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Linkage Projects
Round 1
Selection Report for Funding Commencing in 2008
Overview
Selection Process
Selection Criteria
Funding Levels and Duration
National Research Priorities
Summary of Outcomes
Approved Funding
Project Size
Components
APAI and APAI-IT
APDI
LIF
Outcomes by Organisation
Partnerships
Leverage of ARC Funding
Age and Gender
Overview
The Linkage Projects scheme funds collaborative projects between University researchers and Partner Organisations. Proposals in Round 1 for projects commencing in January 2008 closed on 4 May 2007. This report outlines recommendations from the selection process for that round.
As indicated in the funding rules for this round, Linkage Projects aims to:
- encourage and develop long-term strategic research alliances between higher education organisations and other organisations, including within industry, in order to apply advanced knowledge to problems and/or to provide opportunities to obtain national economic, social or cultural benefits;
- support collaborative research on issues of benefit to regional and rural communities;
- enhance the scale and focus of research in National Research Priorities;
- foster opportunities for postdoctoral researchers to pursue internationally competitive research in collaboration with organisations outside the higher education sector, targeting those who have demonstrated a clear commitment to high-quality research;
- provide outcome-oriented research training to prepare high-calibre postgraduate research students; and
- produce a national pool of world-class researchers to meet the needs of the broader Australian innovation system.
Research project costs are supported under Linkage Projects, as well as:
- Australian Postdoctoral Fellowships Industry (APDI) for researchers with less than three years' postdoctoral experience;
- Australian Postgraduate Awards Industry (APAI, or as APAI-IT for those in the field of information technology and communications) for postgraduate research students studying towards a Master's or PhD degree; and
- Linkage Industry Fellowships (LIF) which provide support for costs involved in a temporary transfer from one of the eligible higher education organisations listed on a proposal to one of the partner organisations on that proposal, or vice versa.
A single proposal to Linkage Projects may contain research project costs and one or more of the component costs above.
This report includes summary statistics and recommendations for those Linkage Projects proposals that involve project, and/or APAI, and/or APDI, and/or LIF funding.
Selection Process
Assessment of proposals was undertaken by the ARC College of Experts, which:
- assigned independent readers/assessors to review proposals;
- sought Applicants' comments on assessors' reports;
- identified ineligible proposals;
- ranked each proposal relative to the others on the basis of the proposal, the assessors' reports and Applicant's response to these assessments;
- assessed and recommended budgets;
- where applicable held panel interviews; and
- prepared funding recommendations.
The ARC and the College of Experts ranked each proposal relative to all other proposals on the basis of the proposal and prepared funding recommendations.
Selection Criteria
Selection criteria and corresponding weights for Linkage Projects proposals are:
- investigator track record (20%)
- significance and innovation (25%)
- approach and training (20%)
- national benefit (10%)
- commitment of partner organisation (25%)
Funding Levels and Duration
Funding for Linkage Projects may be awarded for one to five years subject to parliamentary appropriation and the provisions of the ARC Act. APDIs are awarded for a standard duration of three years, except where applicants specifically request a shorter duration. APAI stipends may be awarded for two years (Master's) or three years (PhD), with provision under certain conditions for an extension of an additional six months' support for PhD students. Unless otherwise specified, funding amounts presented in this document do not include amounts covering any additional six months extensions for APAI stipends.
National Research Priorities
The Australian Government has identified four National Research Priorities and, within these, 21 national research priority goals.
Of the 424 proposals considered in this round, 407 (96.0%) were identified by the applicants as addressing a National Research Priority. Of those 407, 198 (48.6%) are approved for funding, representing 98.0% of the total 202 proposals approved for funding and accounting for 98.5% of the total funding.
