Selection Report: Early Career Industry Fellowships 2024

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Overview

The primary goal of the Industry Fellowships Program is to create a pathway to support academic researchers in establishing careers in industry, and industry-based researchers to work in university settings, with the aim of increased two-way mobility and skill-building in research collaboration, translation and commercialisation. The Schemes will also drive research collaboration, translation and commercialisation outcomes across a range of industry settings.

The objectives of the Early Career Industry Fellowship scheme are to:

• develop the industry collaboration skills of Early Career researchers; and
• support early career researchers to achieve translatable and/or commercialisable outcomes and translation skills.

Selection process

Applications for funding commencing in 2024 opened on 6 September 2023 and closed on 1 November 2023. 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:

• assessed applications and reviewed assessments made by independent assessors;
• ranked each application relative to the others on the basis of the application, and the independent assessors’ reports; and
• assessed and recommended budgets.

Advice was also provided from the ARC’s National Competitive Grants Program (NCGP) Eligibility Committee which:

• considered eligibility issues identified by ARC staff, the members of the ARC SAC or independent assessors,
• where required, sought advice from the ARC’s Medical Research Advisory Group, and 
• 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 Unless otherwise specified, data represented in this report excludes withdrawn applications.

Assessment criteria

All applications that meet the eligibility criteria for the Early Career Industry Fellowship 2024 were assessed and merit ranked using the following assessment criteria:

• Impact (25%)
  • The significance of the industry challenge or opportunity being addressed in the research project and its relevance to industry partners;
  • The potential for short-, medium- or long-term outcomes, translation, adoption and/or commercialisation beyond the Fellowship completion; and
  • The appropriateness, completeness and effectiveness of proposed pathways to impact, and related activities to support research translation, adoption and/or commercialisation, including IP management.
• Commitment and Alignment (25%)
  • Demonstration of the mutual benefit to the Fellow and Key Industry Partner including potential to lead to longer-term collaboration;
  • Strength of engagement between the Fellow and Key Industry Partner, including previous projects (where applicable), and interactions to date on the proposed project; and
  • The extent to which all parties demonstrate a commitment to the success of the project and to expanding a collaborative relationship.
• Candidate Capability (25%)
  • The extent to which the candidate’s skills and experience, relative to opportunity, are aligned to the project;
  • The candidate’s demonstrated capability to undertake research projects in collaboration with industry and/or other research end-user groups; and
  • The appropriateness and effectiveness of the proposed career development plans for the Fellow, including to enhance their research translation and/or commercialisation skills.
• Research Quality and Innovation (25%)
  • The clarity and novelty of the aim and conceptual framework and the innovativeness of the research method(s) to the industry challenge or opportunity;
  • The novelty of the research in the context of previous research in the area;
  • The clear presence of the Key Industry Partner in the design, method and delivery of the research; and
  • The feasibility of the research in terms of the project’s design, participants, requested duration, required resources/facilities, risk management and appropriateness of the budget.

If the project involves Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander research, additional criteria include:

• The project’s level of collaboration, engagement, relationship building and benefit sharing with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, and First Nations Organisations and Communities;
• The project’s strategy and mechanisms for Indigenous research capacity building within the project;
• The project’s adherence to the Australian Indigenous Data Sovereignty Principles; and
• The project’s understanding of, and proposed strategies to adhere to, the AIATSIS Code of Ethics for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Research and NHMRC’s guidelines on Ethical conduct in research with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and communities.

Assessment process

The ARC assessment process for the Early Career Industry Fellowships 2024 involved 31 Selection Advisory Committee members comprising of members from the ARC College of Experts and experts from industry across 3 discipline panels. The process was managed in RMS. In addition, independent assessors submitted a total of 639 reports to the ARC to support the assessment process.

Funding levels and duration

Early Career Industry Fellowships projects are funded for 1 to 3 years on a full-time basis, subject to sufficient scheme funding, the provisions of the Australian Research Council Act 2001 (the ARC Act) and continued satisfactory progress of the Early Career Industry Fellowships project.

