Discovery Projects Selection Report for funding commencing in 2024

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Overview

The Discovery Projects scheme reflects the Australian Government’s commitment to excellence in research by supporting grant funding to support research projects that may be undertaken by individual researchers or research teams.

The objectives of the Discovery Projects scheme are to:

support excellent basic and applied research and research training by individuals and teams;
support national and international research collaboration; and
enhance the scale and focus of research in Australian Government priority areas.

Selection process

Applications for funding commencing in 2024 opened on 1 December 2022 and closed on 8 March 2023. Applications were submitted through the Australian Research Council (ARC) Research Management System (RMS). This report outlines outcomes from the selection process for that round.

These recommendations are based on advice from the ARC Selection Advisory Committee (SAC) which:

assigned independent assessors to review the applications
assessed applications and reviewed assessments made by independent assessors
reviewed candidates’ comments on assessors’ reports
ranked each application relative to the others on the basis of the application, the assessors’ reports and candidates’ responses to those assessments
assessed and approved budgets;

and, advice from the ARC’s National Competitive Grants Program (NCGP) Eligibility Committee which:

considered eligibility issues identified by ARC staff, the members of the ARC College of Experts or independent assessors
where required, sought advice from the ARC’s Medical Research Advisory Group
made recommendations to the CEO in respect of ineligible applications.

This report reflects the outcomes approved by the Minister. Unless otherwise specified, data represented in this report exclude withdrawn applications.

Assessment criteria

All applications that meet the eligibility criteria for the Discovery Projects 2024 applications were assessed and merit ranked using the following assessment criteria:

Investigator(s)/Capability (35%)

Describe:

Research Opportunity and Performance Evidence (ROPE);
time and capacity to undertake the research;
evidence of experience in research training, mentoring and supervision (where appropriate); and
the capability of the investigator or team to build collaborations both within Australia and internationally.

Project quality and innovation (40%)

Describe the:

contribution to an important gap in knowledge or significant problem;
novelty/originality and innovation of the proposed research (including any new methods, technologies, theories or ideas that will be developed);
clarity of the hypothesis, theories and research questions;
cohesiveness of the project design and implementation plan (including the appropriateness of the aim, conceptual framework, method, data and/or analyses); and
extent to which the research has the potential to enhance international collaboration.

Benefit (15%)

Describe the potential benefits including the:

new or advanced knowledge resulting from outcomes of the research;
economic, commercial, environmental, social and/or cultural benefits for Australia and international communities; and
potential contribution to capacity in the Australian Government priority areas.

Feasibility (10%)

Describe the:

cost-effectiveness of the research and its value for money;
suitability of the environment for the research team and their project, and for HDR students where appropriate;
availability of the necessary facilities to complete the project; and
extent to which the project’s design, participants and requested budget create confidence in the timely and successful completion of the project.

If the project involves research pertaining to Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander communities describe:

the strategies for enabling collaboration with Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander communities (for example, dialogue/collaboration with an Indigenous cultural mentor);
any existing or developing, supportive and high-quality relationships with Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander communities; and
any personal affiliations with local Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander communities that can facilitate the proposed research.

Assessment process

The ARC assessment process for Discovery Projects 2024 involved 98 College of Experts members across five discipline panels and was managed in RMS. A total of 8,406 independent assessors’ reports were submitted to the ARC.

Funding levels and duration

Funding of between $30,000 and $500,000 per annum for up to 5 consecutive years may be awarded for each Discovery Projects application.

Summary of outcomes

The ARC received a total of 2,592 applications for Discovery Projects for funding commencing in 2024, of which two applications were withdrawn.

421 Discovery Projects are approved for funding commencing in 2024, shown in Table 1. The overall success rate for Discovery Projects for funding commencing in 2024 is 16.3 per cent. A comparison of success rates and funding amounts is shown in Table 1.

Of the unsuccessful applications in 2024, 16 were found not to meet eligibility requirements.

Table 1. Comparison of application numbers, success rates, requested and allocated funds for approved Discovery Projects applications from 2023 to 2024

Funding year	Applications considered	Applications approved	Success rate (%)	Requested funds over project life for all applications considered ($)	Requested funds over project life for approved applications ($)	Funds allocated over project life for approved applications ($)	Return rate for approved applications (%)
2023	2588	478	18.5	$1,572,945,214	$305,492,688	$221,394,142	72.5
2024	2590	421	16.3	$1,651,322,807	$275,707,441	$220,182,441	79.9

Outcomes by discipline

A summary of outcomes by discipline panel is shown in Table 2.

