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National Competitive Grants Program

• ARC Research Centres
• ARC Centres of Excellence
• ARC Special Research Centres
• Co-funded Centres of Excellence
• Discovery
• Australian Laureate Fellowships
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• Future Fellowships
• Super Science Fellowships
• Linkage
• Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities
• Linkage Learned Academies Special Projects
• Linkage Projects
• Special Research Initiatives
• ANZCCART
• AAO Fellowship
• EMBL
• Groundwater
• Policing and Security
• Research in Bionic Vision
• Thinking Systems
• Previous Schemes

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Special Research Initiatives

The ARC takes a proactive approach, in consultation with research organisations, professional associations and peak higher education bodies, to identifying new or emerging areas of research and providing funding for them under the Special Research Initiatives scheme. Specifically, funding is provided under the scheme to support:

• cooperative activities among researchers
• cooperative development of national and international linkages
• cooperative development of innovative research areas
• rapid response to unforeseen opportunities, such as conducting field-work at an erupting volcano
• activities aimed at building the scale and focus of research and research training
• other activities the ARC judges to be consistent with the scheme's objectives.

Activities funded under this scheme may include, but are not restricted to, one-off conferences, workshops and seminars.

Funding may also be used to develop networks and initiate collaborations that would be unlikely otherwise to occur and, where appropriate, disseminate the outcomes of the collaborative activities funded under the scheme.

Applications for Special Research Initiatives funding are by means of occasional calls for proposals. Applications for SRI funding may be submitted only when invited by the ARC by means of a call for proposal(s) for funding.  Appendix 2 of the Special Research Initiatives Funding Rules for funding commencing in 2008-2009 or 2009-2010 lists the initiative(s) for which a call for proposal(s) is being, or has been, issued for funding commencing in 2008-2009 or 2009-2010. Appendix 2 will be updated from time to time as new initiatives are implemented and will provide specific details pertaining to the particular initiatives.

• Funding Rules

Initiatives for funding in 2009-2010:

• Research in Bionic Vision Science and Technology

Initiatives for funding in 2008-2009:

• ARC/NWC Co-funded Centre for Groundwater Research and Training
• European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL)

Initiatives for funding in 2006:

• ARC Centre of Excellence in Policing and Security
• Australian and New Zealand Council for the Care of Animals in Research and Teaching (ANZCCART)
• Anglo-Australian Observatory Fellowship
• Thinking Systems

Initiatives for funding in 2005:

• E-Research

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