Selection Report: Industrial Transformation Research Hubs for funding commencing in 2024

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Overview

The Industrial Transformation Research Hubs (Research Hubs) engage Australia's best researchers to develop collaborative solutions to the Industrial Transformation Priorities. The focus is on the creation of industry and academic partnerships working together on research and development projects to create innovative and transformative solutions for industry.

The Research Hubs objectives are to: 

• support collaborative research projects between universities and organisations outside the Australian higher education sector that involve cutting-edge research on new technologies; and 
• leverage national and international investment in targeted industry sectors, including from industry and other research end-users. 

Selection process

Applications for funding commencing in 2024 opened on 11 October 2023, and closed on 29 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: 

• assigned independent assessors to review the applications
• assessed applications and reviewed assessments made by independent assessors
• reviewed applicants’ comments on assessors’ reports
• ranked each application relative to the others on the basis of the application, the assessors’ reports and applicants’ responses to those assessments 
• assessed and recommended budgets
• provided application feedback 

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 Unless otherwise specified, data presented in this report exclude withdrawn applications.

Assessment criteria

Assessment criteria and corresponding weightings for Industrial Transformation Research Hubs 2024 are: 

1. Investigator(s)/Capability (20%)

• Describe the:
  • demonstrated Research Opportunity and Performance Evidence (ROPE) of the proposed team including:
    • evidence of experience in managing distributed and/or collaborative industrial and end-user focussed research;
    • evidence of significant outcomes on industry related projects; and
    • evidence of experience in and capacity to provide effective supervision, support and mentoring for HDR candidates and postdoctoral researchers over the life of the Research Hub. 
  • appropriateness of the team research track record to achieve the Research Hub’s goals; and
  • time and capacity of the team to undertake and manage the proposed research in collaboration with the Partner Organisation(s).

2. Project Quality and Innovation (30%)

• Describe the extent to which the:
  • aims, concepts, methods and outcomes will drive growth, productivity and competitiveness within relevant sectors;
  • conceptual/theoretical framework is genuinely integrated, cross-disciplinary, innovative and original; and
  • project draws together high quality innovative national and international partnership(s) into an integrated Research Hub.

3. Feasibility and Commitment (20%)

• Describe the:
  • extent to which the Research Hub represents value for money;
  • appropriateness of the design of the Research Hub and the expertise of the participants to ensure the project can be completed within the proposed budget and timeframe (including identified risks and mitigation strategies);
  • proposed level of collaboration to support the research project, including national and international networks and linkages;
  • high-quality intellectual support provided for the Research Hub by the research environment of the participating organisations;
  • availability of and access to the necessary facilities required to support the proposed research (physical, technical, access to infrastructure, etc);
  • commitment by each Partner Organisation(s) to collaboration in the Research Hub; 
  • adequacy of the budget, including cash and in-kind Contributions pledged by participating organisations; and 
  • extent to which the proposed Research Hub engages, and will continue to engage, meaningfully with the relevant industry experts.
• 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 level of internal leadership of Indigenous research; 
  • 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.

4. Benefit (30%)

• Describe:
  • the extent to which the research clearly addresses one or more of the Industrial Transformation Priorities;
  • the economic, commercial, environmental, social and/or cultural benefits for relevant Australian research end-users (including relevant industry and manufacturing sectors); 
  • the extent to which the proposed Research Hub supports clearly identified market opportunity(ies) and intended transformation for Australian industry or other end users; 
  • the extent to which the proposed Research Hub will build research capacity in the Partner Organisation(s); 
  • the extent to which there are adequate strategies to encourage dissemination, promotion, and the commercialisation of research outcomes;
  • the potential contribution of the proposed research to addressing the needs of industries and communities as articulated in Australia’s Industrial Transformation Priorities; and
  • where relevant, the extent to which the applicants have identified the freedom to operate in the Intellectual Property and patent landscape to enable future benefits to industry.

