Selection Report: ARC Centres of Excellence for funding commencing in 2017
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Overview
The ARC Centres of Excellence scheme aims to enhance and develop Australia’s research excellence through highly innovative and collaborative research, as well as build Australia’s human capacity in a range of research areas.
Objectives
As indicated in the Funding Rules for this scheme, the objectives of the ARC Centres of Excellence scheme are to:
- undertake highly innovative and potentially transformational research that aims to achieve international standing in the fields of research envisaged and leads to a significant advancement of capabilities and knowledge
- link existing Australian research strengths and build critical mass with new capacity for interdisciplinary, collaborative approaches to address the most challenging and significant research problems
- develop relationships and build new networks with major national and international centres and research programmes to help strengthen research, achieve global competitiveness and gain recognition for Australian research
- build Australia’s human capacity in a range of research areas by attracting and retaining, from within Australia and abroad, researchers of high international standing as well as the most promising research students
- provide high-quality postgraduate and postdoctoral training environments for the next generation of researchers
- offer Australian researchers opportunities to work on large-scale problems over longer periods of time
- establish Centres that have an impact on the wider community through interaction with higher education institutions, governments, industry and the private and non-profit sector.
Selection process
Expressions of Interest (EOIs) for Centres commencing in 2017 opened on 3 June 2015 and closed on 22 July 2015. Shortlisted EOIs were invited to submit full proposals, which opened on 7 October 2015 and closed on 16 December 2015. EOIs and full proposals were submitted through the Australian Research Council (ARC) Research Management System (RMS). This report outlines recommendations from the selection process.
The ARC has prepared funding recommendations for submission to the Acting Chief Executive Officer (CEO). The outcomes were based on advice from a Selection Advisory Committee (SAC) which:
- assessed EOIs, reviewed assessments made by independent readers and reviewed Applicant’s comments on assessor reports
- shortlisted EOIs for submission of full proposals
- assessed full proposals, reviewed assessments made by independent readers and reviewed Applicants’ comments on assessor reports
- interviewed proposals
- ranked each proposal relative to the others on the basis of the proposal, the assessor reports, Applicants’ responses to those assessments and interview
- assessed and recommended budgets
and, advice from the ARC Eligibility Committee which:
- considered eligibility issues identified by ARC staff, the SAC or independent assessors; and
- where required, sought advice from institutions or at interview with respect to issues raised.
This report reflects the approved recommendations by the Minister.
Selection criteria
Selection criteria and corresponding weighting for EOIs:
- Research programme—quality and innovation (70%)
- Investigators (30%).
Selection criteria and corresponding weighting for proposals:
- Research programme—quality and innovation (20%)
- Investigators (20%)
- Institutional support (20%)
- Governance, leadership and mentoring (20%)
- Outcomes and linkages (20%).
The ARC assessment and subsequent reporting process for ARC Centres of Excellence for funding in 2017 used a total of 16 SAC members and was managed in RMS. There was an average of 3.8 independent assessor reports received for proposals.
Funding levels and duration
Funding of between $1 million and $5 million per annum for up to seven years may be awarded for each ARC Centre of Excellence.
Approved funding
The ARC received a total of 97 EOIs and invited 20 EOIs to submit full proposals. Of the 20 ARC Centres of Excellence proposals submitted, nine (45%) are approved for funding. This represents an Australian Government commitment of $283.5 million over the life of these Centres.
Table 1: Numbers of EOIs, proposals and success rates for ARC Centres of Excellence 2017 by discipline panel
|
Panel* |
EOIs considered |
EOIs shortlisted |
EOI success rate |
Proposals considered |
Proposals interviewed |
Proposals approved |
Proposals success rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
BSB |
26 |
1 |
3.8% |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0% |
|
EMI |
21 |
2 |
9.5% |
2 |
2 |
0 |
0% |
|
HCA |
10 |
1 |
10% |
1 |
1 |
1 |
100% |
|
PCE |
23 |
11 |
21.7% |
11 |
11 |
7 |
63.6% |
|
SBE |
17 |
5 |
29.4% |
5 |
5 |
1 |
20.0% |
|
Total |
97 |
20 |
20.6% |
20 |
20 |
9 |
45% |
*BSB = Biological Sciences and Biotechnology; EMI = Engineering, Mathematics and Informatics; HCA = Humanities and Creative Arts; PCE = Physics, Chemistry and Earth Sciences; SBE = Social, Behavioural and Economics Sciences
Table 2: Requested and approved funding for ARC Centres of Excellence 2017 by discipline panel
|
Panel* |
Proposals approved |
Requested funds over project life (approved proposals) |
Approved funds over project life (approved proposals) |
Approved funds as % of requested funds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
BSB |
0 |
$0 |
$0 |
0% |
|
EMI |
0 |
$0 |
$0 |
0% |
|
HCA |
1 |
$35,000,000 |
$33,750,000 |
96.4% |
|
PCE |
7 |
$241,086,516 |
$222,500,000 |
92.3% |
|
SBE |
1 |
$28,432,728 |
$27,250,000 |
95.8% |
|
Total |
9 |
$304,519,244 |
