Selection Report: Discovery Projects 2018
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Overview
The Discovery Projects scheme provides funding for excellent fundamental research projects that can be undertaken by individual researchers or research teams.
The objectives of Discovery Projects are to:
- support excellent basic and applied research by individuals and teams
- encourage high-quality research and research training
- enhance international collaboration in research
- expand Australia’s knowledge base and research capability
- enhance the scale and focus of research in the Science and Research Priorities.
Selection Process
Proposals for funding commencing in 2018 opened on 7 December 2016, and closed on
1 March 2017. Proposals were submitted through the Australian Research Council (ARC) Research Management System (RMS). This report outlines recommendations from the selection process for that round.
Funding recommendations have been prepared for submission to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO). The recommendations are based on advice from the ARC College of Experts which:
- assigned independent assessors to review the proposals
- assessed proposals and reviewed assessments made by independent assessors
- reviewed Applicants’ comments on assessors’ reports
- ranked each proposal relative to the others on the basis of the proposal, the assessors’ reports and Applicants’ responses to those assessments
- assessed and recommended budgets
and, advice from the ARC Eligibility Committee which:
- considered eligibility issues identified by ARC staff, the ARC College of Experts or independent assessors
- where required, sought clarification from Administering Organisations with respect to issues raised
- made recommendations to the CEO in respect of ineligible proposals.
This report reflects approved recommendations by the Minister. Unless otherwise specified, figures presented in this report exclude withdrawn proposals.
Selection Criteria
Selection criteria and corresponding weightings for Discovery Projects 2018 proposals are:
Investigator(s) | (40%) |
Project Quality and Innovation | (35%) |
Feasibility | (10%) |
Benefit | (15%) |
The ARC assessment process for 2018 used 79 College of Experts members across five discipline panels and was managed in the Research Management System (RMS). A total of 12,100 independent assessors’ reports were submitted to the ARC for Discovery Projects 2018.
Funding levels and duration
Funding of between $30,000 and $500,000 per annum for up to five years may be awarded for each Discovery Projects proposal.
Summary of Outcomes
The ARC received a total of 3152 proposals for Discovery Projects for funding commencing in 2018, of which 16 proposals were withdrawn. This is a decrease from the 3540 proposals received for Discovery Projects for funding commencing in 2017. Of the unsuccessful proposals, 11 were found to not meet eligibility requirements.
The overall success rate for Discovery Projects for funding commencing in 2018 is 18.9 per cent, with a slightly higher percentage of allocation of requested funds compared to Discovery Projects for funding commencing in 2017.
Table 1. Comparison of proposal numbers, success rates, requested and allocated funds for recommended Discovery Projects proposals from 2017 to 2018
Funding year |
Proposals considered |
Proposals recommended |
Success rate |
Requested funds over project life (all proposals) |
Requested funds over project life (recommended proposals) |
Funds allocated over project life |
Allocation as a percentage of request |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2017 |
3540 |
630 |
17.8% |
$1,876,147,184 |
$356,788,905 |
$234.660,652 |
65.8% |
2018 |
3136 |
594 |
18.9% |
$1,657,932,048 |
$331,144,352 |
$225,661,033 |
68.1% |
Outcomes by discipline panels
Table 2. Comparison of proposal numbers, success rates and requested and allocated funds for recommended Discovery Projects 2018 proposals by discipline panel
Panel † |
Proposals considered |
Proposals recommended |
Success rate |
Requested funds over project life for all proposals considered |
Requested funds over project life for recommended proposals |
Indicative funds over project |
Return |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
BSB |
743 |
147 |
19.8% |
$448,922,776 |
$92,304,248 |
$62,194,954 |
67.4% |
EIC |
808 |
152 |
18.8% |
$430,658,212 |
$88,662,078 |
$59,495,221 |
67.1% |
HCA |
316 |
59 |
18.7% |
$131,554,066 |
$26,251,567 |
$18,168,044 |
69.2% |
MPCE |
655 |
124 |
18.9% |
$357,294,536 |
$69,503,721 |
$48,125,131 |
69.2% |
SBE |
614 |
112 |
18.2% |
$289,502,458 |
$54,422,738 |
$37,677,683 |
69.2% |
Total |
3136 |
594 |
18.9% |
$1,657,932,048 |
$331,144,352 |
$225,661,033 |
68.1% |
† 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
Outcomes by Science and Research Priorities
Table 3. Recommended funding and success rate for Discovery Projects 2018 proposals by Science and Research Priorities
Science and Research Priorities |
Proposals considered |
Proposals recommended |
Success |
Recommended funds (over project life) |
---|---|---|---|---|
Advanced manufacturing |
460 |
73 |
15.9% |
$28,987,016 |
Cybersecurity |
112 |
23 |
20.5% |
$8,450,380 |
Energy |
169 |
31 |
18.3% |
$12,102,209 |
Environmental change |
376 |
83 |
22.1% |
$31,225,669 |
Food |
141 |
27 |
19.1% |
$11,305,430 |
Health |
408 |
62 |
15.2% |
$25,365,347 |
Resources |
81 |
