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 Unless otherwise specified, figures presented in this report exclude withdrawn proposals.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  life for recommended proposals	Return  Rate for  recommended proposals
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  rate (%)	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