Selection Report: Linkage Projects 2024 Round 1

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Overview

The Linkage Projects scheme supports projects which initiate or develop long term strategic research alliances to apply advanced knowledge to problems, acquire new knowledge and as a basis for securing commercial and other benefits of research.

The objectives of the Linkage Projects scheme are to:

• support internationally competitive research projects and teams on challenges or opportunities of relevance to research end-users;
• foster the establishment and strengthening of research alliances between higher education organisations and research end-users;
• enhance the scale and focus of research, including in Australian Government priority areas.

Selection Process

Applications for Linkage Projects 2024 Assessment Round 1 opened on 14 December 2023 and closed on 8 May 2024. Applications were submitted using a continuous application process; this is the first of the two assessment rounds for this scheme. 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 outcomes 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; 

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 Unless otherwise specified, data represented in this report exclude withdrawn applications.

Assessment Criteria

All applications that meet the eligibility criteria for Linkage Projects 2024 (Round 1) were assessed and merit ranked using the following assessment criteria:

1. Project quality and innovation (30%)

• significance and innovativeness of the research in the context of previous research in the area;
• robustness and appropriateness of the conceptual framework, design, methods and analyses;
• the adequacy and appropriateness of the budget, including cash and in-kind contributions pledged by the participating organisations, and value for money considerations.

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.

2. Impact (20%)

• demonstration of the mutual benefit for participating organisations now and into the future;
• evidence of how the research will advance/address Partner Organisation(s)’s core strategy;
• potential contribution to Australian Government priority areas; 
• potential economic, commercial, environmental, social and/or cultural benefits for Australia; and
• appropriateness of strategies for adoption, commercialisation, promotion, and/or dissemination of research outcomes, including IP management arrangements.

3. Investigator(s’) capability and quality of team (20%)

• quality of the named participant(s)’ skills and experience, relative to opportunity, including evidence of potential to engage in collaborative research;
• experience in research training, mentoring and supervision;
• capability and capacity of the team to undertake and manage the project; and
• evidence of previous history of successful collaboration between the named participant(s) and this or other Partner Organisation(s).

4. Strength of the proposed research alliance (30%)

• extent and nature of commitment to the project, including provision of research environment, facilities and personnel (where relevant), relative to the scale of the project and the capacity of the participating organisations;
• extent and appropriateness of proposed governance, structures and processes to support the project;
• capacity and intent of Partner Organisations to use the outcomes of the research; and
• potential of partnership to lead to long-term collaborations.

Assessment process

The ARC assessment process for Linkage Projects 2024 (Round 1) involved 17 SAC members as part of one multidisciplinary panel and was managed in RMS. A total of 602 independent assessors’ reports were submitted to the ARC.

Funding levels and duration 

Funding of between $50,000 and $300,000 per annum for up to five years may be awarded for each Linkage Projects application.

Summary of outcomes

The ARC received a total of 177 applications for Linkage Projects 2024 (Round 1), none of which was withdrawn. 

The overall success rate for Linkage Projects for funding applied for in 2024 (Round 1) is 31.6 per cent. 

Of the unsuccessful applications, two were found to not meet eligibility requirements.

A comparison of success rates and funding amounts is shown in Table 1.

Table 1.    Comparison of application numbers, success rates, requested and allocated funds for approved Linkage Projects applications from 2023 (Round 1 and 2) and 2024 (Round 1)

Scheme Round	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 (Round 1)	171	50	29.2	$90,737,777	$29,606,708	$26,077,989	88.1
2023 (Round 2)	274	72	26.3	$155,293,840	$44,811,759	$43,104,707	96.2
2024 (Round 1)	177	56	31.6	$91,831,038	$33,739,916	$29,950,177	88.8

Outcomes by discipline

A summary of outcome by discipline is shown in Table 2.

Table 2.    Application numbers, success rates and requested and allocated funds for approved Linkage Projects 2024 (Round 1) 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	34	8	23.5	$19,305,152	$6,168,030	$5,823,318	94.4%
EIC	81	30	37.0	$42,469,447	$17,261,596	$15,347,502	88.9%
HSE	55	15	27.3	$25,726,359	$7,890,361	$6,756,923	85.6%
MPCE	7	3	42.9	$4,330,080	$2,419,929	$2,022,434	83.6%
Total	177	56	31.6	$91,831,038	$33,739,916	$29,950,177	88.8%

* 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

Note – Project discipline is determined by the primary Field of Research (FoR) codes provided in the application.

Leverage of ARC Funding

Of the 177 applications considered, 56 were approved with a total approved funding of $29.95 million over the life of these projects. There are 138 unique Partner Organisations involved with these projects, and they have pledged a total (cash and in-kind) of $47.9 million. This represents $1.60 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 3.

