Selection Report: Discovery Projects 2020

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; and
  • enhance the scale and focus of research in the Australian Government’s Science and Research Priorities.

 

Selection Process

Applications for funding commencing in 2020 opened on 10 December 2018, and closed on 27 February 2019. Applications were submitted through the Australian Research Council (ARC) Research Management System (RMS). This report outlines recommendations from the ARC Chief Executive Officer (CEO) to the Minister.

These recommendations are based on advice from the ARC Selection Advisory Committee 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 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 reflect the funding recommendations to the Minister. Unless otherwise specified, data presented in this report exclude withdrawn applications.

 

Assessment Criteria

Assessment criteria and corresponding weightings for Discovery Projects 2020 applications are: 

Investigator(s)         (35%) 
Project Quality and Innovation   (40%)
Feasibility (10%)
Benefit   (15%)

The ARC assessment process for Discovery Projects 2020 used 80 ARC Selection Advisory Committee members across five discipline panels and was managed in the RMS. A total of 10,005 independent assessors’ reports were submitted to the ARC.

 

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 Project application.

 

Summary of Outcomes

The ARC received a total of 2877 applications for Discovery Projects for funding commencing in 2020, of which two applications were withdrawn. This represents a 1.6 per cent decrease from the 2924 Discovery Project applications received for funding commencing in 2019. Of the unsuccessful applications, 46 did not meet eligibility requirements.

The overall success rate for Discovery Projects for funding commencing in 2020 is 23.0 per cent, with a higher percentage of allocation of requested funds compared to funding that commenced in 2019. 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 Discovery Project applications from 2019 to 2020

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 (%)
2019 2,921 654 22.4 $1,621,899,946 $371,198,944 $262,590,367 70.7
2020 2,875 660 23.0 $1,641,948,285 $387,282,768 $284,952,924 73.6

 

Outcomes by discipline 

A summary of outcomes by discipline panel is shown in Table 2.

Table 2. Application numbers, success rates and requested and allocated funds for approved Discovery Projects 2020 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 700 150 21.4 $467,381,014 $102,665,794 $77,894,232 75.9
EIC 743 169 22.7 $411,621,921 $99,068,951 $71,860,383 72.5
HCA 287 70 24.4 $135,957,239 $32,194,309 $23,356,618 72.5
MPCE 639 153 23.9 $365,943,319 $93,409,337 $68,033,262 72.8
SBE 506 118 23.3 $261,044,792 $59,944,377 $43,808,429 73.1
Total 2875 660 23.0 $1,641,948,285 $387,282,768 $284,952,924 73.6

† 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

Outcomes by Science and Research Priorities

A summary of outcomes by Science and Research Priorities is shown in Table 3.

Table 3. Approved funding and success rate for Discovery Projects 2020 applications by Science and Research Priorities

Science and Research Priorities Applications considered

Applications

approved

 Success
rate (%)		 Approved funds over project life
Advanced manufacturing 467 101 21.6 $46,950,098
Cybersecurity 117 35 29.9 $14,605,975
Energy 142 33 23.2 $14,954,157
Environmental change 349 85 24.4 $36,300,596
Food 136 31 22.8 $14,800,730
Health 305 61 20 $26,198,112
Resources 75 23 30.7 $9,153,531
Soil and water 76 9 11.8 $4,265,370
Transport 73 19 26 $7,416,654
Unspecified 1135 263 23.2 $110,307,701
Total 2875 660 23 $284,952,924
Total within Science and Research Priorities 1740 397 22.8 $174,645,223
Percentage within Science and Research Priorities (%) 60.5 60.2   61.3

Outcomes by Administering Organisation

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

Table 4.  Number of applications and success rates for approved Discovery Projects 2020 applications by Administering Organisation

