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The Industrial Transformation Training Centres scheme fosters close partnerships between university-based researchers and other researchers. Training Centres deliver innovative Higher Degree by Research (HDR) and postdoctoral training. The focus is on creating end-user research capability that is vital to Australia's future through developing solutions relevant to the Industrial Transformation Priorities.
The objectives of the Industrial Transformation Training Centres scheme are to:
Applications for funding commencing in 2023 opened on 21 October 2022 and closed on 15 December 2022. Applications were submitted through the Australian Research Council’s (ARC) Research Management System (RMS). This report outlines outcomes from the selection process for that round.
These outcomes are based on advice from the Selection Advisory Committee (SAC) which:
and advice from the ARC’s National Competitive Grants Program Eligibility Committee which:
This report reflects the outcomes approved by the Minister.
Assessment criteria and corresponding weightings for Industrial Transformation Training Centres applications are:
Describe the:
Describe the extent to which:
If the project involves research pertaining to Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander communities describe:
Describe:
The ARC assessment and reporting process for Industrial Transformation Training Centres commencing in 2023 involved a panel of 13 SAC members and was managed in RMS. A total of 62 independent assessors’ reports were submitted to the ARC for Industrial Transformation Training Centres commencing in 2023.
Funding of between $650,000 and $1 million per annum for the first 3 years and between $150,000 and $1 million per annum for the fourth year may be awarded for each Industrial Transformation Training Centre. There is no minimum for the fifth year and a maximum of $1 million.
The ARC received 23 applications for Industrial Transformation Training Centres commencing in 2023. All 23 applications met eligibility requirements.
As shown in Table 1, 8 applications are approved for funding. The overall success rate is 34.8 per cent. A comparison of success rates and funding amounts is shown in Table 2.
Table 1. Details of approved Industrial Transformation Training Centres commencing in 2023
Table 2. Comparison of application numbers, success rates, requested and allocated funds for approved applications from Industrial Transformation Training Centres commencing in 2022 and 2023*
*May include indicative funding amounts
A summary of outcomes by discipline grouping is shown in Table 3.
Table 3. Number of applications, success rates and requested and allocated funds for approved Industrial Transformation Training Centres commencing in 2023 applications by discipline
*BSB – Biological Sciences and Biotechnology; EIC –Engineering and Information Sciences; MPCE – Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry and Earth Sciences
Institutions across 5 Australian States and 2 Territories submitted applications for Industrial Transformation Training Centres commencing in 2023. In addition to ARC funding, significant contributions are made by participating organisations as shown in Table 4.
Table 4. Numbers of applications, success rates and ARC funding for approved Industrial Transformation Training Centres commencing in 2023
* Participating Organisations include the Administering Organisation, Other Eligible Organisations, Partner Organisations and Other Organisations.
# Participating Organisation contributions are shown by organisation type in Table 4.
As shown in Table 5, contributions to Industrial Transformation Training Centres commencing in 2023 from Partner Organisations total over $170 million, 75 per cent of the total organisation contributions to successful Industrial Transformation Training Centres commencing in 2023.
Table 5. Participating organisation contributions by organisation type for approved Industrial Transformation Training Centres commencing in 2023 applications
Partner Organisations were identified as either Australian State, Territory and local government, Australian Federal government, company industry body (Australian and International) non-profit (Australian and International), overseas higher education organisations and other contributions. The Partner Organisation contributions in these categories for applications approved for funding in 2023 are shown in Table 6.
Table 6. Partner Organisation contributions by sector for approved Industrial Transformation Training Centres commencing in 2023 applications
Note: All totals and percentages are shown using rounded figures, and as such may not sum.
*For confidentiality reasons, total contributions by Partner Organisations are not shown in instances in which contributions are associated with one approved application only.
Of the 23 applications considered, 8 were approved with a total approved funding, over the life of these projects, of $39,999,600. There are 129 unique Partner Organisations involved, committing a total of $170,384,803 in cash and in-kind funding. This represents $4.26 from Partner Organisations for every dollar of funding from the ARC.
As shown in Table 7, applications for Industrial Transformation Training Centres commencing in 2023 were submitted in all 9 Industrial Transformation Priorities.
Table 7. Instances of identified Industrial Transformation Priorities in Industrial Transformation Training Centres applications approved for funding commencing in 2023
* A single application may select multiple Industrial Transformation Priorities
As shown in Table 8, 23 applications for Industrial Transformation Training Centres commencing in 2023 selected a Science and Research Priority.
Table 8. Approved funding for Industrial Transformation Training Centres commencing in 2023 by Science and Research Priority
Table 9. Application data by Field of Research category for Industrial Transformation Training Centres commencing in 2023
A total of 817 participants were named as a Training Centre Director, Chief Investigator or Partner Investigator on applications considered in this round. Of these, 550 are male, 257 are female, one indeterminate/intersex and 9 participants chose not to specify their gender. The success rates for male, female, indeterminate/intersex and unspecified participants are 67.1 per cent, 32.3 per cent, 0.3 and 0.3 per cent respectively.
As shown in Figure 1, there are 28 instances where a total of 17 countries are participating in the approved Industrial Transformation Training Centres commencing in 2023.
Figure 1. Instances of international collaboration on approved Industrial Transformation Training Centres commencing in 2023 applications