Section 8 - Australian Research Council Act 2001 - Linkage International - Funding Rules for Proposals for Submission in 2006 - Selection and approval process | Zoe
Australian Research Council Act 2001 - Linkage International - Funding Rules for Proposals for Submission in 2006
8Selection and approval process
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8.1.1 All Linkage International Proposals for the particular category submitted in a particular round which meet the eligibility criteria will be assessed and merit ranked using the criteria specified for the particular Linkage International category as specified in:
a. subsection 12.1.10 for Awards;
b. subsection 13.1.8 for ARCIFs; or
c. Section 14.10 for ICIs.
8.2 Assessment and selection procedure
8.2.1 Assessment and selection process
8.2.1.1 Assessment of Proposals is undertaken by the ARC, which has the right to make decisions and recommendations solely on the basis of its expertise, and which may:
determine if a Proposal satisfies the eligibility criteria set out in these Funding Rules;
identify and determine any other matters that these Funding Rules state may result in the ARC’s not recommending a Proposal for approval;
assign assessors to review Proposals;
seek comments on assessors’ reports from the parties involved in the Proposal;
rank each Proposal relative to the others on the basis of the Proposal, any assessors’ reports, and any response to those assessment reports;
assess and recommend the amount of funding to be made available for a Proposal; and/or
prepare funding recommendations for the Minister as required by the ARC Act.
8.2.1.2 The ARC College of Experts assists with the assessment of Proposals. The ARC has procedures for managing organisational and personal conflicts of interest experienced by members of the College of Experts, members of other ARC Committees, ARC members, and other assessors, and for enabling individuals to withdraw from the assessment process for particular Proposals where any actual or perceived conflict may exist.
8.2.2 Exclusion of Proposals
8.2.2.1 The ARC will not recommend for approval, and the Minister will not approve for funding, any Proposal that fails to satisfy the “eligibility criteria” set out in these Funding Rules, including:
if the ARC considers that the Proposal seeks funding for any of the items listed in subsection 3.4.1 and the ARC considers no other part of the proposed project or collaboration is worthy of support (subsection 3.4.2);
if the Proposal was not submitted by an Eligible Organisation (Section 4.1);
if the ARC considers that a researcher nominated in the Proposal as CI, OI, PI or ARCIF Fellow does not meet the eligibility criteria as specified in Section 5 for the role which that researcher is to perform (subsection 5.1.5);
if the ARC determines that the proposed project would fall within the area of clinical medical and dental research and training (Section 6.3);
if the first CI named on the Proposal does not meet the requirements of subsection 5.2.4 or, in the case of an ARCIF Proposal for an Australia-based researcher going overseas, the first-named person on the Proposal is an ARCIF Fellow who does not meet the requirements of subsection 13.2.2.1c, unless otherwise specified;
if the Proposal has not been submitted through the appropriate Research Office/Chief Executive Officer for certification (subsection 7.3.2);
if the Proposal does not include researchers of the required role(s) (subsections 12.1.3.1, 13.2.2.1, 13.3.5.1, 13.4.3.2, 13.5.3.2, 13.6.3.2, 13.7.5.1, 13.7.6.1 and 14.3.3); and/or
if the Proposal includes more than the maximum number of researchers of a specified role(s) (subsection 13.1.7.1a).
8.2.2.2 The ARC may in its absolute discretion decide not to recommend for approval a Proposal if:
in the opinion of the ARC, any researcher nominated in the 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 (subsection 1.1.5);
the limits on the number of Proposals and projects permissible are exceeded (subsections 3.6.1.2, 12.1.8, 13.1.7.1b and 14.9.2);
the ARC considers that the project described in the 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 for the relevant category (subsection 3.6.2);
where required, the Proposal does not include a letter from a Centre Director (Section 14.8.3);
in the opinion of the ARC, the Proposal duplicates or is likely to duplicate research already being funded by the Commonwealth (subsections 6.1.1 and 14.8.2);
where required to do so, the Proposal does not include details of other funding or funding requests (subsection 6.2.1);
the ARC considers that inaccurate, false, or misleading material has been provided in relation to the Proposal or if the Administering Organisation and/or researchers nominated in the Proposal as a CI, OI, PI or ARCIF Fellow have provided the ARC with incomplete, false or misleading information in relation to the reporting of progress of a funded project (subsection 6.2.1 and Section 11.5 and 14.8.4);
the Proposal is submitted after the closing time (subsection 7.4.6 and Section 14.11);
the circumstances of the Proposal are such that an eligibility exemption or ruling is required but the required process has not been followed or the deadlines are not met (subsection 7.1);
the Proposal fails to meet any format and other submission requirements (Section 7.4);
it is an ICI Proposal and the collaborating overseas agency or agencies have decided not to fund the counterpart Proposal(s) (subsection 14.10.4); and/or
it is an ICI Proposal and it fails to meet a requirement specified against the relevant initiative in Appendix 4.
8.2.3 Assessment
8.2.3.1 In addition to assessment by the ARC, a Proposal may at the ARC’s absolute discretion be assessed by external assessors. Assessors will be drawn from a range of organisations to reduce the potential for conflicts of interest. Proposals will be assessed against the relevant selection criteria set out in these Funding Rules and the report by the assessors will include written comment.
8.2.3.2 The ARC reserves the right to make recommendations for funding to the Minister based on any number of assessments or solely on the assessment of the ARC.
8.2.3.3 Administering Organisations may name any person or persons whom they do not wish to assess a Proposal. Detailed written justification must be submitted through the Administering Organisation’s Research Office in a separate letter which must not accompany the Proposal. The letter must be received by the ARC by the relevant closing time for Proposals for the relevant round for the relevant category, and be sent to:
8.2.3.4 The ARC will consider the justification put forward to exclude any person as an assessor, but may choose not to give effect to such a request.
8.2.4 Rejoinder
8.2.4.1 Assessors’ written comments, if obtained, may be provided to allow the opportunity for a rejoinder to the comments. Names of assessors are not provided. At the same time, the ARC may add questions to the material sent for rejoinder. A period of 2 weeks is given to submit a rejoinder to the ARC. Rejoinders will not be accepted after the nominated closing time for rejoinder submissions. The ARC may limit the length of rejoinders which can be submitted. Rejoinders must be submitted through the ARC’s on-line grants application management system.
8.2.5 Recommendations
8.2.5.1 The ARC’s recommendations will be submitted in accordance with the ARC Act to the Minister for Education, Science and Training (the Minister) for consideration. The Minister determines which Proposals will be approved and the amount and timing of financial assistance to be paid to Administering Organisations for approved Proposals.
8.2.5.2 Under the ARC Act, the Minister may not approve for funding any Proposal that fails to meet the eligibility criteria set out in these Funding Rules.
8.3 Offer of funding
8.3.1 If Proposals are approved, Administering Organisations will be:
a. notified in a letter of offer that will indicate the financial assistance to be offered; and
b. provided with a copy of the draft Funding Agreement for signing by the Administering Organisation.