OverviewThe Discovery Projects scheme reflects the Australian Government’s commitment to excellence in research by providing 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 pure basic, strategic basic and applied research, and research training, across all disciplines excluding clinical and other medical research, that addresses a significant problem or gap in knowledge and represents value for money;expand research capacity in Australia by supporting excellent researchers and teams;foster national and international research collaboration;create new knowledge with economic, commercial, environmental, social and/or cultural benefits for Australia; andenhance the scale and focus of research in Australian Government priority areas.Shortlisting and assessment processExpression of Interest (EOI) applications for Discovery Projects commencing in 2025 opened on 22 January 2024 and closed on 27 February 2024. EOI applications were submitted through the Australian Research Council (ARC) Research Management System (RMS). This report outlines the outcomes from the EOI selection process for that round. The EOI outcomes are based on advice from the ARC College of Experts which: assessed the Expression of Interest applications; andranked each application relative to others. The ARC assessment process for Discovery Projects EOI 2025 involved 311 College of Experts members and was managed in RMS. A total of 12,441 assessments were submitted through RMS.Each EOI was assessed by three members of the College. EOIs were assessed and weighted according to the two Assessment Criteria detailed below. The weighted and normalised assessments from each College member were averaged to produce an EOI Panel Rating and Rank. There are five discipline-based EOI Panels: Biological Sciences and Biotechnology (BSB), Engineering, Information and Computing Sciences (EIC), Humanities and Creative Arts (HCA), Maths, Physics, Chemistry and Earth Sciences (MPCE), Social, Behavioural and Economic Sciences (SBE). For the Discovery Projects EOI assessment, assessors from the entire College cohort were utilised. Expressions of Interest were assigned to the most suitable College members based on their individual expertise, regardless of the Expression of Interest Panel to which the EOI was assigned.Within each of these EOI Panels, the most highly rated EOIs were shortlisted in rank order. Applications with equal Ratings and Rankings were treated equally. The number of EOIs shortlisted from each EOI Panel reflected the relative volume of submissions to that panel. EOIs with disparate scores – that is, a difference of more than two letter ratings between assessors – were identified. To ensure that no applicants were disadvantaged by outlier assessor scores, the mean and median assessor scores were compared in EOIs that fell below the shortlisted range. In the instance that the median score would have placed the application among the EOIs shortlisted in the EOI Panel, that EOI was shortlisted. An additional 46 EOIs were shortlisted as a result of this ‘disparate scores’ process.Assessment criteriaAssessment criteria and corresponding weights for the EOI are:Investigator(s)/Capability (30%)Taking into account research opportunity,Record of high-quality research outputs appropriate to the discipline(s)evidence of excellence in research training, mentoring and supervision (where appropriate); andthe capability of the investigator or team to build collaborations both within Australia and internationally.Project quality and innovation (70%)Contribution to an important gap in knowledge or a significant problemNovelty/originality and innovation of the proposed researchAppropriateness of the proposed research designPotential to create new knowledge and research capacity, and economic, commercial, environmental, social and/or cultural benefits for Australia. Summary of outcomesThe ARC received a total of 4,149 Discovery Projects EOI 2025 applications, of which two applications were withdrawn.A total of 1,141 Discovery Projects EOI 2025 applications were shortlisted. A summary of outcomes by discipline is shown in Table 1. Table 1. EOI applications considered and shortlisted by discipline.Discipline*EOI Applications consideredEOI Applications shortlisted Proportion shortlisted (%)BSB108829827.4%EIC111928125.1%HCA38613735.5%MPCE76820126.2%SBE78622428.5%Total4147114127.5%* 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.The assessment process for the EOI stage is distinct from the assessment of full applications. The outcomes outlined in this report are specific to the EOI stage. A separate selection report has been produced for the DP25 full application stage. Outcomes by Administering OrganisationA summary of shortlisted outcomes by Administering Organisation is shown in Table 2. Table 2: EOI application numbers considered and shortlisted by Administering OrganisationAdministering OrganisationEOI Applications ConsideredEOI Applications ShortlistedProportion shortlisted (%)Australian Capital Territory2007236.0The Australian