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Selection Report: Discovery Early Career Researcher Award 2024

Overview

The Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (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:

  • support excellent basic and applied research by early career researchers;
  • support national and international research collaboration;
  • enhance the scale and focus of research in Australian Government priority areas;
  • advance promising early career researchers and promote enhanced opportunities for diverse career pathways; and
  • enable research and research training in high quality and supportive environments.

 

Selection process

Applications for funding commencing in 2024 opened on 14 October 2022 and closed on 9 December 2022. 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 outcomes 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 recommended 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 Unless otherwise specified, data represented in this report exclude withdrawn applications.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 Early Career Researcher Award 2024 were assessed and merit ranked using the following assessment criteria:

  1. Investigator/Capability (50%)

Describe the:

  • Research Opportunity and Performance Evidence (ROPE) including record of high quality research outputs appropriate to the discipline/s.
  • capability of candidate to build collaborations both within Australia and internationally.
  1. Project quality and innovation (25%)

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.
  1. 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.
  1. Feasibility (10%)

Describe the:

  • cost-effectiveness of the research and its value for money;
  • feasibility of the research (including contribution of the project’s design, participants and resources to the timely completion of the project);
  • supportive environment for the DECRA candidate and their project, and for HDR students where appropriate; and
  • availability of the necessary facilities to complete the project.

If the project involves Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander research 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 Early Career Researcher Award 2024 involved 69 College of Experts members across five discipline panels and was managed in RMS. A total of 3643 independent assessors’ reports were submitted to the ARC.

 

Funding levels and duration

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 $109,079 (2022$), including 30 per cent on-costs. In addition, the ARC may provide up to $50,000 in project costs per annum.

 

Summary of outcomes

The ARC received a total of 1024 applications for Discovery Early Career Researcher Award for funding commencing in 2024, of which one application was withdrawn.

Two hundred Discovery Early Career Researcher Awards are approved for funding commencing in 2024, shown in Table 1. The overall success rate for Discovery Early Career Researcher Award for funding commencing in 2024 is 19.6 per cent. A comparison of success rates and funding amounts is shown in Table 1.

Of the unsuccessful applications in 2024, 7 were found not to meet eligibility requirements.

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

Funding yearApplications consideredApplications approvedSuccess 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 (%)
2023133520015.0$599,861,996$90,918,214$85,790,88394.4
2024102320019.6$465,277,167$91,787,520$86,296,28294.0


 

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 Early Career Researcher Award 2024 applications by discipline

Discipline *Applications consideredApplications approvedSuccess 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 (%)
BSB1983718.7$91,393,542$16,979,863$16,197,16495.4
EIC2965919.9$135,276,318$26,862,995$25,609,79095.3
HCA1352720.0$60,352,733$12,271,056$11,415,31093.0
MPCE1743419.5$77,922,701$15,500,849$14,366,24192.7
SBE2204319.5$100,331,873$20,172,757$18,707,77792.7
Total102320019.6$465,277,167$91,787,520$86,296,28294.0

*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 Early Career Researcher Award 2024 applications by Administering Organisation

Administering OrganisationApplications ConsideredApplications ApprovedSuccess rate (%)Funds over project life for approved applications ($)
Australian Capital Territory631828.6$7,894,623
The Australian National University591830.5$7,894,623
University of Canberra400.0$0
New South Wales3214815.0$20,925,105
Australian Catholic University500.0$0
Charles Sturt University400.0$0
Macquarie University22313.6$1,247,266
Southern Cross University3266.7$891,197
The University of New England5120.0$410,778
The University of New South Wales931415.1$6,080,401
The University of Newcastle1616.3$444,471
The University of Sydney1011211.9$5,151,551
University of Technology Sydney34617.6$2,686,178
University of Wollongong25728.0$3,084,966
Western Sydney University13215.4$928,297
Northern Territory3133.3$433,000
Charles Darwin University3133.3$433,000
Queensland1884423.4$19,004,244
Bond University100.0$0
Central Queensland University300.0$0
Griffith University26623.1$2,647,686
James Cook University7114.3$468,367
Queensland University of Technology481122.9$4,825,562
The University of Queensland912426.4$10,241,825
University of Southern Queensland600.0$0
University of the Sunshine Coast6233.3$820,804
South Australia751216.0$4,897,010
Flinders University2300.0$0
The University of Adelaide441022.7$4,077,993
Torrens University Australia200.0$0
University of South Australia6233.3$819,017
Tasmania18422.2$1,773,740
University of Tasmania18422.2$1,773,740
Victoria2996120.4$26,270,101
Deakin University45817.8$3,389,233
La Trobe University16637.5$2,667,414
Monash University881921.6$8,089,576
RMIT University3438.8$1,349,394
Swinburne University of Technology14321.4$1,261,174
The University of Melbourne982121.4$9,069,463
University of Divinity100.0$0
Victoria University3133.3$443,847
Western Australia561221.4$5,098,459
Curtin University24520.8$2,016,601
Edith Cowan University4125.0$477,165
Murdoch University500.0$0
The University of Notre Dame Australia4125.0$448,008
The University of Western Australia19526.3$2,156,685
Total102320019.6$86,296,282


Career age and gender

Of the 1023 Discovery Early Career Researcher Award candidates in this round, 436 were female, 575 were male, and 12 chose not to specify their gender. The success rate for female, male and unspecified candidates is 21.8 per cent, 17.9 per cent and 16.7 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 (1.2 per cent) are not represented in the figure below.

At the closing time of submission of applications, of the 1023 candidates, 800 were within five years of the award of their PhD and 223 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, 157 candidates were within five years of the award of their PhD and 43 candidates were beyond five years of the award of their PhD.

Figure 1. Participation and success rate of candidates in Discovery Early Career Researcher Award 2024 by gender and career age*^

* Career age is calculated as years since PhD based on the earliest qualification held by the applicant.
^ Calculated career age does not take career interruptions into consideration.

 

Attracting and retaining outstanding researchers

Applications were open to Eligible Organisations to nominate candidates who are promising early career researchers, resident either within Australia or overseas (Table 4).

Table 4. Citizenship/residency status of Discovery Early Career Researcher Award 2024 candidates and approved Awardees

Citizenship/residency statusApplications considered% of Applications consideredApplications approvedSuccess rate (%)
Foreign Nationals15715.32214.0
Resident Australians79978.116520.7
Returning Australians676.51319.4
Total102310020019.6

Note: All totals and percentages are shown using rounded figures, and as such may not sum.

 

International Collaboration

Among 1023 of the applications considered, applicants foreshadowed 2192 instances of collaboration with researchers in 93 overseas locations. Of the applications approved for funding, 178 foreshadowed 478 instances of collaboration with researchers in 58 overseas locations (Figure 2).

Figure 2. International collaborations by location in approved Discovery Early Career Researcher Award 2024 applications*

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