Table1: Approved funding for Linkage Projects Round 1 2008 by National Research Priority
Priority Area |
Proposals received |
Proposals approved |
Success rate |
Indicative funds over project life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
None |
17 |
4 |
23.5% |
$929,575 |
An Environmentally Sustainable Australia |
116 |
51 |
44.0% |
$21,818,082 |
Promoting and Maintaining Good Health |
132 |
66 |
50.0% |
$15,828,687 |
Frontier Technologies for Building and Transforming Australian Industries |
125 |
62 |
49.6% |
$17,701,665 |
Safeguarding Australia |
34 |
19 |
55.9% |
$5,989,837 |
Total priority proposals |
407 |
198 |
48.6% |
$61,338,271 |
% within priority areas |
96.0% |
98.0% |
98.5% |
Summary of Outcomes
In this round, the ARC received a total of 425 proposals, of which one proposal was withdrawn and not considered for funding. Of the 424, 29 primarily sought an APAI stipend (APAI-predominantly proposals) and 395 proposals sought substantial project support, and may include a request for funding of one or more APAI, APDI or LIF places. In the tables and text below, the following terms are used to distinguish components of the scheme:
LP - figures for the 395 project proposals
LA - figures for the 29 APAI-predominantly proposals
Linkage - figures for all 424 Linkage Projects proposals
Approved Funding
Of the 424 Linkage Projects proposals which were considered for funding commencing in January 2008, 202 (47.6%) were approved for funding, 209 were not approved for funding and 13 were deemed ineligible (that is, they did not satisfy the eligibility criteria and/or other requirements for the submission of proposal).
The 202 approved proposals represent an ARC commitment of $62.3M. If all APAI PhD students associated with the 202 approved proposals were to extend for six months, the overall ARC commitment over the life of these projects would be $64.1M.
For the 29 APAI-predominantly proposals (LA), 10 (34.5 %) are funded and represent an ARC indicative funding commitment of $1.1M over the life of these projects.
Table 2: Numbers of approved proposals and success rates for Linkage Projects Proposal Components Round 2 2007 and Round 1 2008
Component |
Round 2 2007 for proposals commencing in July 2007 | Round 1 2008 for proposals commencing in January 2008 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Received |
Approved |
Success Rate |
Received |
Approved |
Success Rate |
|
LP |
415 |
201 |
48.4% |
395 |
192 |
48.6% |
LA |
57 |
16 |
28.1% |
29 |
10 |
34.5% |
Linkage |
472 |
217 |
46.0% |
424 |
202 |
47.6% |
Table 3: Numbers of approved proposals and success rates for Linkage Projects Round 1 2008 by discipline area
Discipline Group* |
Proposals received |
Proposals approved |
Success rate |
Requested funds over project life for considered proposals |
Funds over project life approved proposals |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
BSB |
77 |
35 |
45.5% |
$28,696,777 |
$12,228,386 |
EE |
79 |
34 |
43.0% |
$33,006,710 |
$16,202,085 |
HCA |
43 |
22 |
51.2% |
$11,527,687 |
$5,134,056 |
MIC |
47 |
21 |
44.7% |
$14,123,404 |
$5,830,501 |
PCG |
38 |
20 |
52.6% |
$13,595,037 |
$6,125,347 |
SBE |
140 |
70 |
50.0% |
$39,394,375 |
$16,747,471 |
Total |
424 |
202 |
47.6% |
$140,343,990 |
$62,267,846 |
*BSB = Biological Sciences and Biotechnology; EE = Engineering and Environmental Sciences; HCA = Humanities and Creative Arts; MIC = Mathematics, Information and Communication Sciences; PCG = Physics, Chemistry and Geoscience; SBE = Social, Behavioural and Economic Sciences
Project Size
The average first-year (calendar year) funding per project for Round 1 2008 LP proposals is $107,487 (80.4% of average first-year request), and for LA proposals is $35,878 (91.4% of average first-year request). The overall average Linkage first-year funding per project in Round 1 2008 is $103,942 (80.5% of average first-year request).
Table 4: Comparison of approved first-year funding, Linkage Projects Round 2 2007 and Round 1 2008
Component |
First-year funding approved for Round 2 2007 proposals commencing in July 2007 | First-year funding approved for Round 1 2008 proposals commencing in January 2008 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Average funding for first year |
% of average first-year request |
Average approved funding for first year |
Average amount approved as % of requested funding for first year |
|
LP |
$97,067 |
70.4% |
$107,487 |
80.4% |
LA |
$30,475 |
97.9% |
$35,878 |
91.4% |
Linkage |
$92,157 |
75.4% |
$103,942 |
80.5% |
Table 5: Average approved funding over project life for Linkage Projects Round 2 2007 and Round 1 2008
Component |
Round 2 2007 funded proposals commencing in July 2007 |
Round 1 2008 approved proposals commencing in January 2008 |
|---|---|---|
LP |
$293,179 |
$318,706 |
LA |
$86,503 |
$107,633 |
Linkage |
$277,940 |
$308,257 |
Components
The components that can be funded in Linkage Projects are APAIs, APAI-ITs, APDIs, LIF and other collaborative research grant (CRG) funding. The following table shows numbers requested and success rates for these components.
