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The (DECRA) scheme provides focused research support for early career researchers in both teaching and research, and research-only positions.
The objectives of the Discovery Early Career Researcher Award scheme are to:
Applications for funding commencing in 2021 opened on 16 October 2019 and closed on 12 March 2020. Applications were submitted through the Australian Research Council (ARC) Research Management System (RMS). This report outlines the outcomes from the selection process for that round.
These recommendations are based on advice from the ARC Selection Advisory Committee (SAC) which:
and, advice from the ARC’s National Competitive Grants Program (NCGP) Eligibility Committee which:
This report reflects the outcomes approved by the Minister. Unless otherwise specified, data represented in this report exclude withdrawn applications.
All applications that meet the eligibility criteria for the Discovery Early Career Researcher Award 2021 applications were assessed and merit ranked using the following assessment criteria:
Investigator/Capability (50%) Describe the:
Project quality and innovation (25%) Describe the:
Benefit (15%) Describe the potential benefits including the:
Feasibility (10%) Describe the:
If the project involves Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander research describe:
The ARC assessment process for Discovery Early Career Researcher Award 2021 involved 80 College of Experts members across five discipline panels and was managed in RMS. A total of 4097 independent assessors’ reports were submitted to the ARC.
Discovery Early Career Researcher Awards are funded for three consecutive years on a full-time basis. The annual salary contribution that may be awarded is fixed at $104,316 (2019$), including 30 per cent on-costs. In addition, the ARC may provide up to $50,000 in project costs per annum.
The ARC received a total of 1179 applications for Discovery Early Career Researcher Award for funding commencing in 2021, of which six applications were withdrawn.
Two hundred Discovery Early Career Researcher Awards are approved for funding commencing in 2021, shown in Table 1. The overall success rate for Discovery Early Career Researcher Award for funding commencing in 2021 is 17.1%. Of the unsuccessful applications in 2021, 17 were found not to meet eligibility requirements.
A comparison of success rates and funding amounts is shown in Table 1.
Funding year
Applications considered
Applications approved
Success rate (%)
Requested funds over project life for all applications considered ($)
Requested funds over project life for approved applications ($)
Funds allocated over project life for approved applications ($)
Return rate for approved applications (%)
2020
1248
200
16.0
$507,777,318
$81,972,769
$81,838,415
99.8
2021
1173
17.1
$506,629,691
$87,483,735
$84,041,533
96.1
*May include indicative funding amounts
A summary of outcomes by discipline panel is shown in Table 2.
Discipline *
Funds over project life for approved applications ($)
Return Rate for approved applications (%)
BSB
228
39
$101,082,210
$17,622,888
$17,283,974
98.1
EIC
331
56
16.9
$142,744,019
$24,344,551
$23,389,501
HCA
166
28
$70,190,285
$12,218,703
$11,649,670
95.3
MPCE
233
40
17.2
$99,119,433
$17,137,900
$16,606,779
96.9
SBE
215
37
$93,493,744
$16,159,693
$15,111,609
93.5
Total
*BSB – Biological Sciences and Biotechnology; EIC – Engineering, Information and Computing Sciences, HCA – Humanities and Creative Arts; MPCE – Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry and Earth Sciences; SBE – Social, Behavioural and Economic Sciences
A summary of outcomes by Science and Research Priorities is shown in Table 3.
Science and Research Priorities
Applications
approved
Approved funds over project life ($)
Advanced manufacturing
175
34
19.4
$14,211,934
Cybersecurity
47
5
10.6
$2,052,376
Energy
81
12
14.8
$5,005,505
Environmental change
161
36
22.4
$15,483,875
Food
11
27.5
$4,880,771
Health
125
18
14.4
$7,649,288
Resources
3
10.7
$1,267,994
Soil and water
6
12.8
$2,531,329
Transport
27
18.5
$2,108,029
Unspecified
442
70
15.8
$28,850,432
Total within Science and Research Priorities
731
130
17.8
$55,191,101
Percentage within Science and Research Priorities (%)
62.3
65
65.7
A summary of outcomes by Administering Organisation is shown in Table 4.
Administering Organisation
Applications Considered
Australian Capital Territory
91
20
22%
$8,617,059
The Australian National University
84
21.4%
$7,753,024
University of Canberra
7
2
28.6%
$864,035
New South Wales
397
72
18.1%
$29,857,583
Australian Catholic University
0
0%
$0
Charles Sturt University
Macquarie University
4
10.8%
$1,531,119
The University of New England
The University of New South Wales
124
22
17.7%
$9,045,907
The University of Newcastle
24
16.7%
$1,652,848
The University of Sydney
105
22.9%
$10,100,149
University of Technology Sydney
19.4%
$2,978,604
University of Wollongong
15.4%
$2,590,542
Western Sydney University
15
33.3%
$1,958,414
Queensland
192
20.8%
$17,024,708
Central Queensland University
1
50%
$407,679
Griffith University
13.6%
$1,247,408
James Cook University
40%
$2,569,630
Queensland University of Technology
31
$2,398,627
The University of Queensland
110
21
19.1%
$9,114,200
University of Southern Queensland
8
25%
$866,164
University of the Sunshine Coast
$421,000
South Australia
59
10.2%
$2,527,237
Flinders University
10
The University of Adelaide
38
10.5%
$1,674,218
Torrens University Australia
University of South Australia
20%
$853,019
Tasmania
9.5%
$851,128
University of Tasmania
Victoria
353
55
15.6%
$23,089,801
Deakin University
12.8%
$2,171,266
Federation University Australia
La Trobe University
13
30.8%
$1,693,473
Monash University
109
17
$7,076,818
RMIT University
25
12%
$1,220,140
Swinburne University of Technology
3.6%
$350,898
The University of Melbourne
135
17.8%
$10,164,462
Victoria University
$412,744
Western Australia
60
8.3%
$2,074,017
Curtin University
4.8%
$425,775
Edith Cowan University
Murdoch University
The University of Western Australia
35
11.4%
$1,648,242
17.1%
Of the 1173 Discovery Early Career Researcher Award candidates in this round, 458 were female, 710 were male and five candidates did not specify their gender. The success rate for female, male and unspecified candidates is 19.0 per cent, 15.6 per cent and 40.0 per cent respectively.
Success rates of Discovery Early Career Researcher Award candidates by career age and gender in the current Discovery Early Career Researcher Award round are presented in Figure 1. Discovery Early Career Researcher Award candidates who did not provide gender information (0.43%) are not represented in the figure below.
At the closing time of submission of applications, of the 1173 candidates, 969 were within five years of the award of their PhD and 204 candidates were beyond five years of the award of their PhD. To be eligible to apply for a Discovery Early Career Researcher Award, the latter group of researchers had their significant career interruptions certified by their Administering Organisation.
Of the approved Discovery Early Career Researcher Awards, 168 candidates were within five years of the award of their PhD and 32 candidates were beyond five years of the award of their PhD.
Applications were open to Eligible Organisations to nominate candidates who are promising early career researchers, resident either within Australia or overseas. (Table 5).
Citizenship/residency status
Success rate
Foreign Nationals
313
26.7%
Resident Australians
783
66.8%
145
18.5%
Returning Australians
77
6.6%
19.5%
100%
Note: All totals and percentages are shown using rounded figures, and as such may not sum.
Among 1173 of the applications considered, applicants foreshadowed 2519 instances of collaboration with researchers in 88 overseas locations. Of the applications approved for funding, 183 foreshadowed 459 instances of collaboration with researchers in 55 overseas locations (Figure 2).
*The top 10 international collaboration locations are listed in Figure 2 and the remaining are grouped in the ‘Other’ category