Selection Report: Linkage Projects 2020 Round 3

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 the development of long-term strategic research alliances between higher education organisations and industry and other research end-users, in order to apply advanced knowledge to problems;
• provide opportunities for internationally competitive research projects to be conducted in collaboration with organisations outside the higher education sector; and
• enhance the scale and focus of research in Australian Government priority areas.

Selection process

Applications for Linkage Projects 2020 Assessment Round 3 opened on 13 August 2020 and closed on 17 December 2020. Applications were submitted using a continuous application process, this is the third and final of the three 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 Committees (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 Unless otherwise specified, data presented in this report exclude withdrawn applications.

Assessment criteria

All applications that meet the eligibility criteria for Linkage Projects 2020 (Round 3) were assessed and merit ranked using the following assessment criteria:

Investigator(s)/Capability (25%)

Describe the quality of the candidates’ Research Opportunity and Performance Evidence (ROPE) including evidence of:

• potential to engage in collaborative research with end-users;
• experience in research training, mentoring and supervision; and
• time and capacity to undertake and manage the proposed research in collaboration with the Partner Organisation(s).

Project quality and innovation (25%)

Describe the extent to which the project is significant and innovative including:

• any new methods or technologies to be developed that address a specific market opportunity;
• how the anticipated outcomes will advance the knowledge base to address an important problem and/or provide an end-user and/or industry advantage;
• how the project’s aims and concepts are novel and innovative; and
• how the project will significantly enhance links with industry and/or other organisations outside the Australian publicly-funded research and higher education sectors.

Describe the research approach and training including:

• the conceptual framework, design, methods and analyses, demonstrating these are adequately developed, well integrated and appropriate to the aims of the project; and
• the intellectual content and scale of the work proposed is appropriate to a higher degree by research student where relevant.

Feasibility and commitment (20%)

Describe:

• the extent to which the project represents value for money;
• the supportive and high quality environment for this research in the Administering Organisation and the Partner Organisation(s);
• the availability of the necessary facilities to conduct the research;
• the commitment of each Partner Organisation to collaboration in the research project and capacity to implement the outcomes of the research; and
• the adequacy of the budget, including cash and in-kind contributions pledged by the participating organisations.

If the project involves Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander research describe:

• the strategies for enabling collaboration with Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities where appropriate (for example, dialogue/collaboration with an Indigenous cultural mentor); and
• any existing or developing, supportive and high quality research communities.

Benefit (30%)

Describe:

• the new or advanced knowledge resulting from outcomes of the research;
• the economic, commercial, environmental, social and/or cultural benefits for relevant Australian research end-users (including relevant industry sectors);
• the potential contribution to building capacity in the Australian Government’s National Science and Research Priorities and other priorities identified by Government;
• benefits of the research for Partner Organisation(s) and other relevant end-users;
• the contribution of the research to developing strategic research alliances between the higher education organisation(s) and industry and/or other organisation(s);
• strategies to encourage dissemination, commercialisation, and if appropriate, the promotion of research outcomes; 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 and/or end-users.

Assessment process

The ARC assessment process for Linkage Projects 2020 (Round 3) involved 17 SAC members as part of one multidisciplinary panel and was managed in RMS. A total of 1040 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 277 applications for Linkage Projects 2020 (Round 3), one of which was withdrawn.

The overall success rate for Linkage Projects for funding applied for in 2020 (Round 3) is 24.3 per cent.

Of the unsuccessful applications, 12 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 2019 and 2020 (Rounds 1, 2 and 3)

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 (%)
2019	432	175	40.5	$217,620,359	$92,200,635	$78,187,269	84.8
2020 (Round 1)	180	61	33.9	$87,268,182	$30,685,046	$26,881,001	87.6
2020 (Round 2)	259	67	25.9	$138,269,232	$36,054,450	$30,666,575	85.1
2020 (Round 3)	276	67	24.3	$140,742,080	$36,563,401	$31,724,738	86.8