National University1926935.9University of Canberra8337.5New South Wales137336526.6Australian Catholic University261038.5Charles Sturt University25520.0Macquarie University1422920.4Southern Cross University6116.7The University of New England9222.2The University of New South Wales40611829.1The University of Newcastle831619.3The University of Sydney41911727.9University of Technology Sydney1393827.3University of Wollongong701521.4Western Sydney University481429.2Northern Territory9333.3Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education11100.0Charles Darwin University8225.0Queensland71919427.0Bond University6NilNilCentral Queensland University15426.7Griffith University1082725.0James Cook University22731.8Queensland University of Technology1263427.0The University of Queensland39511128.1University of Southern Queensland31619.4University of the Sunshine Coast16531.3South Australia2998227.4Flinders University672334.3The University of Adelaide1634225.8Torrens University11100.0University of South Australia681623.5Tasmania431227.9University of Tasmania431227.9Victoria128635827.9Deakin University1082725.0Federation University Australia4NilNilLa Trobe University862326.7Monash University48115331.8RMIT University1232217.9Swinburne University of Technology461123.9The University of Melbourne42411727.6University of Divinity1NilNilVictoria University13538.5Western Australia2205525.0Curtin University721622.2Edith Cowan University13215.4Murdoch University1516.7The University of Western Australia1193529.4University of Notre Dame11100.0Total4147114127.5Career age and genderOf the 10418 Chief Investigators (CIs) whose applications were considered in this round, 3761 (36.10%) were female, 6589 (63.25%) were male, 3 (0.03%) were indeterminate/intersex, and 65 (0.62%) were unspecified. The proportion of applications shortlisted for female, male, indeterminate/intersex, and unspecified CIs is 30.74% percent, 27.74 percent, 33.33 percent, and 32.31 percent respectively.The proportion of shortlisted EOIs of CIs by career age and gender in the Discovery Projects EOI 2025 round are presented in Figure 1. CIs who did not specify the date of completion of their PhD (or equivalent) or who do not hold a PhD are not represented in the figure below.Figure 1. Participation rate of CIs and proportion of EOIs shortlisted in Discovery Projects Expressions of Interest 2025 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.# The corresponding data points (not visible in the Figure above) for the percentage of Indeterminate/Intersex as a proportion of all CIs at 5-10 years from PhD is 0.02% and 0.01% at 15-20 years post-PhD. The percentage of Unspecified CIs as a proportion of all CIs is 0.06% (0-5 years since PhD), 0.14% (5-10 years), 0.18% (10-15 years), 0.14% (15-20 years), 0.04% (20-25 years) and 0.08% (25+ years). The proportion of applications with Indeterminate/Intersex CIs that were shortlisted is 0% at 5-10 years since PhD and 100% at 15-20 years since PhD. Gender by Project DisciplineTable 3. Discovery Projects Expressions of Interest 2025: Gender by Project Discipline– submission numbers, applications shortlisted and shortlisted proportionsProject DisciplineFemale consideredFemale shortlistedFemale shortlisted proportionMale consideredMale shortlistedMale shortlisted proportionUnsp* consideredUnsp* shortlistedUnsp* shortlisted proportionInd/Int* consideredInd/Int* shortlistedInd/Int* proportionBSB92424426.4%154842627.5%23626.1%000.0%EIC61515925.9%217055725.7%15640.0%000.0%HCA59225042.2%42116940.1%7342.9%200.0%MPCE41012530.5%130136728.2%11327.3%000.0%SBE122037831.0%114930926.9%9333.3%11100.0%Total3761115630.7%6589182827.7%652132.3%3133.3%*Ind/Int – Indeterminate/Intersex; Unsp - UnspecifiedNote – The data provided in the above table is a representation of all Chief Investigators listed on applications considered in DPEI25. Project Discipline is determined by the primary FoR codes provided in the application.Table 4. Discovery Projects Expressions of Interest 2025: Lead Chief Investigator Gender by Project Discipline – submission numbers, applications shortlisted and shortlisted proportionsProject DisciplineFemale consideredFemale shortlistedFemale shortlisted proportionMale consideredMale shortlistedMale shortlisted proportionUnsp* consideredUnsp* shortlistedUnsp* shortlisted proportionInd/Int* consideredInd/Int* shortlistedInd/Int* proportionBSB3859123.6%69420529.5%9222.2%000.0%EIC1975527.9%91722524.5%5120.0%000.0%HCA2148338.8%1705331.2%2150.0%000.0%MPCE1473926.5%61415925.9%7342.9%000.0%SBE35410028.2%42912328.7%200.0%11100.0%Total129736828.4%282476527.1%25728.0%11100.0%*Ind/Int – Indeterminate/Intersex; Unsp - UnspecifiedFigure 2. Discovery Projects Expressions of Interest 2025 Shortlisted Chief Investigators: Participation and proportion shortlisted by gender and project discipline Note - The data provided in the above table is a representation of all Chief Investigators listed on applications considered in DPEI25. Project Discipline is determined by the primary FoR codes provided in the application.