Assessment process

The ARC assessment process for Industrial Transformation Research Hubs 2024 involved 13 Selection Advisory Committee members comprising of members from the ARC College of Experts and experts from industry on one multi-disciplinary panel. The process was managed in RMS. In addition, independent assessors’ submitted a total of 46 reports to the ARC to support the assessment process.

Funding levels and duration

Funding of between $500,000 and $1 million per annum for between 3 to 5 consecutive years may be awarded for each Industrial Transformation Research Hub. 

Summary of outcomes

The ARC received a total of 16 applications for Industrial Transformation Research Hubs 2024. 

7 Industrial Transformation Research Hubs 2024 are approved, shown in Table 1. The overall success rate for Industrial Transformation Research Hubs 2024 is 43.8%.

Of the Industrial Transformation Research Hubs 2024 applications, none were found to breach eligibility requirements.

A comparison of success rates and funding amounts is shown in Table 2.

Table 1. Industrial Transformation Research Hubs approved for funding commencing in 2024

Industrial Transformation Research Hubs Title	Administering Organisation	Industrial Transformation Research Hubs Director	Approved funds over project life ($)
ARC Research Hub for Protected Cropping	La Trobe University	Professor Tony Bacic	5,000,000
ARC Research Hub for Infrastructure Net Zero	Monash University	Professor Wenhui Duan	5,000,000
ARC Research Hub for Molecular Biosensors at Point-of-Use (MOBIUS)	La Trobe University	Professor Conor Hogan	4,731,325
ARC Research Hub for Human-Robot Teaming for Sustainable and Resilient Construction	University of Technology Sydney	Professor Dikai Liu	5,000,000
ARC Research Hub in the Internet of Things for Water	Queensland University of Technology	Professor Yang Liu	5,000,000
ARC Research Hub for Intelligent Energy Efficiency in Future Protected Cropping	RMIT University	Professor Tianyi Ma	5,000,000
ARC Research Hub for Photovoltaic Solar Panel Recycling and Sustainability (PVRS)	The University of New South Wales	Professor Yansong Shen	5,000,000

 

Table 2.    Comparison of application numbers, success rates, requested and allocated funds for approved Industrial Transformation Research Hubs applications from 2023 to 2024

Funding year	Applications considered	Applications approved	Success rate (%)	Requested funds over project life for all applications considered ($)	Requested funds over project life approved applications ($)	Funds allocated over project life for approved applications ($)	Return rate for approved applications (%)
2023	7	5	71.4	33,418,809	24,889,184	24,889,184	100.0
2024	16	7	43.8	79,005,349	34,731,325	34,731,325	100.0

 

Outcomes by discipline 

A summary of outcomes by discipline panel is shown in Table 3.

Table 3. Number of applications, success rates and requested and allocated funds for approved Industrial Transformation Research Hubs 2024 applications by discipline

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	2	1	50.0	9,274,025	5,000,000	5,000,000	100.0
EIC	12	5	41.7	59,999,999	25,000,000	25,000,000	100.0
HSE	1	0	0	5,000,000	0	0	0
MPCE	1	1	100.0	4,731,325	4,731,325	4,731,325	100.0
Total	16	7	43.8	79,005,349	34,731,325	34,731,325	100.0

* 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

Leverage of ARC Funding

Of the 16 applications considered, 7 were approved with a total approved funding of $34.7 million over the life of these projects. There are 115 unique Partner Organisations involved with these projects, and they have pledged a total (cash and in-kind) of $79.2 million. This represents $2.28 from Partner Organisations for every dollar funded by the ARC.

Outcomes by Administering Organisation

A summary of outcomes by Administering Organisation is shown in Table 4.