*May include indicative funds 

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 2020 (Round 3) 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 (%)
BEM	51	6	11.8	$31,013,568	$3,814,140	$2,913,126	76.4
ET	80	24	30.0	$40,604,815	$12,997,016	$11,016,371	84.8
HSE	87	26	29.9	$38,245,744	$12,955,923	$11,957,409	92.3
PMI	58	11	19.0	$30,877,953	$6,796,322	$5,837,832	85.9
Total	276	67	24.3	$140,742,080	$36,563,401	$31,724,738	86.8

*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

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 Projects 2020 (Round 3) applications by Science and Research Priorities

Science and Research Priorities	Applications considered	Applications approved	Success rate (%)	Approved funds over project life ($)
Advanced Manufacturing	63	16	25.4	$7,068,103
Cybersecurity	12	0	0	-
Energy	21	8	38.1	$4,146,851
Environmental Change	32	11	34.4	$4,797,235
Food	17	5	29.4	$2,985,837
Health	28	5	17.9	$2,397,057
Resources	12	5	41.7	$2,172,841
Soil and Water	12	0	0	-
Transport	11	4	36.4	$2,054,562
None selected	68	13	19.1	$6,102,252
Total Applications	276	67	24.3	$31,724,738
Total Applications within Science and Research Priorities	208	54	26.0	$25,622,486
Percentage within Science and Research Priorities (%)	75.4	80.6		80.8

Leverage of ARC Funding

Of the 276 applications considered, 67 were approved with a total approved funding, of $31.7 million over the life of these projects. There are 172 unique Partner Organisations involved with these projects and they have pledged a total (cash and in-kind) of $52.0 million. This represents $1.64 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, success rates, ARC approved funding and Partner Organisation contributions for approved Linkage Projects 2020 (Round 3) 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	11	3	27.3	$1,496,974	$2,301,119
The Australian National University	9	2	22.2	$1,152,272	$1,895,288
University of Canberra	2	1	50.0	$344,702	*
New South Wales	80	18	22.5	$8,579,452	$14,038,460
Australian Catholic University	1	0	0	-	-
Macquarie University	13	3	23.1	$1,441,809	$2,328,070
Southern Cross University	1	0	0	-	-
The University of New South Wales	23	6	26.1	$3,193,626	$4,750,863
The University of Newcastle	5	0	0	-	-
The University of Sydney	13	3	23.1	$1,438,118	$3,135,208
University of Technology Sydney	12	2	16.7	$970,408	$1,619,254
University of Wollongong	8	1	12.5	$418,601	*
Western Sydney University	4	3	75.0	$1,116,890	$1,593,065
Northern Territory	2	0	0	-	-
Charles Darwin University	2	0	0	-	-
Queensland	50	12	24.0	$4,941,698	$6,767,243
Griffith University	5	1	20.0	$384,924	*
Queensland University of Technology	15	2	13.3	$843,854	$1,105,993
The University of Queensland	29	8	27.6	$3,284,379	$4,810,270
The University of Southern Queensland	1	1	100.0	$428,541	*
South Australia	20	8	40.0	$3,952,172	$6,523,278
Flinders University	5	2	40.0	$1,218,653	$1,635,000
The University of Adelaide	10	4	40.0	$1,965,291	$3,741,576
University of South Australia	5	2	40.0	$768,228	$1,146,702
Tasmania	3	1	33.3	$242,783	*
University of Tasmania	3	1	33.3	$242,783	*
Victoria	94	21	22.3	$10,202,727	$15,240,633
Deakin University	10	2	20.0	$925,256	$1,462,375
Federation University Australia	1	0	0	-	-
La Trobe University	2	1	50.0	$561,297	*
Monash University	20	5	25.0	$1,960,023	$2,988,855
RMIT University	15	1	6.7	$338,595	*
Swinburne University of Technology	8	5	62.5	$2,630,426	$3,343,611
The University of Melbourne	36	7	19.4	$3,787,130	$6,089,933
Victoria University	2	0	0	-	-
Western Australia	16	4	25.0	$2,308,932	$6,886,941
Curtin University	2	1	50.0	$396,000	*
Edith Cowan University	1	0	0	-	-
Murdoch University	2	0	0	-	-
The University of Western Australia	11	3	27.3	$1,912,932	$6,353,174
Total	276	67	24.3	$31,724,738	$52,018,787

* 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 4 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 2020 (Round 3) applications approved for funding are shown below in Table 5.