$283,500,000 |
93.1% |
*BSB = Biological Sciences and Biotechnology; EMI = Engineering, Mathematics and Informatics; HCA = Humanities and Creative Arts; PCE = Physics, Chemistry and Earth Sciences; SBE = Social, Behavioural and Economics Sciences
Outcomes by Administering Organisation
Table 3: Numbers of EOIs and proposals, success rates and ARC approved funding for ARC Centres of Excellence 2017 by Administering Organisation
|
Administering Organisation |
EOIs considered |
EOIs shortlisted |
EOI success rate |
Proposals considered |
Proposals approved |
Proposal success rate |
Approved funds over project life (approved proposals) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Australian Catholic University |
1 |
1 |
100 |
1 |
0 |
- |
- |
|
Bond University |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
- |
- |
|
Curtin University of Technology |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
- |
- |
|
Deakin University |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
- |
- |
|
Griffith University |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
- |
- |
|
Macquarie University |
5 |
2 |
40 |
2 |
0 |
- |
- |
|
Monash University |
5 |
2 |
40 |
2 |
1 |
50 |
$33,400,000 |
|
Queensland University of Technology |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
- |
- |
|
Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
- |
- |
|
Swinburne University of Technology |
2 |
1 |
50 |
1 |
1 |
100 |
$31,300,000 |
|
The Australian National University |
9 |
1 |
11.1 |
1 |
1 |
100 |
$30,300,000 |
|
The Flinders University of South Australia |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
- |
- |
|
The University of Adelaide |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
- |
- |
|
The University of Melbourne |
15 |
2 |
13.3 |
2 |
1 |
50 |
$31,850,000 |
|
The University of New South Wales |
14 |
4 |
28.6 |
4 |
3 |
75 |
$91,000,000 |
|
The University of Newcastle |
3 |
1 |
33.3 |
1 |
0 |
- |
- |
|
The University of Queensland |
12 |
2 |
8.3 |
2 |
1 |
50 |
$31,900,000 |
|
The University of Sydney |
9 |
2 |
22.2 |
2 |
0 |
- |
- |
|
The University of Western Australia |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
- |
- |
|
University of Tasmania |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
- |
- |
|
University of Technology, Sydney |
1 |
1 |
100 |
1 |
0 |
- |
- |
|
University of Wollongong |
1 |
1 |
100 |
1 |
1 |
100 |
$33,750,000 |
Table 4: ARC Centres of Excellence 2017 proposals approved for funding
|
ARC Centres of Excellence Title |
Centre Director |
Administering Organisation |
Total approved funds over project life |
|---|---|---|---|
|
ARC Centre of Excellence for All Sky Astrophysics in 3 Dimensions |
Prof Lisa Kewley |
The Australian National University |
$30,300,000 |
|
ARC Centre of Excellence of Australian Biodiversity and Heritage |
Prof Richard Roberts |
University of Wollongong |
$33,750,000 |
|
ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate Extremes |
Prof Andrew Pitman |
The University of New South Wales |
$30,050,000 |
|
ARC Centre of Excellence for Engineered Quantum Systems |
Prof Andrew White |
The University of Queensland |
$31,900,000 |
|
ARC Centre of Excellence for Gravitational Wave Discovery |
Prof Matthew Bailes |
Swinburne University of Technology |
$31,300,000 |
|
ARC Centre of Excellence in Exciton Science |
Prof Paul Mulvaney |
The University of Melbourne |
$31,850,000 |
|
ARC Centre of Excellence in Future Low-Energy Electronics Technologies |
Prof Michael Fuhrer |
Monash University |
$33,400,000 |
|
ARC Centre of Excellence in Population Ageing Research |
Prof John Piggott |
The University of New South Wales |
$27,250,000 |
|
ARC Centre of Excellence for Quantum Computation and Communication Technology |
Prof Michelle Simmons |
The University of New South Wales |
$33,700,000 |
Strategic Research Priorities
Table 5: Approved funding for ARC Centres of Excellence for funding in 2017 by Strategic Research Priority
|
Strategic Research Priority |
Proposals considered |
Proposals approved |
Success rate (%) |
Approved funds (over project life) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Lifting productivity and economic growth |
12 |
6 |
59 |
$192,450,000 |
|
Living in a changing environment |
2 |
2 |
100 |
$63,800,000 |
|
Promoting population health and wellbeing |
4 |
1 |
25 |
$27,250,000 |
|
unspecified |
1 |
0 |
|
|
|
Total |
19 |
9 |
47.4 |
$283,500,000 |
|
Total within Strategic Research Priorities |
18 |
9 |
50 |
$283,500,000 |
|
Percentage within Strategic Research Priorities (%) |
94.7 |
100 |
|
100 |
Science and Research Priorities
Table 6: Approved funding for ARC Centres of Excellence for funding in 2017 by Science and Research Priority
|
Science and Research Priority |
Proposals considered |
Proposals approved |
Success rate (%) |
Approved funds (over project life) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Advanced manufacturing |
9 |
6 |
66.7 |
$192,450,000 |
|
Environmental change |
2 |
2 |
100 |
$63,800,000 |
|
Health |
5 |
1 |
20 |
$27,250,000 |
|
Resources |
1 |
0 |
|
|
|
unspecified |
2 |
0 |
|
|
|
Total |
19 |
9 |
47.4 |
$283,500,000 |
|
Total within Science and Research Priorities |
17 |
9 |
52.9 |
$283,500,000 |
|
Percentage within Science and Research Priorities (%) |
89.5% |
100% |
|
100% |
Gender
A total of 587 participants were named as Centre Director, Chief Investigator or Partner Investigator on proposals considered on this round. Of these, 460 are male and 127 female. The success rate for male and female participants in this round are 53 per cent and 43 per cent respectively. Of the nine Centre Directors, two are female and seven are male.
