1.1 These grant guidelines establish the rules which govern the administration of the Linkage Program ARC Centres of Excellence grant opportunity including the application, eligibility, and selection processes to be followed and the assessment criteria that will be used to select grant recipients.
1.2 The Linkage Program is one of two Programs under the ARC National Competitive Grants Program (NCGP).
1.3 The Linkage Program includes the following grant opportunities:
ARC Centres of Excellence;
Industrial Transformation Research Hubs;
Industrial Transformation Training Centres;
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities;
Linkage Projects;
Linkage Learned Academies Special Projects;
Special Research Initiatives; and
Supporting Responses to Commonwealth Science Council Priorities.
Linkage Program Purpose
1.4 The objectives of the Linkage Program are to deliver outcomes of benefit to Australia and build Australia’s research and innovation capacity through support for:
collaborative research between university-based researchers and researchers in other sectors;
research training and career opportunities that enable Australian and international researchers and research students to work with industry and other end-users; and
research in priority areas.
1.5 The purpose of the Linkage Program is to promote national and international partnerships between researchers and business, industry, community organisations, government and other publicly funded research agencies.
Intended outcome
1.6 By supporting the development of partnerships, the ARC encourages the transfer of skills, knowledge and ideas as a basis for securing commercial and other benefits of research. The intended outcomes of the Linkage Program include commercial products, licences and revenue; new companies; job creation; and new programs and policy.
Scope and timeframes
1.7 Linkage Program grants are awarded on the basis of excellence through competitive peer review processes conducted for each grant opportunity.
1.8 Linkage Program grant opportunities may be conducted annually, on a continuous basis, at regular intervals, or as required.
Key performance indicators
1.9 We identify Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for the Linkage Program annually in the ARC Portfolio Budget Statements and the ARC Corporate Plan and report against them annually in the ARC Annual Report.
1.10 The KPIs address the objectives of the Linkage Program and focus on long-term outcomes as well as medium-term outcomes relating to building Australia’s research capacity, for example, research careers, infrastructure and training, contributions in areas of national need and research collaboration.
1.12 These grant guidelines are a legislative instrument current as at the date of signing by the Minister and have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the ARC Act in force at that date.
About the ARC Centres of Excellence grant opportunity objectives and outcomes
1.13 These grant guidelines contain information for the ARC Centres of Excellence grant opportunity. As with all grant opportunities offered under the Linkage Program, ARC Centres of Excellence grants are aimed at supporting the development of partnerships across all sectors. ARC Centres of Excellence are the largest scale research programs supported through the ARC NCGP.
1.14 These grant guidelines set out:
the objectives of the ARC Centres of Excellence grant opportunity;
the grant support available;
the eligibility and assessment criteria;
how grant applications are considered and selected;
how grantees will be monitored and evaluated; and
responsibilities and expectations in relation to the grant opportunity.
1.15 You and the participants must read this document before filling out an application for the ARC Centres of Excellence grant opportunity.
1.16 These grants are applied for through an application process consisting of:
an Expression of Interest (EOI) application; and
a full application.
1.17 The two part application process is supported by a three part assessment process comprising of an assessment of EOI applications, assessment of full applications and, if selected, an interview process for full applications.
1.18 In these grant guidelines, an EOI application or full application refers to the completed documentation submitted to Us requesting a grant. The application includes both administrative information and the specifics of the proposed grant activity. If a full application is successful, the grant activity is then referred to as a ‘Centre’. See the glossary for more information on definitions.
Objectives and outcomes
1.19 The ARC Centres of Excellence grant opportunity facilitates significant collaboration which allows the complementary resources of universities, publicly funded research organisations, other research bodies, governments and businesses to be concentrated to support outstanding research in all fields (except Medical Research).
1.20 The ARC Centres of Excellence are prestigious focal points of expertise through which high-quality researchers collaboratively maintain and develop Australia’s international standing in research areas of national priority.
1.21 The objectives of the ARC Centres of Excellence grant opportunity are to:
undertake highly innovative and potentially transformational research that aims to achieve international standing in the fields of research envisaged and leads to a significant advancement of capabilities and knowledge;
link existing Australian research strengths and build critical mass with new capacity for interdisciplinary, collaborative approaches to address the most challenging and significant research problems;
develop relationships and build new networks with major national and international centres and research programs to help strengthen research, achieve global competitiveness and gain recognition for Australian research;
build Australia’s human capacity in a range of research areas by attracting and retaining, from within Australia and abroad, researchers of high international standing as well as the most promising research students;
provide high-quality postgraduate and postdoctoral training environments for the next generation of researchers;
offer Australian researchers opportunities to work on large-scale problems over longer periods of time; and
establish Centres that have an impact on the wider community through interaction with, and beneficial outcomes for, higher education institutions, governments, industry and the private and non-profit sectors.
1.22 The intended outcomes of the ARC Centres of Excellence grant opportunity are consistent with those of the Linkage Program.