Table 3.    Numbers of applications, success rates, ARC approved funding and Partner Organisation contributions for approved Linkage Projects 2024 (Round 1) applications by Administering Organisation

Administering Organisation	Applications considered	Applications approved	Success rate (%)	ARC approved funding over project life (approved applications)	Partner Organisation contributions (cash & in-kind) over project life (approved applications)
Australian Capital Territory	4	1	25.0	$511,554	*
The Australian National University	4	1	25.0	$511,554	*
New South Wales	60	17	28.3	$7,891,512	$10,203,010
Australian Catholic University	1	1	100.0	$1,005,058	*
Charles Sturt University	1	0	0	-	-
Macquarie University	4	2	50.0	$815,126	$821,800
Southern Cross University	3	0	0	-	-
The University of New South Wales	18	4	22.2	$1,458,784	$2,224,826
The University of Newcastle	2	0	0	-	-
The University of Sydney	16	5	31.3	$2,011,932	$2,250,510
University of Technology Sydney	6	2	33.3	$921,310	$968,884
University of Wollongong	5	1	20.0	$450,332	*
Western Sydney University	4	2	50.0	$1,228,970	$1,820,990
Northern Territory	1	0	0	-	-
Charles Darwin University	1	0	0	-	$0
Queensland	34	15	44.1	$8,929,271	$18,750,116
Central Queensland University	1	1	100.0	$777,528	*
Griffith University	11	6	54.5	$3,648,959	$10,377,534
James Cook University	1	0	0	-	-
Queensland University of Technology	7	4	57.1	$1,610,220	$2,313,153
The University of Queensland	12	4	33.3	$2,892,564	$5,131,580
University of Southern Queensland	1	0	0	-	-
University of the Sunshine Coast	1	0	0	-	-
South Australia	20	3	15.0	$1,953,580	$2,743,566
Flinders University	4	2	50.0	$1,277,764	$1,992,566
The University of Adelaide	11	1	9.1	$675,816	*
University of South Australia	5	0	0	-	-
Victoria	46	16	34.8	$8,027,073	$11,774,624
Deakin University	5	1	20.0	$429,000	*
La Trobe University	4	1	25.0	$432,405	*
Monash University	8	3	37.5	$1,466,790	$2,050,048
RMIT University	12	5	41.7	$2,321,444	$3,006,804
Swinburne University of Technology	2	1	50.0	$436,000	*
The University of Melbourne	13	5	38.5	$2,941,434	$4,192,988
Victoria University	2	0	0	-	-
Western Australia	12	4	33.3	$2,637,187	$3,531,635
Curtin University	3	1	33.3	$610,000	*
Murdoch University	1	1	100.0	$297,000	*
The University of Western Australia	8	2	25.0	$1,730,187	$2,422,000
Total	177	56	31.6	$29,950,177	$47,886,161

* For confidentiality reasons, total contributions by Partner Organisations are not shown in instances in which Administering Organisations are associated with one approved application only. The Table 3 total does, however, include the total contributions by Partner Organisations on approved Projects associated with those Administering Organisations. 

Partner Organisations were identified as Australian, international, government, non-profit, industry or overseas higher education organisations. The Partner Organisation contributions in these categories for Linkage Projects 2024 (Round 1) applications approved for funding are shown below in Table 4.

Table 4.    Partner Organisation contributions by sector for approved Linkage Projects 2024 (Round 1) applications 

Type	Cash		In-Kind		Total
	$	%	$	%	$	%
Government
Australian Federal	$60,000	0.5	$121,000	0.3	$181,000	0.4
Australian state, territory and local	$1,289,868	11.0	$4,190,797	11.6	$5,480,665	11.4
Sub-total	$1,349,868	11.5	$4,311,797	11.9	$5,661,665	11.8
Industry Body
Australian	$7,728,246	65.8	$17,407,808	48.2	$25,136,054	52.5
International	$1,868,504	15.9	$4,972,961	13.8	$6,841,465	14.3
Sub-total	$9,596,750	81.8	$22,380,769	61.9	$31,977,519	66.8
Non-profit
Australian	$535,430	4.6	$8,135,385	22.5	$8,670,815	18.1
International	$0	0	$180,445	0.5	$180,445	0.4
Sub-total	$535,430	4.6	$8,315,830	23.0	$8,851,260	18.5
Higher Education
International	$0	0	$433,719	1.2	$433,719	0.9
Sub-total	$0	0	$433,719	1.2	$433,719	0.9
Other
Other	$257,000	0	$704,998	2.0	$961,998	2.0
Sub-total	$257,000	0	$704,998	2.0	$961,998	2.0
Total	$11,739,048	100	$36,147,113	100	$47,886,161	100

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

Partnerships 

Linkage Projects applications represent partnerships between researchers, higher education organisations and other organisations, as well as collaborations between Partner Organisations within projects. There are a total of 141 instances of collaboration with Partner Organisations (including multiple collaborations with a number of organisations) in Linkage Projects 2024 (Round 1) applications approved for funding, giving an average of 2.52 Partner Organisations involved in each application. These partnerships form congruent and/or complementary linkages in Fields of Research (FoR). A summary of the FoR categories identified by applicants of approved applications and the total Partner Organisation contributions are shown below in Table 5.