It is a requirement of the Grant Guidelines for the Industry Fellowship Program (Variation No. 1, 2022 edition) for the Administering Organisation to employ an Early Career Industry Fellow at a minimum of Academic Level A (or equivalent) for the entire project activity period. The annual salary provided by the ARC of $112,897 (2023$) includes 30 per cent on-costs.

In addition to the Early Career Industry Fellowship salary and salary-related (on-cost) support, the ARC will provide Early Career Industry Fellows with project funding not exceeding $150,000 over the duration of the grant.

Summary of outcomes

The ARC received a total of 185 applications for Early Career Industry Fellowships for funding commencing in 2024.

50 Early Career Industry Fellows are approved for funding commencing in 2024, shown in Table 1. The overall success rate for Early Career Industry Fellowships for funding commencing in 2024 is 27.0%. The total indicative funding approved is $22.5 million over 3 financial years (Tables 2 and 3). A break-down of success rates and funding amounts is shown in Table 2.

Of the unsuccessful applications in 2024, 4 were found not to meet eligibility requirements.

Table 1.  Early Career Industry Fellows approved for funding commencing in 2024.

Fellowship candidate	Administering Organisation
Doctor Ali Amin	The University of Sydney
Doctor Michael Anenburg	The Australian National University
Doctor Jessica K Balanzategui	RMIT University
Doctor Michael Barson	Monash University
Doctor José-Miguel Bello y Villarino	The University of Sydney
Doctor Ronald W Brown	University of Wollongong
Doctor Zhenbang Cao	The University of Sydney
Doctor Weitong Chen	The University of Adelaide
Doctor Théotime Colin	Macquarie University
Doctor Simone J Deegan	Flinders University
Doctor Shanmuga Sundar Dhanabalan	RMIT University
Doctor Xin Du	Murdoch University
Doctor Nard Dumoulin Stuyck	The University of New South Wales
Doctor Elise R Facer-Childs	Monash University
Doctor Syamak Farajikhah	The University of Sydney
Doctor Jody C Fisher	Flinders University
Doctor Caitlin M Gionfriddo	La Trobe University
Doctor Jeremie E Giraud	The University of Western Australia
Doctor Samuel K Gorman	The University of New South Wales
Doctor Shuaiyu Jiang	RMIT University
Doctor Ze Jiang	The University of New South Wales
Doctor Molly L Johnston	Monash University
Doctor Chantal Lanctot	Griffith University
Doctor Szabolcs Lehoczki-Krsjak	Southern Cross University
Doctor Gemeng Liang	The University of Adelaide
Doctor Sailin Liu	The University of Adelaide
Doctor Sonia Y Liu	The University of Sydney
Associate Professor Nicole Lovato	Flinders University
Doctor Faezeh Makhlooghiazad	Deakin University
Doctor Ana Manero	The University of Western Australia
Doctor Jessica R Marsh	The University of Adelaide
Doctor Ben R Mather	The University of Sydney
Doctor Dylan J McConnell	The University of New South Wales
Doctor Rachel Milte	Flinders University
Associate Professor Noushin Nasiri	Macquarie University
Doctor Tariq Nazir	RMIT University
Doctor Heather L Neilly	Federation University Australia
Doctor Tangerine Parker	The University of Adelaide
Doctor Zhen Peng	Curtin University
Doctor Md Ataur Rahman	RMIT University
Doctor Sarah K Scholten	The University of Adelaide
Doctor Anthea S Skinner	The University of Melbourne
Doctor Richard Tan	The University of Sydney
Doctor Xin Fu Tan	The University of Queensland
Doctor Madeline E Taylor	Macquarie University
Doctor Joshua A Thia	The University of Melbourne
Doctor Monique C Tourell	The University of Queensland
Doctor Lily M van Eeden	RMIT University
Doctor Huihui Zhang	RMIT University
Doctor Sipei Zhao	University of Technology Sydney

Table 2.    Application numbers, success rates, requested and allocated funds for approved Early Career Industry Fellowships applications from 2023 to 2024.

