Selection Report: Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities 2020
- Overview
- Selection Process
- Assessment Criteria
- Funding levels and duration
- Summary of Outcomes
- Outcomes by discipline
- Outcomes by Science and Research Priorities
- Outcomes by Administering Organisation
- Gender
- Collaboration with Other Eligible Organisations, Partner Organisations and Other Organisations
- International Collaboration
- Leverage of ARC funding
- Summary of Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities applications approved for funding
Overview
The Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities scheme provides funding for research infrastructure, equipment and facilities to Eligible Organisations. It enables researchers to participate in cooperative initiatives so that expensive research infrastructure, equipment and facilities can be shared between higher education organisations and also with Industry. The scheme also fosters collaboration through its support of the cooperative use of international or national research facilities.
The objectives of the Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities scheme are to:
- encourage Eligible Organisations to develop collaborative arrangements with other Eligible Organisations and/or Partner Organisations to develop and support research infrastructure;
- support large-scale national or international cooperative initiatives allowing expensive research infrastructure to be shared and/or accessed;
- support areas of existing and/or emerging research strength; and
- support and develop research infrastructure for the broader research community.
Selection Process
Applications for funding commencing in 2020 opened on 23 January 2019, and closed on 20 March 2019. Applications were submitted through the Australian Research Council (ARC) Research Management System (RMS). This report outlines the outcomes from the selection process for that round.
The ARC Chief Executive Officer (CEO) provided recommendations to the Minister based on advice from the ARC Selection Advisory Committee (SAC) which:
- 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 SAC 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 Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities 2020 applications are:
|
Project Quality and Innovation |
(25%) |
|
Feasibility |
(25%) |
|
Investigator(s) |
(20%) |
|
Benefit |
(30%) |
The ARC assessment process for Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities 2020 used 16 SAC members and was managed in the RMS. A total of 524 independent assessors’ reports were submitted to the ARC.
Funding levels and duration
The minimum level of funding provided by the ARC under Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities 2020 is $150,000 per annum and the maximum level of funding cannot exceed 75 per cent of the total direct cost of the eligible budget item(s). Funding is provided for up to one year; or, up to five consecutive years for construction of research infrastructure, or subscription or coordinated access to international facilities and major national facilities.
Summary of Outcomes
The ARC received a total of 164 applications for Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities for funding commencing in 2020. This represents a 14 per cent increase from the 144 Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities applications received for funding commencing in 2019. Of the unsuccessful applications, three did not meet eligibility requirements.
The overall success rate for Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities for funding commencing in 2020 is 28.7 per cent, with a similar percentage of allocation of requested funds compared to funding that commenced in 2019. A comparison of success rates and funding amounts is shown in Table 1.
Table 1. Comparison of application numbers, success rates, requested and allocated funds for approved Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities applications from 2019 to 2020
|
Funding year |
Applications considered |
Applications approved |
Success rate (%) |
Requested funds over project life for all applications considered ($) |
Requested funds over project life for approved applications ($) |
Funds allocated over project life for approved applications*($) |
Return rate for approved applications (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
2019 |
144 |
36 |
25.0 |
$111,480,217 |
$29,520,578 |
$27,421,223 |
92.9 |
|
2020 |
164 |
47 |
28.7 |
$116,305,596 |
$33,144,068 |
$30,672,752 |
92.5 |
*May include indicative funds
Outcomes by discipline
A summary of outcomes by discipline panel is shown in Table 2.
Table 2. Application numbers, success rates and requested and allocated funds for approved Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities 2020 applications by discipline
|
Discipline * |
Applications considered |
Applications approved |
Success rate (%) |
Requested funds over project life for all applications considered ($) |
Requested funds over project life for approved applications ($) |
Funds over project life for approved applications ($) |
Return |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
BSB |
31 |
8 |
25.8 |
$21,837,505 |
$6,798,747 |
$6,173,000 |
90.8 |
|
EIC |
53 |
14 |
26.4 |
$36,217,638 |
$8,238,788 |
$7,723,750 |
93.7 |
|
HCA |
8 |
1 |
12.5 |
$5,800,943 |
$1,228,182 |
$1,100,000 |
89.6 |
|
MPCE |
67 |
23 |
34.3 |
$48,771,989 |
$16,258,934 |
$15,096,002 |
92.8 |
|
SBE |
5 |
1 |
20.0 |
$3,677,521 |
$619,417 |
$580,000 |
93.6 |
|
Total |
164 |
47 |
28.7 |
$116,305,596 |
$33,144,068 |
$30,672,752 |
92.5 |
*BSB – Biological Sciences and Biotechnology; EIC – Engineering, Information and Computing Sciences; HCA – Humanities and Creative Arts; MPCE – Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry and Earth Sciences; SBE – Social, Behavioural and Economic Sciences
Outcomes by Science and Research Priorities
A summary of outcomes by Science and Research Priorities is shown in Table 3.