Table 5.    Application data by Field of Research category for Linkage Projects 2024 (Round 1)

Field of Research category	Number of applications approved#	Partner Organisation contributions (cash & in-kind) over project life (approved applications)
Agricultural, Veterinary and Food Sciences	3	$3,182,539
Biological Sciences	3	$1,439,669
Built Environment and Design	1	*
Chemical Sciences	2	$4,092,777
Commerce, Management, Tourism and Services	1	*
Creative Arts and Writing	1	*
Earth Sciences	1	*
Economics	1	*
Education	2	$1,036,656
Engineering	22	$15,372,817
Environmental Sciences	2	$5,687,130
Health Sciences	3	$2,296,540
Human Society	3	$1,583,184
Information and Computing Sciences	7	$6,303,864
Language, Communication and Culture	1	*
Psychology	3	$2,988,275
Total	56	$47,886,161

# Based on the primary FoR

*For confidentiality reasons, total contributions by Partner Organisations are not shown in instances in which FoR codes are associated with one approved application only. The Table 6 total does, however, include the total contributions by Partner Organisations on approved Projects associated with those FoR codes.

Career age and gender

Of the 655 Chief Investigators (CIs) in this round, 239 were female, 412 were male and 4 were unspecified. The success rate for female, male and unspecified CIs in Linkage Projects 2024 (Round 1) is 35.6 per cent, 35.2 per cent and 0 per cent respectively.

Success rates of CIs by career age and gender in Linkage Projects 2024 (Round 1) are presented in Figure 1. CIs who did not specify the date of completion of their PhD or who do not hold a PhD (1.7 per cent) are not represented in the figure below.

Of the 177 Lead Chief Investigators (CIs) in this round, 54 were female, 122 were male and 1 was unspecified. The success rate for female, male and unspecified for Lead CIs in Linkage Projects 2024 (Round 1) is 29.6 per cent, 32.8 per cent and 0 per respectively. Success rates of the Lead CIs by Project Discipline are present in Figure 7 below. 

Figure 1.    Participation and success rate of Chief Investigators (CIs) in Linkage Projects 2024 (Round 1) by gender and career age*^ 

*Career age is calculated as years since PhD (or equivalent). The earliest PhD award date was used where there was more than one PhD.

^ Calculated career age does not take career interruptions into consideration. 

Gender by project discipline

Table 6.     Linkage Projects 2024 (Round 1): Chief Investigator gender by project discipline - submission and approved numbers, and success rates

Project discipline	Female considered	Female approved	Female success rate (%)	Male considered	Male approved	Male success rate (%)	Unspecified submitted	Unspecified approved	Unspecified success rate (%)
BSB	52	10	19.2	89	30	33.7	2	0	0
EIC	59	21	35.6	216	86	39.8	1	0	0
HSE	121	49	40.5	93	20	21.5	1	0	0
MPCE	7	5	71.4	14	9	64.3	0	0	N/A
Grand Total	239	85	35.6	412	145	35.2	4	0	0

Note – The data provided in the above table is a representation of all Chief Investigators listed on applications considered in Linkage Project 2024 (Round 1).

Table 7.     Linkage Projects 2024 (Round 1): Lead Chief Investigator Gender by project discipline – submission numbers, applications approved and success rates

Project discipline	Female considered	Female approved	Female success rate (%)	Male considered	Male approved	Male success rate (%)	Unspecified considered	Unspecified approved	Unspecified success rate (%)
BSB	10	1	10.0	23	7	30.4	1	0	0
EIC	11	1	9.1	70	29	41.4	N/A	N/A	N/A
HSE	31	13	41.9	24	2	8.3	N/A	N/A	N/A
MPCE	2	1	50.0	5	2	40.0	N/A	N/A	N/A
Grand  Total	54	16	29.6	122	40	32.8	1	0	0

Note – The data provided in the above table is a representation of Lead Chief Investigators listed on applications considered in Linkage Project 2024 (Round 1).

Figure 2.    Participation and success rate of Linkage Projects 2024 (Round 1) Chief Investigators by gender and project discipline

Note - The data provided in the above figure is a representation of all Chief Investigators listed on applications considered in Linkage Projects 2024 (Round 1)

International Collaboration

In the 177 applications considered, applicants foreshadowed 93 instances of collaboration with researchers in 30 overseas locations. Of the applications approved for funding, 21 foreshadowed 34 instances of collaboration with researchers in 16 overseas locations (Figure 3).

Figure 3.    International collaborations by location on approved Linkage Projects 2024 (Round 1) applications*

*The top 6 international collaboration locations are listed in Figure 3 and the remaining locations are grouped in the ‘Other’ category.