Table 5.    Partner Organisation contributions by sector for approved Linkage Projects 2020 (Round 3) applications

Type		Cash		In-Kind		Total
		$	%	$	%	$	%
Government
Australian Federal		$375,000	2.4	$1,372,426	3.8	$1,747,426	3.4
Australian state, territory and local		$696,000	4.4	$4,887,289	13.4	$5,583,289	10.7
	Sub-total	$1,071,000	6.8	$6,259,715	17.2	$7,330,715	14.1
Industry Body
Australian		$11,176,546	71.4	$16,989,433	46.7	$28,165,979	54.1
International		$2,161,801	13.8	$3,745,736	10.3	$5,907,537	11.4
	Sub-total	$13,338,347	85.2	$20,735,169	57.0	$34,073,516	65.5
Non-profit
Australian		$891,147	5.7	$6,707,094	18.4	$7,598,241	14.6
International		$130,000	0.8	$208,000	0.6	$338,000	0.6
	Sub-total	$1,021,147	6.5	$6,915,094	19.0	$7,936,241	15.3
Higher Education
International		$0	0.0	$537,051	1.5	$537,051	1.0
	Sub-total	$0	0.0	$537,051	1.5	$537,051	1.0
Other
Other		$222,000	1.4	$1,919,264	5.3	$2,141,264	4.1
	Sub-total	$222,000	1.4	$1,919,264	5.3	$2,141,264	4.1
	Total	$15,652,494	100	$36,366,293	100	$52,018,787	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 174 instances of collaboration with Partner Organisations (including multiple collaborations with a number of organisations) in Linkage Projects 2020 (Round 3) giving an average of 2.60 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 6.

Table 6.    Application data by Field of Research category for Linkage Projects 2020 (Round 3)

Field of Research category	Number of applications approved#	Partner Organisation contributions (cash & in-kind) over project life (approved applications)
Physical Sciences	3	$2,257,617
Chemical Sciences	4	$3,851,546
Earth Sciences	1	*
Environmental Sciences	2	$1,505,770
Biological Sciences	1	*
Agricultural and Veterinary Sciences	3	$2,271,345
Information and Computing Sciences	3	$2,241,490
Engineering	19	$14,181,500
Technology	5	$3,664,077
Built Environment and Design	2	$788,000
Education	3	$1,542,320
Economics	2	$1,893,888
Commerce, Management, Tourism and Services	5	$3,083,293
Studies in Human Society	4	$2,486,288
Psychology and Cognitive Sciences	2	$1,505,959
Studies in Creative Arts and Writing	2	$672,061
Language, Communication and Culture	4	$3,086,860
History and Archaeology	2	$5,738,195
Total	67	$52,018,787

# 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 987 Chief Investigators (CIs) in this round, 352 were female, 631 were male and 4 chose not to specify their gender. The success rate for female, male and unspecified CIs in Linkage Projects 2020 (Round 3) is 27.0 per cent, 24.2 and 50.0 per cent respectively. 

Success rates of CIs by career age and gender in Linkage Projects 2020 (Round 3) are presented in Figure 1. CIs who did not provide gender information (0.4 per cent) and CIs who did not specify the date of completion of their PhD (or equivalent) 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 Linkage Projects 2020 (Round 3) 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.

International collaboration

In the 276 applications considered, applicants foreshadowed 221 instances of collaboration with researchers in 44 overseas locations. Of the applications approved for funding, 36 foreshadowed 56 instances of collaboration with researchers in 23 overseas locations (Figure 2).

Figure 2.   International collaborations by location on approved Linkage Projects 2020 (Round 3) applications*

*The top 11 international collaboration locations are listed in Figure 2 and the remaining locations are grouped in the ‘Other’ category.