5Roles and eligibility for researchers

5         Roles and eligibility for researchers

5.1             Researcher roles and general eligibility

5.1.1        Roles that may be undertaken by researchers under LIEF are:

5.1.2        Chief Investigator (CI); or

5.1.3        Partner Investigator (PI).

5.1.4        A Proposal must nominate at least one researcher as a CI. A nominated CI must satisfy the eligibility criteria for that role as specified in Section 5.2 of these Funding Rules.

5.1.5        The first-named CI on a Proposal will be considered the ‘Project Leader’ of the project.

5.1.6        A person nominated in a Proposal as a CI or PI must take significant intellectual responsibility for the proposed project, its conception, and any strategic decisions called for in its pursuit and the communication of results. The person must have the capacity to make a serious commitment to the project and cannot assume the role of a supplier of resources for work that will largely be placed in the hands of others. The ARC reserves the right to determine whether a person has the requisite capacity to perform the role.

5.1.7        If the ARC considers that a person nominated in the Proposal as a CI or PI does not meet the eligibility criteria in this Section 5 for the role which that person is to perform, the Proposal will not be recommended or approved for funding.

5.2             Eligibility criteria for Chief Investigators

5.2.1        To be eligible to be a CI, a person must meet the following criteria:

a. He/she must meet at least one of the following four criteria by 1 January 2007, and for the full term of the funding:

i. be an employee of an Eligible Organisation listed in Appendix 2 and derive at least 50 per cent of her/his salary from that Eligible Organisation; or

ii. be a holder of an Adjunct Appointment or equivalent at an Eligible Organisation listed in Appendix 2; or

iii.          be a Federation Fellow; or

iv.          if a Peak Body is the Administering Organisation, meet one of the above criteria in subsection 5.2.1.a or be a member or officeholder of the Peak Body; and

b. He/she must reside predominantly in Australia for the duration of her/his participation in the project. If the person does not have permanent resident status he/she must obtain temporary or permanent resident status from the Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs.

5.2.2        Notwithstanding a researcher’s eligibility under the criteria above, a researcher may not be a CI if he/she is an undergraduate student or postgraduate student (unless eligible to be a CI because of employment and then only for research which lies outside the scope of the postgraduate studies). Researchers who derive more than 50 per cent of their salary from organisations outside the higher education sector that are funded primarily for research from State/Territory or Commonwealth Government sources are also not eligible to participate as a CI. Such organisations include, but are not limited to, AIMS, ANSTO, CSIRO, DSTO, GA, and State/Territory Research and Development organisations.