| Scheme | Objective | Funding period | Funding level per year | Partner Organisation requirements | Cash contribution requirements |
Support collaborative research projects between universities and organisations outside the Australian higher education sector that involve cutting edge research on new technologies, and leverage national and international investment in targeted industry sectors, including from industry and other research end-users. Research Hubs engage Australia’s best researchers to develop collaborative solutions to Industrial Transformation Priorities. Research Hubs support joint research activity, between the Australian higher education sector and industry, designed to focus on strategic outcomes that cannot be realised independently of each other. | Three to five years Offered annually | $500,000–$1,000,000 | Must include at least one Australian Partner Organisation | Combined Partner Organisation Cash Contribution must be at least 75 per cent of the total funding requested from the ARC, where any Partner Organisation has more than 100 employees. No minimum cash contribution where the Partner Organisation or the largest Partner Organisation in a consortium has 100 employees or less. | |
| Support Higher Degree by Research candidates and postdoctoral researchers to undertake industrial training, support research collaboration between universities and organisations outside the Australian higher education sector, and strengthen the capabilities of industry and research end-users in identified Industrial Transformation Priority areas. Training Centres foster close partnerships between university-based researchers and other researchers. Training Centres deliver innovative Higher Degree by Research and postdoctoral training, focusing on creating end-user research capability vital to Australia’s future through developing solutions relevant to the Industrial Transformation Priorities. | Four to five years Offered annually | $650,000–$1,000,000 in first three years; $150,000–$1,000,000 in fourth year; Up to $1,000,000 in fifth year | Must include at least one Australian Partner Organisation | Must demonstrate that the combined cash and in-kind contributions are sufficient to support all the research projects described in the application and particularly that of the Higher Degree by Research and postdoctoral researchers in the Training Centre. | |
| 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. | Two to five years Continuous | $50,000–$300,000 | Must include at least one Partner Organisation | Must demonstrate that the combined Partner Organisation eligible contributions for an application (i.e. the total of the cash and/or in-kind eligible contributions of Partner Organisations) must at least match the total funding requested from the ARC. | |
| Facilitate significant collaboration which allows the complementary resources of universities, publicly funded research organisations, other research bodies, governments and businesses to be concentrated to support outstanding research in all fields (except medical research and Antarctic research). | Up to seven years Offered normally every three years | $1,000,000–$5,000,000 | Must include at least one Partner Organisation | Partner Organisation contribution is not prescribed, but must demonstrate commitment to the proposed ARC Centre of Excellence through significant cash contributions and/or in-kind contributions and/or contributions of other material resources. | |
| Support excellent basic and applied research and research training through the acquisition of research equipment and infrastructure and access to national and international research facilities; and encourage Eligible Organisations to develop collaborative arrangements with other Eligible Organisations and/or Partner Organisations for the acquisition and use of research equipment and infrastructure or access to national and international facilities. | Up to five years Offered annually | $150,000 + | No requirement to include a Partner Organisation | Organisational cash contributions for direct costs must make up a minimum of 25 per cent of the total direct cost of the research infrastructure. | |
| Support high quality research which will assist in advancing Australia’s research excellence to be globally competitive and deliver benefits to the community. Each round has objectives specific to the requirements of the individual Special Research Initiative. | Varies | Varies | Varies | Varies |
- Applications for funding must be made through an Eligible Organisation (i.e. Australian universities and some publicly funded research agencies).
- Applications for SRI funding may be submitted only when invited by the ARC by means of a call for applications.
- Information in the table above is a guide only, and information may change. Please refer to the Grant Guidelines on GrantConnect for full details of the Grant Opportunity.