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 (%)
2023	359	50	13.9	$163,526,959	$23,209,075	$22,227,166	95.8
2024	185	50	27	$87,254,188	$23,546,711	$22,516,041	95.6

Table 3.    Indicative funds for approved Early Career Industry Fellowships 2024 applications.

Budget item	2024–2025	2025–2026	2026–2027	TOTAL
Early Career Industry Salary including on-costs	$5,644,850	$5,644,850	$5,419,056	$16,708,756
Project Funding	$2,137,699	$2,034,465	$1,635,121	$5,807,285
TOTAL	$7,782,549	$7,679,315	$7,054,177	$22,516,041

Outcomes by discipline

A summary of outcomes by discipline panel is shown in Table 4.

Table 4.    Application numbers, success rates, requested and allocated funds for approved Early Career Industry Fellowships 2024 applications.

Discipline *	Applications considered	Applications approved	Success 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 (%)
BSB/MPCE	60	16	26.7	$28,711,869	$7,488,763	$7,187,531	96
EIC	89	23	25.8	$41,712,857	$10,753,013	$10,175,984	94.6
HSE	36	11	30.6	$16,829,462	$5,304,935	$5,152,526	97.1
Total	185	50	27	$87,254,188	$23,546,711	$22,516,041	95.6

*BSB = Biological Sciences and Biotechnology; EIC = Engineering, Information and Computing Sciences; HSE = Humanities and Creative Arts, Social, Behavioural and Economic Sciences; MPCE = Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry and Earth Sciences.

Leverage of ARC Funding

In addition to the $22.5 million of ARC indicative funding approved, the 50 projects will also receive cash and in-kind contributions from their administering organisations and their Industry Partners. These participating organisations will contribute a total of $35.1 million.  

Outcomes by Administering Organisation

The Administering Organisations of the 50 applications approved for funding are:

Table 5.    Partner Organisation contributions for approved Early Career Industry Fellowships applications by Administering Organisation.

Administering Organisation	Submitted applications	Approved applications	Success rate (%)	Total allocated funding amount	Participating organisation contributions (cash & in-kind for funded applications)
Australian Capital Territory	10	1	10	$488,195	$367,617
The Australian National University	10	1	10	$488,195	$367,617
New South Wales	57	17	29.8	$7,540,791	$12,086,363
Australian Catholic University	2	0	0	$0	$0
Charles Sturt University	1	0	0	$0	$0
Macquarie University	8	3	37.5	$1,386,851	$1,993,031
Southern Cross University	3	1	33.3	$417,391	$716,585
The University of New England	3	0	0	$0	$0
The University of New South Wales	10	4	40	$1,597,317	$2,879,408
The University of Newcastle	1	0	0	$0	$0
The University of Sydney	18	7	38.9	$3,166,110	$5,333,905
University of Technology Sydney	4	1	25	$488,691	$854,192
University of Wollongong	5	1	20	$484,431	$309,242
Western Sydney University	2	0	0	$0	$0
Queensland	28	3	10.7	$1,454,840	$2,040,275
Griffith University	2	1	50	$488,648	$809,928
Queensland University of Technology	9	0	0	$0	$0
The University of Queensland	14	2	14.3	$966,192	$1,230,347
The University of Southern Queensland	3	0	0	$0	$0
South Australia	24	10	41.7	$4,301,879	$7,461,119
Flinders University	8	4	50	$1,708,074	$2,429,473
The University of Adelaide	16	6	37.5	$2,593,805	$5,031,646
Tasmania	2	0	0	$0	$0
University of Tasmania	2	0	0	$0	$0
Victoria	48	15	31.3	$6,899,224	$10,113,673
Deakin University	4	1	25	$487,791	$510,803
Federation University Australia	2	1	50	$453,671	$1,469,980
La Trobe University	4	1	25	$446,721	$659,994
Monash University	14	3	21.4	$1,376,780	$1,763,535
RMIT University	15	7	46.7	$3,225,025	$4,811,253
The University of Melbourne	9	2	22.2	$909,236	$898,108
Western Australia	16	4	25	$1,831,112	$3,048,746
Curtin University	4	1	25	$381,291	$819,984
Edith Cowan University	1	0	0	$0	$0
Murdoch University	2	1	50	$483,320	$682,733
The University of Western Australia	9	2	22.2	$966,501	$1,546,029
Total	185	50	27	$22,516,041	$35,117,793