Collaboration
ARC Centres of Excellence encourage collaboration between university researchers at the Administering and Other Eligible Organisations and researchers and end-users at Partner Organisations, both within Australia and internationally.
The approved proposals involve seven Administering Organisations, 45 Other Eligible Organisations and 118 Partner Organisations.
Table 7: ARC requested funds and cash and in-kind commitments from Participating Organisations for the ARC Centres of Excellence 2017 approved proposals
|
ARC Centres of Excellence Title |
ARC approved funds over project life |
Cash commitments from Participating Organisations* over project life |
Cash commitment from Participating Organisations* as % of ARC approved funds over project life |
Cash and in-kind commitments from Participating Organisations* over project life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
ARC Centre of Excellence for All Sky Astrophysics in 3 Dimensions |
$30,300,000 |
$8,571,602 |
28.3% |
$153,947,506 |
|
ARC Centre of Excellence of Australian Biodiversity and Heritage |
$33,750,000 |
$11,082,500 |
32.8% |
$28,374,922 |
|
ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate Extremes |
$30,050,000 |
$9,609,996 |
32% |
$62,070,944 |
|
ARC Centre of Excellence for Engineered Quantum Systems |
$31,900,000 |
$9,938,781 |
31.2% |
$61,382,951 |
|
ARC Centre of Excellence for Gravitational Wave Discovery |
$31,300,000 |
$7,954,500 |
25.4% |
$210,112,773 |
|
ARC Centre of Excellence in Exciton Science |
$31,850,000 |
$9,709,309 |
30.5% |
$65,141,573 |
|
ARC Centre of Excellence in Future Low-Energy Electronics Technologies |
$33,400,000 |
$9,342,666 |
28% |
$38,147,729 |
|
ARC Centre of Excellence in Population Ageing Research |
$27,250,000 |
$9,573,189 |
35.1% |
$39,646,614 |
|
ARC Centre of Excellence for Quantum Computation and Communication Technology |
$33,700,000 |
$10,588,766 |
31.4% |
$102,580,300 |
|
Total |
$283,500,000 |
$86,371,309 |
30.5% |
$761,405,312 |
*Administering Organisation, Other Eligible Organisations and Partner Organisations
International collaboration is an important component of ARC Centres of Excellence. All approved proposals indicated international collaborations with at least four countries, with the majority indicating international collaboration with seven or more countries. Overall, the approved proposals indicate collaboration with 27 countries. Data relating to international collaboration is shown in Table 8.
Table 8: International collaboration for the ARC Centres of Excellence 2017 by country of collaboration
|
Country of collaboration |
Proposals considered |
Proposals approved |
|---|---|---|
|
Austria |
2 |
1 |
|
Belgium |
3 |
1 |
|
Brazil |
1 |
0 |
|
Canada |
6 |
2 |
|
China (excludes SARS and Taiwan) |
10 |
5 |
|
Denmark |
2 |
2 |
|
England |
18 |
8 |
|
France |
6 |
4 |
|
Germany |
14 |
8 |
|
Hong Kong (SAR of China) |
2 |
0 |
|
India |
1 |
0 |
|
Indonesia |
2 |
2 |
|
Israel |
1 |
0 |
|
Italy |
5 |
3 |
|
Japan |
5 |
2 |
|
Netherlands |
4 |
2 |
|
New Zealand |
5 |
1 |
|
Northern Ireland |
1 |
0 |
|
Norway |
1 |
1 |
|
Scotland |
3 |
3 |
|
Singapore |
3 |
2 |
|
South Africa |
1 |
0 |
|
Spain |
2 |
0 |
|
Sweden |
1 |
0 |
|
Switzerland |
6 |
3 |
|
Taiwan |
1 |
0 |
|
United States of America |
20 |
9 |
|
Total |
126 |
59 |