[TOC]
The Discovery Indigenous scheme provides grant funding to support research projects led by an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander researcher. Discovery Indigenous grants include support for Discovery Australian Indigenous and Torres Strait Islander Awards (DAATSIAs) which are fellowships available to eligible Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander researchers.
The objectives of the Discovery Indigenous scheme are to:
Applications for funding commencing in 2022 opened on 25 November 2020 and closed on17 March 2021. 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 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 Unless otherwise specified, data represented in this report exclude withdrawn applications.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 Indigenous 2022 applications were assessed and merit ranked using the following assessment criteria:
Investigator(s)/Capability (35%)
Describe:
Project quality and innovation (40%)
Describe the:
Benefit (15%)
Describe the potential benefits including the:
Feasibility (10%)
If the project involves Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander research describe:
The ARC assessment process for Discovery Indigenous 2022 involved 10 College of Experts members as part of one multidisciplinary panel and was managed in RMS. A total of 106 independent assessors’ reports were submitted to the ARC.
Funding of between $30,000 and $500,000 per annum for up to 5 years may be awarded for each Discovery Indigenous application, including, annual salary contributions for Discovery Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Award (DAATSIA) recipients of $106,195 to $224,884 (including 30 per cent on-costs).
The ARC received a total of 35 applications for Discovery Indigenous for funding commencing in 2022, of which no applications were withdrawn.
Nine Discovery Indigenous projects are approved for funding commencing in 2022, shown Table 1. The overall success rate for Discovery Indigenous for funding commencing in 2022 is 25.7 per cent. A comparison of success rates and funding amounts is shown in Table 1.
Of the unsuccessful applications in 2022, none were found not to meet eligibility requirements.
Table 1. Comparison of application numbers, success rates, requested and allocated funds for approved Discovery Indigenous applications from 2021 to 2022
Of the 35 applications considered this round, there was funding requested for 18 DAATSIAs at one of 5 salary levels. The overall success rate for Discovery Indigenous DAATSIA requests in 2022 is 16.7 per cent and is shown in Table 2.
Table 2. Success rates for Discovery Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Award (DAATSIA) for approved Discovery Indigenous applications 2022
A summary of outcomes by discipline panel is shown in Table 3.
Table 3. Application numbers, success rates and requested and allocated funds for approved Discovery Indigenous 2022 applications by discipline
* BSB – Biological Sciences and Biotechnology; EIC – Engineering, Information and Computing Sciences, MPCE – Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry and Earth Sciences; SBE – Social, Behavioural and Economic Sciences; HCA – Humanities and Creative Arts
A summary of outcomes by Science and Research Priorities is shown in Table 4.
Table 4. Approved funding and success rate for Discovery Indigenous 2022 applications by Science and Research Priorities
Applications
approved
A summary of outcomes by Administering Organisation is shown in Table 5.
Table 5. Numbers of applications and success rates for approved Discovery Indigenous 2022 applications by Administering Organisation
Of the 129 Chief Investigators (CIs), including 18 DAATSIAs candidates, considered in this round, 81 were female, 47 were male and one chose not to specify their gender. The success rate for female, male and unspecified CIs is 35.8 per cent, 31.9 per cent and 100 per cent respectively.
Success rates of CIs by career age and gender in Discovery Indigenous 2022 round are presented in Figure 1. CIs who did not provide gender information (0.8 per cent) and CIs who did not specify the date of completion of their PhD (or equivalent) or who do not hold a PhD (8.5 per cent) are not represented in the figure below.
Figure 1. Participation and success rate of CIs in Discovery Indigenous 2022 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.
Table 6. Success rates by gender for Discovery Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Award (DAATSIA) candidates, for approved Discovery Indigenous applications 2022
Among 22 of the applications considered, applicants foreshadowed 44 instances of collaboration with researchers in 14 overseas locations. Of the applications approved for funding, 6 foreshadowed 11 instances of collaboration with researchers in 6 overseas locations (Figure 2).
Figure 2. International collaborations by location in approved Discovery Indigenous 2022 applications*
* The international collaboration locations are listed in Figure 2.