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The ARC assessment process: An overview
Even before the outcomes of one of the ARC's major funding schemes have been announced, staff have moved on to managing the assessment processes for the next round of proposals, and the one after that, while finalising new funding agreements and continuing to administer those already in existence.
The work that goes on behind the scenes to ensure that all ARC funding proposals receive fair, appropriate and transparent consideration is rigorous. It is also a time consuming process, which includes comprehensive peer review, to move from development of a grant scheme's funding rules to announcement of the funding outcomes.
Each and every ARC funding round requires coordination of a huge effort by ARC staff and executive directors, assessors, ARC College of Experts members, the ARC's CEO and the Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research to reach a successful conclusion.
It all starts with the development of funding rules-the blueprint describing the eligibility criteria and accountability requirements for proposals-which are fundamental to the smooth administration of any funding scheme. In developing the funding rules, the ARC takes into consideration feedback on previous funding rules by Deputy and Pro Vice-Chancellors (Research) and university research office staff. The draft funding rules are scrutinised by the ARC executive, the ARC's legal advisers and the ARC's CEO before final approval of them is sought from the Minister.
The next undertaking is to prepare the application form and the 'Instructions to Applicants' document to assist researchers in electronically submitting the on-line component of their funding proposals to the ARC through the online grant application management system via the ARC's web site . At the same time, the ARC's staff test and retest the application form to iron out problems before it goes live and ensure that it is working effectively when the ARC calls for proposals. ARC staff must also test the functionality of assessment and rejoinder forms in GAMS.
When the closing time for a funding round has passed and the full hard copy proposals have been scanned and converted into PDF documents, the ARC's academic executive directors examine each proposal to determine the most appropriate discipline panel for each proposal and which assessors should be assigned to it. Cross-disciplinary proposals are assigned to assessors from more than one disciplinary panel.
The next phase of the process is the assessment of proposals. The ARC has the right to make recommendations solely on the basis of its expertise, including that of its College of Experts. However, the bulk of the proposals are also assigned to independent readers/assessors to review proposals.
Assessment is usually undertaken by the ARC College of Experts, Australian-based readers (Ozreaders), and International Expert Readers (Intreaders). Each scheme varies in its use of readers depending on the objectives of the scheme, the scale of funding support requested and the timing of the overall process. Assessments are submitted to the ARC via GAMS and researchers may be invited to respond to them via a rejoinder form, also in GAMS.
After rejoinders are received, the ARC prepares summary documentation for Selection Advisory Committee (SAC) members containing details of each of the proposals to be considered within their expert panel. In schemes, such as Linkage Projects and Discovery Projects, ARC College of Expert members make up the six disciplinary Selection Advisory Committees. In other schemes, such as Federation Fellowships, a single cross-disciplinary SAC is appointed, consisting of both ARC College of Expert members and other eminent researchers. Selection Advisory Committee members assigned to assess a particular proposal begin to consult, taking into account the assessments provided by ARC College of Experts, Oz or Int Readers and the rejoinders (if applicable), and rank the proposal s they have assessed.
The information is again collated by the ARC and considered by the SAC members - excluding any members who have conflicts of interest- at a selection meeting. It is at these selection meetings that the recommendations regarding which proposals should be funded-and to what extent-are discussed, debated and agreed upon.
Selection reports and analyses of statistics are prepared by ARC staff for consideration by the ARC's CEO and provided to the Minister for approval of funding. Then comes the official announcement of the funding outcomes and all that this entails-a Ministerial function, information kits, documents for the internet, emails and letters of notification to research offices, followed by funding agreements and, finally, post-award administration.
The ARC's proposal and grants management processes will be simplified when the phased implementation of the ARC's new electronic Research Management System, RMS, is completed in late 2008. RMS will replace several systems with a single system that will deal with the full range of internal and external ARC business activities, including full electronic submission, processing, reporting and tracking of funding. The front end of RMS will be entirely web-based, ensuring that users will be able to access it from most locations in the world.
At any given time, the ARC has several funding schemes underway, all at different stages of the processing cycle but coordinated to meet the deadlines for assessment at the appropriate ARC selection meeting. This is no mean feat, with an increasing number of proposals for funding from most ARC schemes and about 5,000 active projects that require ongoing administration.
The volume of work involved and the demands placed on ARC resources in running multiple funding rounds each year are significant. Coupled with a heavy workload in terms of post-award management of funding agreements and reporting and monitoring processes for the successful projects, this means the ARC is working at full capability behind the scenes of any funding scheme all year round.
4/3/08