Table 3. Approved funding and success rate for Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities 2020 applications by Science and Research Priorities
|
Science and Research Priorities |
Applications considered |
Applications approved |
Success |
Approved funds over project life ($) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Advanced manufacturing |
63 |
21 |
33.3 |
$14,678,752 |
|
Cybersecurity |
2 |
0 |
0 |
- |
|
Energy |
13 |
3 |
23.1 |
$1,743,000 |
|
Environmental change |
18 |
4 |
22.2 |
$1,900,000 |
|
Food |
5 |
3 |
60.0 |
$2,945,000 |
|
Health |
9 |
3 |
33.3 |
$2,425,000 |
|
Resources |
12 |
2 |
16.7 |
$1,310,000 |
|
Soil and water |
7 |
2 |
28.6 |
$860,000 |
|
Transport |
6 |
1 |
16.7 |
$475,000 |
|
Unspecified |
29 |
8 |
27.6 |
$4,336,000 |
|
Total |
164 |
47 |
28.7 |
$30,672,752 |
|
Total within Science and Research Priorities |
135 |
39 |
28.9 |
$26,336,752 |
|
Percentage within Science and Research Priorities (%) |
82.3 |
83.0 |
|
85.9 |
Outcomes by Administering Organisation
A summary of outcomes by Administering Organisation is shown in Table 4.
Table 4. Number of applications and success rates for approved Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities 2020 applications by Administering Organisation
|
Administering Organisation |
Applications considered |
Applications approved |
Success rate (%) |
Funds over project life for approved applications ($) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Australian Capital Territory |
10 |
2 |
20.0 |
$1,232,000 |
|
The Australian National University |
10 |
2 |
20.0 |
$1,232,000 |
|
New South Wales |
55 |
17 |
30.9 |
$10,067,697 |
|
Macquarie University |
5 |
0 |
0 |
- |
|
Southern Cross University |
5 |
3 |
60.0 |
$1,320,000 |
|
The University of New South Wales |
17 |
6 |
35.3 |
$4,422,947 |
|
The University of Newcastle |
5 |
2 |
40.0 |
$1,160,000 |
|
The University of Sydney |
13 |
3 |
23.1 |
$1,989,000 |
|
University of Technology Sydney |
3 |
1 |
33.3 |
$400,000 |
|
University of Wollongong |
5 |
1 |
20.0 |
$245,750 |
|
Western Sydney University |
2 |
1 |
50.0 |
$530,000 |
|
Queensland |
16 |
3 |
18.8 |
$2,309,000 |
|
Griffith University |
1 |
1 |
100 |
$744,000 |
|
Queensland University of Technology |
5 |
0 |
0 |
- |
|
The University of Queensland |
9 |
2 |
22.2 |
$1,565,000 |
|
University of Southern Queensland |
1 |
0 |
0 |
- |
|
South Australia |
8 |
1 |
12.5 |
$950,000 |
|
Flinders University |
1 |
0 |
0 |
- |
|
The University of Adelaide |
4 |
0 |
0 |
- |
|
University of South Australia |
3 |
1 |
33.3 |
$950,000 |
|
Tasmania |
6 |
1 |
16.7 |
$420,000 |
|
University of Tasmania |
6 |
1 |
16.7 |
$420,000 |
|
Victoria |
53 |
16 |
30.2 |
$10,820,055 |
|
Deakin University |
1 |
1 |
100 |
$475,000 |
|
Federation University Australia |
1 |
0 |
0 |
- |
|
La Trobe University |
2 |
2 |
100 |
$1,700,000 |
|
Monash University |
22 |
6 |
27.3 |
$3,943,000 |
|
RMIT University |
9 |
1 |
11.1 |
$535,000 |
|
Swinburne University of Technology |
4 |
1 |
25.0 |
$580,000 |
|
The University of Melbourne |
14 |
5 |
35.7 |
$3,587,055 |
|
Western Australia |
16 |
7 |
43.8 |
$4,874,000 |
|
Curtin University |
5 |
3 |
60.0 |
$1,480,000 |
|
The University of Western Australia |
11 |
4 |
36.4 |
$3,394,000 |
|
Total |
164 |
47 |
28.7 |
$30,672,752 |
Gender
Of the 1675 Chief Investigators (CIs) in this round, 357 were female CIs and 1318 were male CIs. The success rate for female and male CIs in this round of Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities is 30.5 per cent and 28.1 per cent respectively.