Table 6: Numbers of and success rates for approved Linkage Projects Round 1 2008 by components
Component |
Number requested |
Number approved |
Success rate |
|---|---|---|---|
APAI |
323 |
116 |
35.9% |
APAI-IT |
38 |
29 |
76.3% |
APDI |
30 |
18 |
60.0% |
LIF |
3 |
1 |
33.3% |
CRG |
394 |
185* |
47.0% |
*Of the 202 proposals which are recommended, not all were funded the CRG component requested
APAI and APAI-IT
The 2008 Linkage Projects Funding Rules stipulate that, subject to an adequate number of requests of the requisite type and of sufficient quality being received, the ARC will allocate at least 50 APAI places in the field of information technology and communications in addition to other APAI funding. These APAI-IT places are to be filled over both selection rounds. For this round (Round 1 2008), 116 APAI and 29 APAI-IT places are approved for funding, representing a success rate of 35.9% and 76.3% respectively.
APDI
The Linkage Projects Round 1 2008 proposals included requests for the award of 30 APDIs, of which 18 (60.0%) are approved for funding.
LIF
The Linkage Projects Round 1 2008 proposals included three requests for a LIF. One LIF is approved for funding, representing a success rate of 33.3%.
Outcomes by Organisation
Table 7 shows proposal numbers and total ARC funding by administering organisation for Linkage Projects Round 1 2008.
Table 7: Numbers of proposals and success rates for Linkage Projects Round 1 2008 by Administering Organisation
Administering Organisation |
Proposals considered |
Proposals Approved |
Success rate |
Approved funding over project life |
Total Partner Organisation Contribution pledged over project life |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Central Queensland University |
1 |
0 |
0.0% |
$0 |
n/a |
Charles Darwin University |
6 |
4 |
66.7% |
$810,028 |
$1,623,550 |
Charles Sturt University |
1 |
0 |
0.0% |
$0 |
n/a |
Curtin University of Technology |
13 |
5 |
38.5% |
$1,656,670 |
$3,011,096 |
Deakin University |
8 |
1 |
12.5% |
$315,000 |
$452,000 |
Edith Cowan University |
5 |
2 |
40.0% |
$285,000 |
$600,847 |
Flinders University |
5 |
2 |
40.0% |
$285,000 |
$573,325 |
Griffith University |
17 |
7 |
41.2% |
$1,623,185 |
$3,670,256 |
James Cook University |
4 |
3 |
75.0% |
$744,567 |
$881,835 |
La Trobe University |
7 |
4 |
57.1% |
$691,765 |
$785,841 |
Macquarie University |
5 |
4 |
80.0% |
$1,271,031 |
$1,796,790 |
Monash University |
21 |
8 |
38.1% |
$2,887,258 |
$4,549,909 |
Murdoch University |
7 |
2 |
28.6% |
$812,267 |
$1,124,913 |
Queensland University of Technology |
25 |
13 |
52.0% |
$3,190,103 |
$3,905,460 |
RMIT University |
19 |
10 |
52.6% |
$2,352,007 |
$3,234,040 |
Southern Cross University |
2 |
1 |
50.0% |
$246,000 |
$579,047 |
Swinburne University of Technology |
10 |
4 |
40.0% |
$561,648 |
$765,385 |
The Australian National University |
8 |
2 |
25.0% |
$521,575 |
$691,504 |
The University of Adelaide |
11 |
9 |
81.8% |
$2,744,320 |
$3,569,731 |
The University of Melbourne |
28 |
13 |
46.4% |
$2,518,754 |
$3,763,320 |
The University of New England |
1 |
0 |
0.0% |
$0 |
n/a |
The University of New South Wales |
38 |
18 |
47.4% |
$4,904,170 |
$7,817,939 |
The University of Newcastle |
7 |
5 |
71.4% |
$2,072,371 |
$3,136,195 |
The University of Queensland |
