribution Scheme (HECS) liability
Funds are not provided to pay the fees of international students or the HECS liabilities for Australian students.
g. Computer facilities for molecular analysis
Applicants for projects involving molecular biology should be aware that a number of organisations provide access to a range of databases and a large suite of analysis programs. As a result, Proposals seeking funding for computer facilities to undertake molecular analysis must justify such needs very thoroughly and to the satisfaction of the ARC.
h. Basic facilities
The Administering Organisation must agree to provide the following basic facilities (where relevant to the Proposal), which will not be funded under Linkage International:
accommodation (eg laboratory and office, suitably equipped and furnished in standard ways);
access to workshop services (eg 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 basic library collections;
standard reference materials or funds for abstracting services;
provision of computers (excluding access to high-performance computers or other specialised applications) and basic computing facilities such as word processing and other standard software; and
use of photocopiers, telephones, mail, fax, email and internet services.
i. Publication costs
Publication costs, including page costs, will not be funded under Linkage International.
j. 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 such as childcare.
3.6 Number of Proposals and funded projects
3.6.1 General requirements
3.6.1.1 Unless otherwise specified, a Proposal must identify at least one researcher who will be a CI or ARCIF Fellow on the proposed project.
3.6.1.2 Proposals may be submitted only to the extent that, if all were successful, the researchers named on those Proposals would not be involved in more than the maximum numbers of projects permitted (see subsection 12.1.9 for Awards Proposals, subsection 13.1.7 for ARCIF Proposals and Section 14.9 for ICI Proposals). For the purposes of applying these limits, the number of ongoing research projects which are to be funded and the number of Proposals on which the researcher is nominated are evaluated as at the closing time for the submission of Proposals for the relevant category (and round where applicable), regardless of any subsequent change in, or withdrawal of, Proposals. Submitting Proposals that exceed these limits may result in all Proposals involving the relevant researcher(s) not being recommended or approved for funding.
3.6.1.3 For the purposes of 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 for which it was recommended for funding. For example, if a project was originally funded for 3 years and funding is subsequently carried over to a fourth year, this project will still be considered for these purposes as funded for the original 3 years.
3.6.2 Duplication
3.6.2.1 Only one Proposal may be submitted to Linkage International in respect of a particular project in the same funding round for the relevant category, regardless of any variation in the listed researchers and/or Administering Organisation. If the ARC considers that the 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’ not being recommended for approval.