Collaboration with Other Eligible Organisations, Partner Organisations and Other Organisations
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities applications are expected to develop collaborative arrangements with Other Eligible Organisations and/or Partner Organisations and Other Organisations.
The success rate for applications with one Eligible Organisation (the Administering Organisation) is 14.3 per cent. A summary of success rates by number of Eligible Organisations is shown in Table 5.
Table 5. Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities 2020 application success rates by number of Eligible Organisations
|
Number of Eligible Organisations |
Number of applications considered |
Number of applications approved |
Success rate within band (%) |
|---|---|---|---|
|
1* |
7 |
1 |
14.3 |
|
2 |
19 |
8 |
42.1 |
|
3 |
39 |
9 |
23.1 |
|
4 |
31 |
10 |
32.3 |
|
5 |
33 |
11 |
33.3 |
|
6 |
18 |
2 |
11.1 |
|
7 |
3 |
1 |
33.3 |
|
8 |
8 |
2 |
25.0 |
|
9 |
2 |
2 |
100 |
|
10 |
3 |
1 |
33.3 |
|
11 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
|
Total |
164 |
47 |
28.7 |
* An application with only one Eligible Organisation (the Administering Organisation) may or may not include Partner Organisations and/or Other Organisations.
A summary of application success rates by number of collaborating organisations is shown in Table 6. Applications involving collaboration with five Eligible Organisations, Partner Organisations and/or Other Organisations have the highest success rate - 54.8 per cent.
Table 6. Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities 2020 application success rates by number of collaborating organisations
|
Number of collaborating organisations* |
Number of applications considered |
Number of applications approved |
Success rate within band (%) |
|---|---|---|---|
|
1 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
|
2 |
13 |
4 |
30.8 |
|
3 |
25 |
5 |
20.0 |
|
4 |
26 |
6 |
23.1 |
|
5 |
31 |
17 |
54.8 |
|
6 |
25 |
4 |
16.0 |
|
7 |
12 |
6 |
50.0 |
|
8 |
11 |
0 |
0 |
|
9 |
6 |
2 |
33.3 |
|
10 |
4 |
1 |
25.0 |
|
11 |
5 |
1 |
20.0 |
|
12 |
2 |
1 |
50.0 |
|
14 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
|
Total |
164 |
47 |
28.7 |
* Collaborating organisations include the Administering Organisation, Other Eligible Organisations, Partner Organisations and Other Organisations. There were no applications with 13 collaborating organisations.
International Collaboration
Among 164 of the applications considered, applicants foreshadowed 288 instances of collaboration with researchers in 42 overseas locations. Of the applications approved for funding, 25 foreshadowed 80 instances of collaboration with researchers in 21 overseas locations (Figure 1).
Figure 1. International collaborations by location in approved Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities 2020 applications*
*The top 13 international collaboration locations are listed in Figure 1 and the remaining locations are grouped in the ‘Other’ category.
Leverage of ARC funding
On Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities 2020 applications approved for funding, for every dollar funded by the ARC the proposed dollar contribution of the collaborating organisations listed on these applications is $1.46. The leverage of ARC funds for approved applications is shown in Table 7.
Table 7. Leverage of ARC funds for approved applications
|
Number of applications approved |
Approved ARC funding |
Number of unique collaborating organisations* |
Incidence of involvement of collaborating organisations* |
Collaborating organisation* Cash and In-kind contribution |
Leverage (Collaborating organisation* contribution/ARC approved funding) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
47 |
$30,672,752 |
61 |
249 |
$44,775,762 |
$1.46 |
*Collaborating organisations include the Administering Organisation, Other Eligible Organisations, Partner Organisations and Other Organisations.
Summary of Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities applications approved for funding
A summary of the Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities applications approved for funding commencing in 2020, by Administering Organisation is outlined in Table 8. The application titles indicate the variety of equipment, infrastructure and facilities supported in this scheme round.