43 |
25 |
58.1% |
$13,711,837 |
$19,689,902 |
The University of Sydney |
33 |
18 |
54.5% |
$5,509,210 |
$8,896,404 |
The University of Western Australia |
21 |
12 |
57.1% |
$3,673,575 |
$5,695,059 |
University of Ballarat |
3 |
1 |
33.3% |
$210,000 |
$206,464 |
University of Canberra |
3 |
2 |
66.7% |
$346,881 |
$718,000 |
University of South Australia |
9 |
3 |
33.3% |
$1,002,651 |
$1,453,350 |
University of Southern Queensland |
2 |
2 |
100.0% |
$570,313 |
$662,710 |
University of Tasmania |
12 |
5 |
41.7% |
$2,004,273 |
$3,906,654 |
University of Technology, Sydney |
16 |
7 |
43.8% |
$2,212,593 |
$3,840,049 |
University of the Sunshine Coast |
2 |
0 |
0.0% |
$0 |
n/a |
University of Western Sydney |
11 |
4 |
36.4% |
$1,052,207 |
$1,397,280 |
University of Wollongong |
14 |
5 |
35.7% |
$1,168,762 |
$1,694,334 |
Victoria University |
6 |
1 |
16.7% |
$312,825 |
$339,000 |
Total |
424 |
202 |
47.6% |
$62,267,846 |
$95,032,189 |
Partnerships
Linkage proposals represent partnerships between University researchers and other organisations, as well as partnerships between Partner Organisations within projects. On average, there are 2 Partner Organisations involved in each approved proposal in this Linkage Projects round. A summary of the ANZSIC categories identified by applicants for these Partner Organisations is at Table 8.
Table 8: Partner Organisation data by ANZSIC Category for Linkage Projects Round 1 2008
ANZSIC Category |
Proposals received |
Proposals approved |
||
|---|---|---|---|---|
No. of Organis-ations* |
Total contribution (cash + in-kind) |
No. of Organisations (Govt, non-profit, private) |
Total contribution (cash + in-kind) |
|
Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing |
63 |
$15,594,041 |
33 (12, 1, 20) |
$9,939,572 |
Communication Services |
4 |
$1,102,940 |
0 (0, 0, 0) |
n/a |
Construction |
10 |
$1,134,278 |
9 (0, 0, 9) |
$1,104,278 |
Cultural And Recreational Services |
66 |
$9,138,547 |
32 (21, 7, 4) |
$5,118,720 |
Education |
69 |
$11,059,189 |
31 (11, 10, 10) |
$5,196,560 |
Electricity, Gas And Water Supply |
38 |
$15,432,337 |
17 (8, 0, 9) |
$10,115,318 |
Finance and Insurance |
12 |
$2,697,320 |
7 (1, 0, 6) |
$1,943,244 |
Government Administration and Defence |
156 |
$22,784,724 |
85 (80, 2, 3) |
$14,036,287 |
Health and Community Services |
120 |
$23,113,196 |
73 (22, 42, 9) |
$14,012,782 |
Manufacturing |
77 |
$28,893,261 |
31 (0, 0, 31) |
$12,239,749 |
Mining |
42 |
$11,440,304 |
26 (1, 1, 24) |
$6,886,335 |
Personal And Other Services |
33 |
$5,202,452 |
17 (3, 10, 4) |
$3,550,084 |
Property And Business Services |
80 |
$14,321,281 |
36 (3, 6, 27) |
$7,623,749 |
Retail Trade |
1 |
$466,935 |
0 (0, 0, 0) |
n/a |
Transport and Storage |
16 |
$5,287,774 |
7 (3, 0, 4) |
$3,265,511 |
Wholesale Trade |
1 |
$48,000 |
0 (0, 0, 0) |
n/a |
Total |
788 |
$167,716,579 |
404 (165, 79, 160) |
$95,032,189 |
*These figures include multiple counting of organisations which are listed on more than one proposal.
Partner Organisations were identified by the applicants as government, non-profit or private companies, and also identified as Australia-based or international. The Partner Organisation contributions in these categories for Round 1 2008 proposals approved for funding are shown below in Table 9.