Table 2. Application numbers, success rates and requested and allocated funds for approved Discovery Projects 2024 applications by discipline

Discipline*	Applications considered	Applications approved	Success rate (%)	Requested funds over project life for all applications considered ($)	Requested funds over project life for approved applications ($)	Funds over project life for approved applications ($)	Return Rate for approved applications (%)
BSB	652	106	16.3%	$496,948,139	$87,510,599	$68,518,943	78.3%
EIC	767	124	16.2%	$474,112,318	$78,915,298	$63,863,285	80.9%
HCA	209	35	16.7%	$102,989,849	$18,206,371	$14,875,976	81.7%
MPCE	524	89	17.0%	$331,804,497	$53,951,611	$41,985,410	77.8%
SBE	438	67	15.3%	$245,468,004	$37,123,562	$30,938,827	83.3%
Total	2590	421	16.3%	$1,651,322,807	$275,707,441	$220,182,441	79.9%

* BSB – Biological Sciences and Biotechnology; EIC – Engineering, Information and Computing Sciences, HCA – Humanities and Creative Arts; MPCE – Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry and Earth Sciences; SBE – Social, Behavioural and Economic Sciences.

Outcomes by Administering Organisation

A summary of outcomes by Administering Organisation is shown in Table 3.

Table 3. Numbers of applications and success rates for approved Discovery Projects 2024 applications by Administering Organisation

Administering Organisation	Applications Considered	Applications Approved	Success rate (%)	Funds over project life for approved applications ($)
Australian Capital Territory	135	32	23.7%	$17,831,357
The Australian National University	129	31	24.0%	$16,922,750
University of Canberra	6	1	16.7%	$908,607
New South Wales	853	119	14.0%	$61,987,380
Australian Catholic University	16	0	0	-
Charles Sturt University	7	1	14.3%	$553,139
Macquarie University	78	8	10.3%	$3,871,172
Southern Cross University	5	2	40.0%	$1,020,282
The University of New England	6	0	0	-
The University of New South Wales	267	38	14.2%	$20,502,058
The University of Newcastle	67	7	10.4%	$3,754,464
The University of Sydney	245	36	14.7%	$18,629,794
University of Technology Sydney	82	15	18.3%	$7,809,255
University of Wollongong	53	10	18.9%	$5,037,233
Western Sydney University	27	2	7.4%	$846,076
Northern Territory	5	1	20%	$351,000
Charles Darwin University	5	1	20%	$351,000
Queensland	454	69	15.2%	$36,119,313
Bond University	2	0	0	-
Central Queensland University	4	0	0	-
Griffith University	53	9	17.0%	$4,676,155
James Cook University	12	2	16.7%	$1,052,505
Queensland University of Technology	87	15	17.2%	$7,669,739
The University of Queensland	264	39	14.8%	$20,563,527
University of Southern Queensland	24	3	12.5%	$1,553,432
University of the Sunshine Coast	8	1	12.5%	$603,955
South Australia	163	27	16.6%	$14,040,466
Flinders University	36	4	11.1%	$2,197,079
The University of Adelaide	83	17	20.5%	$8,443,268
Torrens University	1	0	0	-
University of South Australia	43	6	14.0%	$3,400,119
Tasmania	32	5	15.6%	$2,836,038
University of Tasmania	32	5	15.6%	$2,836,038
Victoria	821	147	17.9%	$75,891,267
Deakin University	84	13	15.5%	$5,570,691
Federation University Australia	5	0	0	-
La Trobe University	37	5	13.5%	$3,150,387
Monash University	308	51	16.6%	$25,202,523
RMIT University	79	16	20.3%	$7,559,780
Swinburne University of Technology	40	12	30%	$6,119,206
The University of Melbourne	260	47	18.1%	$26,387,043
Victoria University	8	3	37.5%	$1,901,637
Western Australia	127	21	16.5%	$11,089,527
Curtin University	41	10	24.4%	$4,702,203
Edith Cowan University	12	1	8.3%	$523,602
Murdoch University	3	1	33.3%	$544,678
The University of Western Australia	69	9	13.0%	$5,319,044
University of Notre Dame	2	0	0	-
Total	2590	421	16.3%	$220,182,441

Career age and gender

Of the 6471 Chief Investigators (CIs), considered in this round, 2084 were female, 4350 were male, 2 were indeterminate/intersex and 35 chose not to specify their gender. The success rate for female, male, indeterminate/intersex, and unspecified CIs is 18.87 per cent, 16.41 per cent, 0 per cent, and 14.29 per cent respectively.

Success rates of CIs by career age and gender in Discovery Projects 2024 round are presented in Figure 1. CIs who did not provide gender information (0.57 per cent) and CIs who did not specify the date of completion of their PhD or equivalent or who do not hold a PhD (0.63 per cent) are not represented in the figure below.

Figure 1. Participation and success rate of CIs in Discovery Projects 2024 by gender and career age*^

* Career age is calculated as years since PhD based on the relevant qualification as selected in the application.

^ Calculated career age does not take career interruptions into consideration.

International Collaboration

Among 2590 of the applications considered, applicants foreshadowed 3743 instances of collaboration with researchers in 110 overseas locations. Of the applications approved for funding, 330 foreshadowed 689 instances of collaboration with researchers in 72 overseas locations (Figure 2).

Figure 2. International collaborations by location in approved Discovery Projects 2024 applications*

*The top 10 international collaboration locations are listed in Figure 2 and the remaining locations are grouped in the ‘Other’ category.