Industry Partners

Australian companies, government entities and non-profit organisations will participate in the approved projects as Key Industry and Other Industry Partners. International organisations will also contribute as Other Industry Partners.

In total, there are 81 unique Key Industry Partners or Other Industry Partners involved with the 50 projects approved for funding, giving an average of 1.70 Industry Partners involved in each project.

Together, they have pledged a total (cash and in-kind) of $18.3 million. This represents 81 cents from Industry Partners for every dollar funded by the ARC.

Table 6.    Partner Organisation contributions by sector for approved Early Career Industry Fellowships 2024 applications.

Type		Cash		In-Kind		Total
		$	%	$	%	$	%
Government
Australian Federal		21,000	0.5	1,344,212	9.4	1,365,212	7.5
Australian state, territory and local		526,399	13.3	3,250,118	22.7	3,776,517	20.6
	Sub-total	547,399	13.8	4,594,330	32.0	5,141,729	28.1
Industry Body
Australian		3,015,078	76.2	6,928,162	48.3	9,943,240	54.3
International		150,000	3.8	313,068	2.2	463,068	2.5
	Sub-total	3,165,078	80.0	7,241,230	50.5	10,406,308	56.9
Non-profit
Australian		165,000	4.2	2,226,372	15.5	2,391,372	13.1
International		20,000	0.5	84,000	0.6	104,000	0.6
	Sub-total	185,000	4.7	2,310,372	16.1	2,495,372	13.6
Other
Other		59,920	1.5	194,395	1.4	254,315	1.4
	Sub-total	59,920	1.5	194,395	1.4	254,315	1.4
	Total	3,957,397	100	14,340,327	100	18,297,724	100

Note: All percentages are shown using rounded figures, and as such may not sum to 100%.

Gender

The genders of the applicants and awardees are:

Table 7.    Gender of Early Career Industry Fellowship 2024 candidates and approved awardees.

Gender	Applications considered	% of Applications considered	Applications approved	Success rate (%)
Female	75	40.5	24	32.0
Male	107	57.8	26	24.3
Unspecified	3	1.6	0	0
Total	185	100	50	27.0

Note: All percentages are shown using rounded figures, and as such may not sum to 100%.

Attracting and retaining outstanding researchers

Applications were open to Eligible Organisations to nominate candidates who are world-class researchers of international repute, residing either within Australia or overseas (Table 8).

Table 8.    Citizenship/residency status of Early Career Industry Fellowships 2024 candidates and approved Awardees.

Citizenship/residency status	Applications considered	% Of Applications considered	Applications approved	Success rate (%)
Foreign Nationals	21	11.4	4	19.0
Resident Australians	164	88.6	46	28.0
Total	185	100	50	27.0

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

International collaboration

Among 185 of the applications considered, applicants foreshadowed 151 instances of collaboration with researchers in 50 overseas locations. Of the applications approved for funding, applicants foreshadowed 42 instances of collaboration with researchers in 17 overseas locations (Figure 2).

Figure 1.         International collaborations by location in approved Early Career Industry Fellowships 2024 applications

*The top 7 international collaboration locations are listed in Figure 1 and the remaining are grouped in the 'Other' category.