Table 9: Partner Organisation contributions by sector for approved Linkage Projects proposals Round 1 2008
Type |
Cash | In-kind | Total | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
$M |
% |
$M |
% |
$M |
% |
||
Government |
|||||||
Commonwealth |
1.7 |
5.7 |
2.3 |
3.5 |
4.0 |
4.2 |
|
State, Territory & Local |
10.6 |
35.3 |
23.3 |
35.7 |
33.8 |
35.6 |
|
International |
0.2 |
0.5 |
0.7 |
1.0 |
0.8 |
0.9 |
|
Sub-total |
12.4 |
41.5 |
26.3 |
40.3 |
38.7 |
40.7 |
|
Non-profit |
|||||||
Australian |
2.7 |
9.0 |
7.3 |
11.2 |
10.0 |
10.5 |
|
International |
0.8 |
2.7 |
1.7 |
2.6 |
2.5 |
2.7 |
|
Sub-total |
3.5 |
11.7 |
9.0 |
13.9 |
12.5 |
13.2 |
|
Private companies |
|||||||
Australian |
10.4 |
34.9 |
20.0 |
30.8 |
30.5 |
32.1 |
|
International |
3.6 |
11.9 |
9.8 |
15.1 |
13.4 |
14.1 |
|
Sub-total |
14.0 |
46.8 |
29.9 |
45.8 |
43.8 |
46.1 |
|
Total |
29.9 |
100.0 |
65.1 |
100.0 |
95.0 |
100.0 |
|
Note: All totals and percentages are calculated using unrounded figures.
In approved proposals, private companies have pledged 46.8% of the total cash and 45.8% of the total in-kind contributions pledged by Partner Organisations. Government agencies have pledged 41.5% of the total cash and 40.3% of the in-kind contributions pledged by Partner Organisations. State, Territory and Local governments account for the bulk of Government agency-pledged contributions (35.6% of overall pledged contributions, compared with 4.2% pledged by Commonwealth agencies).
Leverage of ARC Funding
The ARC considered 424 proposals seeking a total of $140.3M in ARC funding over five years. Approved proposals are linked to 788 instances of Partner Organisation involvement, with total pledged Partner Organisation contributions of $167.7M over five years.
For the 202 approved proposals, the ARC will contribute $62.3M and Partner Organisations have pledged $95.0M over the life of these projects. This represents $1.5 from Partner Organisations for every dollar funded by the ARC.
The ARC considered 395 LP proposals, requesting support for 323 APAI and APAI-IT stipends. Partner Organisations on these proposals pledged contributions of $164.8M over five years. For the 192 LP approved proposals, the ARC will contribute $61.2M and Partner Organisations have pledged $94.1M over the life of these projects. This represents $1.5 from Partner Organisations for every dollar funded by the ARC.
The ARC considered 29 LA proposals, requesting support for 38 APAI and APAI-IT stipends. Partner Organisations on these proposals pledged contributions of $3.0M over five years. For the 10 LA approved proposals, the ARC will contribute $1.1M and Partner Organisations have pledged $0.9M over the life of these projects. This represents $0.9 from Partner Organisations for every dollar funded by the ARC.
In total, for Round 1 2008 approved proposals, there are 404 Partner Organisations pledging to contribute $95.0M over five years. Details of ARC leverage for Round 1 2008 of the Linkage Projects scheme are listed in Table 10 below.
Table 10: Leverage of ARC funds for approved Linkage Projects proposals Round 1 2008
Component |
ARC funds |
Partner Organisation funds pledged |
Leverage |
|---|---|---|---|
LP (includes 131 APAIs and APAI-ITs) |
$61,191,512 |
$94,114,378 |
1.5 |
LA (includes 14 APAIs and APAI-ITs) |
$1,076,334 |
$917,811 |
0.9 |
Linkage Total |
$62,267,846 |
$95,032,189 |
1.5 |
Age and Gender
The total number of investigators (Chief Investigators, APDIs and Partner Investigators) named on all proposals considered in this round is 1579. Of these 1110 are male and 469 are female. Success rates by age and gender are shown in Figure 1 below for the Round 1 2008 Linkage Projects proposals.
A component analysis shows that for LP proposals considered, 1053 investigators are male and 443 are female. The overall success rate for male investigators is 49.7% and for female investigators the success rate is 51.7%. For LA proposals considered, 57 investigators are male and 26 are female. The success rates for male and female investigators are 43.9% and 19.2% respectively.
Figure 1: Comparative success rates by investigator* age and gender for Linkage Projects proposals Round 1 2008
*Investigators are researchers nominated as Chief Investigators, APDIs or Partner Investigators
24/9/07
