The Industrial Transformation Training Centres scheme fosters close partnerships between university-based researchers and other researchers. Training Centres deliver innovative Higher Degree by Research (HDR) and postdoctoral training. The focus is on creating end-user research capability that is vital to Australia's future through developing solutions relevant to the Industrial Transformation Priorities.
The objectives of the Industrial Transformation Training Centres scheme are to:
Applications for funding commencing in 2020 opened on 4 October 2019 and closed on 11 December 2020. 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 Selection Advisory Committee (SAC) which:
and advice from the ARC’s National Competitive Grants Program Eligibility Committee which:
This report reflects the outcomes approved by the Minister.
Assessment Criteria and corresponding weightings for Industrial Transformation Training Centres applications are:
The ARC assessment and reporting process for Industrial Transformation Training Centres 2020 involved a panel of 12 SAC members and was managed in RMS. A total of 126 independent assessors’ reports were submitted to the ARC for Industrial Transformation Training Centres 2020.
Funding of between $650,000 and $1 million per annum for the first three years and between $150,000 and $1 million per annum for the fourth year may be awarded for each Industrial Transformation Training Centre. There is no minimum for the fifth year and a maximum of $1 million.
The ARC received 31 applications for Industrial Transformation Training Centres for funding commencing in 2020. All applications met eligibility requirements.
As shown in Table 1, five applications were approved for funding. The overall success rate is 16.1 per cent. A comparison of success rates and funding amounts is shown in Table 2.
Table 1. Approved applications for the Industrial Transformation Training Centres for funding in 2020
Table 2. Comparison of application numbers, success rates, requested and allocated funds for approved applications from Industrial Transformation Training Centres for funding in 2019 and 2020*
*May include indicative funding amounts
A summary of outcomes by discipline grouping is shown in Table 3.
Table 3. Number of applications, success rates and requested and allocated funds for approved Industrial Transformation Training Centres 2020 applications by discipline
*BEM – Biological Sciences, Biotechnology, Environmental, Medical and Health Sciences; ET – Engineering and Technology; HSE – Humanities and Creative Arts, Social, Behavioural and Economic Sciences; PMI – Physical, Mathematical and Information Sciences
Institutions across six Australian States submitted applications for Industrial Transformation Training Centres for funding in 2020. In addition to ARC funding, significant contributions are made by participating organisations as shown in Table 4.
Table 4. Numbers of applications, success rates and approved funding for Industrial Transformation Training Centres for funding in 2020
Funding over project life
(approved applications)
Participating organisation*#
contributions(cash & in-kind) over project life
* Participating Organisations include the Administering Organisation, Other Eligible Organisations, Partner Organisations and Other Organisations.# Participating Organisation contributions are shown by organisation type in Table 4.
As shown in Table 5, contributions to Industrial Transformation Training Centres for funding in 2020 from Partner Organisations total over $18 million, 37.5 per cent of the total organisation contributions to successful Industrial Transformation Training Centres for funding in 2020.
Table 5. Participating organisation contributions by organisation type for approved applications for the Industrial Transformation Training Centres for funding in 2020 applications
Partner Organisations were identified as either Australian, international, government, non-profit, industry or overseas higher education organisations. The Partner Organisation contributions in these categories for applications approved for funding in 2020 are shown in Table 6.
Table 6. Partner Organisation contributions by sector for approved applications for the Industrial Transformation Training Centres for funding in 2020 applications
Note: All totals and percentages are shown using rounded figures, and as such may not sum.
Of the 31 applications considered, five were approved with total funding, over the life of these projects, of $24.3 million. There are 55 Partner Organisations involved, committing a total of $18.1 million in cash and in-kind funding. This represents $0.75 from Partner Organisations for every dollar of funding from the ARC.
As shown in Table 7, applications for Industrial Transformation Training Centres for funding in 2020 were submitted in all Industrial Transformation Priorities.
Table 7. Instances of identified Industrial Transformation Priorities in Industrial Transformation Training Centres applications approved for funding commencing in 2020
* A single application may select multiple Industrial Transformation Priorities
As shown in Table 8, except for one application, all applications for Industrial Transformation Training Centres for funding in 2020 selected a Science and Research Priority.
Table 8. Approved funding for Industrial Transformation Training Centres for funding in 2020 by Science and Research Priority
Table 9. Application data by Field of Research category for Industrial Transformation Training Centres for funding in 2020.
A total of 856 participants were named as a Training Centre Director, Chief Investigator or Partner Investigator on applications considered in this round. Of these, 654 are male, 199 are female and three participants chose not to specify their gender. The success rates for male, female and unspecified participants are 17.4 per cent, 18.6 per cent and 33.3 per cent respectively.
As shown in Figure 1, 11 countries are participating in the successful Industrial Transformation Training Centres for funding in 2020.
Figure 1. Instances of international collaboration on approved Industrial Transformation Training Centres for funding in 2020 applications