 Table 4. Numbers of applications and success rates, ARC approved funding and Partner Organisation contributions for approved Industrial Transformation Research Hubs 2024 by Administering Organisation

Administering Organisation	Applications considered	Applications approved	Success rate (%)	Funds over project life for approved applications ($)	Participating organisation* contributions (cash & in-kind for funded applications) ($)
New South Wales	8	2	25.0	10,000,000	45,208,749
The University of New South Wales	4	1	25.0	5,000,000	27,039,390
The University of Sydney	1	0	0	0	0
University of Technology Sydney	2	1	50.0	5,000,000	18,169,359
University of Wollongong	1	0	0	0	0
Queensland	1	1	100.0	5,000,000	20,574,058
Queensland University of Technology	1	1	100.0	5,000,000	20,574,058
South Australia	1	0	0	0	0
The University of Adelaide	1	0	0	0	0
Victoria	6	4	66.7	19,731,325	78,377,773
La Trobe University	2	2	100.0	9,731,325	43,381,640
Monash University	2	1	50.0	5,000,000	14,915,708
RMIT University	2	1	50.0	5,000,000	20,080,425
Total	16	7	43.8	34,731,325	144,160,580

* Includes Administering Organisations and Partner Organisations

Outcomes by Industrial Transformation Priorities

A summary of outcomes by Industrial Transformation Priorities is shown in Table 5.

Table 5. Approved funding and success rate for Industrial Transformation Research Hubs 2024 by Industrial Transformation Priorities 

Industrial Transformation Priorities	Instances in applications considered	Instances in applications approved
Defence capability	3	0
Enabling capabilities	11	6
Medical science	1	0
Renewables and low emissions technologies	7	3
Transport	4	1
Value-add in resources	5	3
Value-add in the agriculture, forestry and fisheries sectors	4	3
Total	35	16

*A single application may select multiple Industrial Transformation Priorities

Industry Partners

Partner Organisations were identified as Australian, international, government, non-profit, industry or overseas higher education organisations. The Partner Organisation contributions in these categories for the approved Industrial Transformation Research Hubs 2024 are shown below in Table 6.

Table 6. Partner Organisation contributions by sector for approved Industrial Transformation Research Hubs 2024 applications

Type	Cash		In-Kind		Total
	$	%	$	%	$	%
Government
Australian Federal	0	0	430,757	1.0	430,757	0.5
Australian state, territory and local	3,830,000	10.2	4,190,065	10.1	8,020,065	10.1
Sub-total	3,830,000	10.2	4,620,822	11.1	8,450,822	10.7
Industry Body
Australian	25,430,458	67.7	23,223,399	55.8	48,653,857	61.4
International	5,174,494	13.8	6,548,347	15.7	11,722,841	14.8
Sub-total	30,604,952	81.5	29,771,746	71.5	60,376,698	76.2
Non-profit
Australian	1,500,000	4.0	3,552,500	8.5	5,052,500	6.4
International	77,000	0.2	246,600	0.6	323,600	0.4
Sub-total	1,577,000	4.2	3,799,100	9.1	5,376,100	6.8
Other
Other	1,560,000	4.2	3,439,000	8.3	4,999,000	6.3
Sub-total	1,560,000	4.2	3,439,000	8.3	4,999,000	6.3
Total	37,571,952	100.0	41,630,668	100.0	79,202,620	100.0

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

Career age and gender

Of the 81 Industrial Transformation Research Hubs Key Personnel in this round, 19 were females and 62 were male, with success rates of 13.6 per cent and 29.6 per cent respectively. 

Success rates of Industrial Transformation Research Hubs 2024 Key Personnel by career age and gender are presented in Figure 1. 

Figure 1. Participation and success rate of Key Personnel in Industrial Transformation Research Hubs 2024 by gender and career age*

* Career age is calculated as years since PhD based on the earliest PhD Award Date provided by the participant

^ Calculated career age does not take career interruptions into consideration

International Collaboration

For Industrial Transformation Research Hubs 2024, among 16 of the applications considered, applicants foreshadowed 57 instances of collaboration with researchers in 20 overseas locations. Of the applications approved for funding, 7 foreshadowed 29 instances of collaboration with researchers in 18 overseas locations (Figure 2).

Figure 2. International collaborations by location in approved Industrial Transformation Research Hubs 2024*

 *The top 5 international collaboration locations are listed in Figure 2 and the remaining are grouped in the ‘Other’ category