Administering Organisation Applications considered Applications approved Success rate (%) Funds over project life for approved applications ($)
Australian Capital Territory 172 55 32 $23,615,509
The Australian National University 164 55 33.5 $23,615,509
University of Canberra 8 0 0 $0
New South Wales 945 218 23.1 $92,322,316
Australian Catholic University 9 2 22.2 $986,065
Charles Sturt University 4 0 0 $0
Macquarie University 105 23 21.9 $9,662,148
Southern Cross University 10 2 20 $712,487
The University of New England 18 1 5.6 $351,803
The University of New South Wales 296 72 24.3 $30,818,887
The University of Newcastle 70 13 18.6 $5,327,689
The University of Sydney 239 58 24.3 $25,506,240
University of Technology Sydney 99 20 20.2 $8,533,546
University of Wollongong 58 18 31 $6,860,255
Western Sydney University 37 9 24.3 $3,563,196
Northern Territory 4 1 25 $348,536
Charles Darwin University 4 1 25 $348,536
Queensland 420 95 22.6 $42,830,577
Central Queensland University 6 3 50 $1,494,719
Griffith University 63 7 11.1 $3,140,073
James Cook University 9 3 33.3 $1,375,082
Queensland University of Technology 82 18 22 $7,717,690
The University of Queensland 246 62 25.2 $28,216,725
University of Southern Queensland 6 0 0 $0
University of the Sunshine Coast 8 2 25 $886,288
South Australia 193 40 20.7 $16,628,229
Flinders University 46 8 17.4 $3,830,011
The University of Adelaide 122 27 22.1 $10,887,021
University of South Australia 25 5 20 $1,911,197
Tasmania 57 11 19.3 $4,395,063
University of Tasmania 57 11 19.3 $4,395,063
Victoria 875 198 22.6 $87,256,071
Deakin University 55 8 14.5 $3,294,577
Federation University Australia 5 0 0 $0
La Trobe University 52 9 17.3 $3,349,187
Monash University 311 83 26.7 $36,452,728
RMIT University 72 17 23.6 $7,370,629
Swinburne University of Technology 62 11 17.7 $4,624,325
The University of Melbourne 308 65 21.1 $29,817,574
Victoria University 10 5 50 $2,347,051
Western Australia 209 42 20.1 $17,556,623
Curtin University 76 11 14.5 $3,921,531
Edith Cowan University 10 1 10 $380,000
Murdoch University 9 3 33.3 $1,018,071
The University of Western Australia 114 27 23.7 $12,237,021
Total 2875 660 23 $284,952,924

Career age and gender

Of the 6555 Chief Investigators (CIs) in this round, 1883 were female, 4654 were male and 18 were unspecified. The success rate for female, male and unspecified CIs in this round of Discovery Projects is 25.0 per cent, 22.7 per cent and 16.7 per cent respectively. 
Success rates of CIs by career age and gender in the current Discovery Projects round are presented in Figure 1. CIs who did not provide gender information (0.3 per cent) and CIs who did not specify the date of completion of their PhD or who do not hold a PhD (1.1 per cent) are not represented in the figure below.

Figure 1. Participation and success rate of Chief Investigators (CIs) in Discovery Projects 2020 by gender and career age*

Figure 1. Participation and success rate of Chief Investigators (CIs) in Discovery Projects 2020 by gender and career age*

*Career age is calculated as years since PhD based on most relevant qualification.

 

International Collaboration

Among 2875 of the applications considered, applicants foreshadowed 4469 instances of collaboration with researchers in 117 overseas locations. Of the applications approved for funding, 523 foreshadowed 1114 instances of collaboration with researchers in 74 overseas locations (Figure 2).

Figure 2. International collaborations by location in approved Discovery Project 2020 applications*

Figure 2. International collaborations by location in approved Discovery Project 2020 applications

*The top 10 international collaboration locations are listed in Figure 2 and the remaining locations are grouped in the ‘Other’ category.

 

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. A summary of the outcomes for DIA requests is shown in Table 5.

Table 5.  Number of Discovery Projects 2020 applications approved for one or more Discovery International Awards (DIAs)

Funding year Number of submitted applications requesting one or more DIAs Number of applications approved with one or more DIAs
2019 609 115
2020 521 98