Table 8. Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities applications approved for funding commencing in 2020
|
Applications approved for funding |
Administering Organisation |
Lead CI |
|---|---|---|
|
A particle detector array for the Murchison Widefield Array |
Curtin University |
Dr Clancy James |
|
Returning WA Rapid Acquisition Fluorescent Microscopy to the cutting edge. |
Prof John Mamo |
|
|
WA CRC-MC-ICPMS for Earth, Planetary and Environmental science |
Prof Noreen Evans |
|
|
A high-payload, high-fidelity haptically-enabled motion simulation facility |
Deakin University |
Prof Saeid Nahavandi |
|
Multi-kilohertz laser for attosecond and ultrafast science |
Griffith University |
A/Prof Igor Litvinyuk |
|
A platform consortium for integrated 'systems-omics' research |
La Trobe University |
Prof Tony Bacic |
|
X-Ray Nanolithography Facility: Towards the ultimate resolution |
Dr Grant Van Riessen |
|
|
A facility for quantification and isotopic analysis of trace gases |
Monash University |
Prof Perran Cook |
|
A triple beam microscope: new frontiers in materials nanocharacterisation |
Dr Amelia Liu |
|
|
Fast Disk Storage to Enable Big Data Science in Weather, Oceans and Climate |
Prof Michael Reeder |
|
|
Integrated Functional Printing Facility for Advanced Material Technologies |
Prof Mainak Majumder |
|
|
New generation direct electron detector for cryo-electron microscopy |
Dr Georg Ramm |
|
|
The 3D Nanofabrication Facility |
Prof Nicolas Voelcker |
|
|
Photonic Chip Integration Facility |
RMIT University |
Prof Arnan Mitchell |
|
A 4D habitat-modelling facility to support marine ecological research |
Southern Cross University |
Prof Brendan Kelaher |
|
An Equilibrium Inlet-Proton Transfer Reaction-Mass Spectrometer |
Prof Bradley Eyre |
|
|
New frontier in Geoscience: A tandem trace element and isotopes facility |
Dr Renaud Joannes-Boyau |
|
|
Data Co-operative Platform for Social Impact and Wellbeing |
Swinburne University of Technology |
Prof Jane Farmer |
|
Advanced Multifunctional Electro-Opto-Magneto-Mechanical Analysis Platform |
The Australian National University |
A/Prof Yuerui Lu |
|
Exploring the Dynamic Universe with DREAMS |
Prof Anna Moore |
|
|
Crossing the biology meso-nanoscale divide by scanning electron microscopy |
The University of Melbourne |
Prof Geoffrey McFadden |
|
Live Cell Super Resolution Imaging Facility |
Prof Frank Caruso |
|
|
National Facility for Quantum Diamond |
Dr David Simpson |
|
|
Single Particle Elemental Analysis – Imaging Mass Cytometer Facility |
Prof Amanda Ellis |
|
|
Ultrafast Laser Spectroscopy Facility |
A/Prof Trevor Smith |
|
|
A 4-D X-Ray Microscopy Laboratory |
The University of New South Wales |
Prof Klaus Regenauer-Lieb |
|
Australian Rheo-Scattering Facilities |
A/Prof Patrick Spicer |
|
|
Cryogenic Scanning Microwave Measurement Facility for Quantum Materials |
Prof Alexander Hamilton |
|
|
High Performance Solid State NMR Spectroscopy for Materials Research |
Prof Martina Stenzel |
|
|
In situ Environmental Electron Microscope Facility |
Prof Richard Tilley |
|
|
Next generation facility to measure microfluidic flows |
Dr Charitha de Silva |
|
|
Adaptive Electrical Capacitance Volume Tomography for Multiphase Flows |
The University of Newcastle |
Prof Behdad Moghtaderi |
|
Synthetic Biology: from Genomics to Valuable Bioproducts |
Prof Brett Neilan |
|
|
Electrophysiology Platform for Ion-channel Characterisation |
The University of Queensland |
Prof Glenn King |
|
An integrated, multi-nodal bio-layer interferometry facility |
A/Prof Bryan Fry |
|
|
High Resolution PET-CT for Small Animal Molecular and Anatomical Imaging |
The University of Sydney |
Prof Steven Meikle |
|
Rapid Molecular (Bio)material Imaging by Infrared and Raman Microscopies |
Prof Peter Lay |
|
|
Whopping Volta GPU Cluster – Transforming Artificial Intelligence Research |
Prof Dacheng Tao |
|
|
A next-generation receiver for Radio Astronomy |
The University of Western Australia |
Prof Lister Staveley-Smith |
|
Australian Seismic Imaging Array |
Prof Li Ju |
|
|
Quantitative Movies of Nanoscale Dynamics by Video Atomic Force Microscopy |
Prof Rob Atkin |
|
|
The Digitisation Centre of Western Australia (Phase 1) |
Prof Benjamin Smith |
|
|
Protein Quantitation Centre of South Australia renewal for Systems Biology |
University of South Australia |
Prof Peter Hoffmann |
|
Rapid Deployment Seismic Recorders for Interdisciplinary Antarctic Research |
University of Tasmania |
Prof Anya Reading |
|
3D Nanofabrication and Nanocharacterisation facility |
University of Technology Sydney |
Prof Igor Aharonovich |
|
An upgraded nanoindenter facility with in-situ Raman at high temperature |
University of Wollongong |
Prof Kiet Tieu |
|
A major upgrade to the Australia Telescope Compact Array |
Western Sydney University |
Prof Raymond Norris |