8 |
9.9% |
$3,008,925 |
Soil and water |
91 |
9 |
9.9% |
$3,438,683 |
Transport |
70 |
15 |
21.4% |
$5,331,319 |
Unspecified |
1228 |
263 |
21.4% |
$96,446,055 |
Total |
3136 |
594 |
18.9% |
$225,661,033 |
Total within Science and Research Priorities |
1908 |
331 |
17.3% |
$129,214,978 |
Percentage within Science and Research Priorities (%) |
60.8% |
55.7% |
|
57.3% |
Outcomes by Administering Organisation
Table 4. Numbers of proposals and success rates for recommended Discovery Projects 2018 proposals by Administering Organisation
Administering Organisation |
Proposals considered |
Proposals recommended |
Success rate (%) |
Recommended funding over project life ($) |
---|---|---|---|---|
Australian Capital Territory |
234 |
41 |
17.5 |
$16,655,595 |
The Australian National University |
223 |
38 |
17.0 |
$15,215,580 |
University of Canberra |
11 |
3 |
27.3 |
$1,440,015 |
New South Wales |
1097 |
205 |
18.7 |
$76,837,809 |
Australian Catholic University |
19 |
5 |
26.3 |
$2,072,566 |
Charles Sturt University |
8 |
2 |
25.0 |
$589,747 |
Macquarie University |
111 |
14 |
12.6 |
$5,709,689 |
Southern Cross University |
12 |
2 |
16.7 |
$900,072 |
The University of New England |
18 |
0 |
0.0 |
$0 |
The University of New South Wales |
335 |
64 |
19.1 |
$24,120,537 |
The University of Newcastle |
100 |
16 |
16.0 |
$6,345,640 |
The University of Sydney |
261 |
55 |
21.1 |
$21,104,097 |
University of Technology, Sydney |
102 |
26 |
25.5 |
$8,973,122 |
University of Wollongong |
88 |
13 |
14.8 |
$4,160,229 |
Western Sydney University |
43 |
8 |
18.6 |
$2,862,110 |
Northern Territory |
3 |
0 |
0.0 |
$0 |
Charles Darwin University |
3 |
0 |
0.0 |
$0 |
Queensland |
470 |
100 |
21.3 |
$37,246,321 |
Bond University |
3 |
0 |
0.0 |
$0 |
Central Queensland University |
9 |
0 |
0.0 |
$0 |
Griffith University |
69 |
13 |
18.8 |
$5,110,103 |
James Cook University |
16 |
3 |
18.8 |
$1,262,646 |
Queensland University of Technology |
85 |
22 |
25.9 |
$7,867,797 |
The University of Queensland |
266 |
57 |
21.4 |
$21,357,111 |
University of Southern Queensland |
13 |
1 |
7.7 |
$282,491 |
University of the Sunshine Coast |
9 |
4 |
44.4 |
$1,366,173 |
South Australia |
202 |
35 |
17.3 |
$13,142,338 |
The Flinders University of South Australia |
58 |
9 |
15.5 |
$2,936,025 |
The University of Adelaide |
123 |
21 |
17.1 |
$8,324,321 |
University of South Australia |
21 |
5 |
23.8 |
$1,881,992 |
Tasmania |
78 |
20 |
25.6 |
$8,616,807 |
University of Tasmania |
78 |
20 |
25.6 |
$8,616,807 |
Victoria |
813 |
148 |
18.2 |
$56,159,920 |
Deakin University |
57 |
13 |
22.8 |
$4,634,385 |
Federation University Australia |
5 |
1 |
20.0 |
$362,045 |
La Trobe University |
61 |
3 |
4.9 |
$971,086 |
Monash University |
265 |
54 |
20.4 |
$21,749,626 |
RMIT University |
83 |
14 |
16.9 |
$5,048,237 |
Swinburne University of Technology |
46 |
6 |
13.0 |
$2,334,311 |
The University of Melbourne |
283 |
54 |
19.1 |
$19,956,440 |
Victoria University |
13 |
3 |
23.1 |
$1,103,790 |
Western Australia |
239 |
45 |
18.8 |
$17,002,243 |
Curtin University of Technology |
103 |
18 |
17.5 |
$6,627,299 |
Edith Cowan University |
3 |
1 |
33.3 |
$349,700 |
Murdoch University |
11 |
1 |
9.1 |
$392,664 |
The University of Notre Dame Australia |
3 |
0 |
0.0 |
$0 |
The University of Western Australia |
119 |
25 |
21.0 |
$9,632,580 |
Total |
3136 |
594 |
18.9 |
$225,661,033 |
Career age and gender
A total of 6911 Chief Investigators (CIs) were named on all proposals considered in this round. Of these, 1894 were female CIs, 5011 were male CIs and six have chosen not to specify their gender. The success rate for female, male and candidates who have chosen not to specify their gender in this round of Discovery Projects is 20.3 per cent, 18.4 per cent and 33.3 per cent respectively.
Success rates of CIs by career age and gender in the current Discovery Projects round are represented in Figure 1 below. CIs who did not provide gender information (0.1 per cent) and CIs who did not specify the date of completion of their PhD or who do not hold a PhD (2.1 per cent) are not represented in the figure below.
Figure 1. Participation and success rate of Chief Investigators (CIs) in Discovery Projects 2018 by gender and career age*
* Career age is calculated as years since PhD.
International Collaboration
Applicants foreshadowed 4546 instances of collaboration with researchers in 107 overseas locations on 2381 proposals. Of the proposals recommended for funding, 473 foreshadowed 964 instances of collaboration with researchers in 74 overseas locations. (Figure 2)
Figure 2. International collaborations by location in recommended Discovery Projects 2018 proposals
- United States of America, 246
- England, 129
- Germany, 73
- China (excludes SARs and Taiwan), 55
- Canada, 50
- France, 45
- Japan, 28
- New Zealand, 27
- Switzerland, 27
- Netherlands, 25
- Scotland, 19
- Other, 240
Discovery International Awards
Discovery International Awards (DIAs) aim to enhance opportunities for collaboration among researchers, research teams and/or research centres in Australia and overseas, and to build Australia’s international research capability.
Table 5. Number of Discovery Projects 2018 proposals recommended for one or more Discovery International Awards (DIAs)
Funding year |
Number of submitted Proposals requesting one or more DIAs |
Number of Proposals recommended one or more DIAs |
---|---|---|
2017 |
660 |
97 |
2018 |
591 |
101 |