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The Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DECRA) scheme provides focused research support for early career researchers in both teaching and research, and research-only positions.
The objectives of the Discovery Early Career Researcher Award scheme are to:
Applications for funding commencing in 2023 opened on 4 November 2021 and closed on 2 February 2022. 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 Committee (SAC) which:
and, advice from the ARC’s National Competitive Grants Program (NCGP) Eligibility Committee which:
This report reflects the outcomes approved by the Minister. Unless otherwise specified, data represented in this report exclude withdrawn applications.
All applications that meet the eligibility criteria for the Discovery Early Career Researcher Award 2023 were assessed and merit ranked using the following assessment criteria:
Describe the:
Describe the potential benefits including the:
If the project involves Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander research describe:
The ARC assessment process for Discovery Early Career Researcher Award 2023 involved 68 College of Experts members across five discipline panels and was managed in RMS. A total of 3175 independent assessors’ reports were submitted to the ARC.
Discovery Early Career Researcher Awards are funded for three consecutive years on a full-time basis. The annual salary contribution that may be awarded is fixed at $108,106 (2021$), including 30 per cent on-costs. In addition, the ARC may provide up to $50,000 in project costs per annum.
The ARC received a total of 1340 applications for Discovery Early Career Researcher Award for funding commencing in 2023, of which five applications were withdrawn.
Two hundred Discovery Early Career Researcher Awards are approved for funding commencing in 2023, shown in Table 1. The overall success rate for Discovery Early Career Researcher Award for funding commencing in 2023 is 15.0 per cent. A comparison of success rates and funding amounts is shown in Table 1.
Of the unsuccessful applications in 2023, 11 were found not to meet eligibility requirements.
Table 1. Comparison of application numbers, success rates, requested and allocated funds for approved Discovery Early Career Researcher Award applications from 2022 to 2023
Funding year
Applications considered
Applications approved
Success
rate (%)
Requested funds over project life for all applications considered ($)
Requested funds over project life for approved applications ($)
Funds allocated over project life for approved applications ($)
Return rate for approved applications (%)
2022
996
196
19.7
$439,916,659
$87,547,551
$83,014,284
94.8
2023
1335
200
15.0
$599,861,996
$90,918,214
$85,790,883
94.4
*May include indicative funding amounts
A summary of outcomes by discipline panel is shown in Table 2.
Table 2. Application numbers, success rates and requested and allocated funds for approved Discovery Early Career Researcher Award 2023 applications by discipline
Discipline *
Success rate (%)
Funds over project life for approved applications ($)
Return Rate for approved applications (%)
BSB
270
42
15.6
$123,663,689
$19,451,542
$18,271,450
93.9
EIC
399
59
14.8
$180,192,683
$26,827,505
$25,372,923
94.6
HCA
173
26
$76,207,967
$11,633,194
$11,086,421
95.3
MPCE
199
30
15.1
$87,550,618
$13,292,563
$12,474,870
93.8
SBE
294
43
14.6
$132,247,039
$19,713,410
$18,585,219
94.3
Total
*BSB – Biological Sciences and Biotechnology; EIC – Engineering, Information and Computing Sciences, HCA – Humanities and Creative Arts; MPCE – Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry and Earth Sciences; SBE – Social, Behavioural and Economic Sciences
A summary of outcomes by Science and Research Priorities is shown in Table 3.
Table 3. Approved funding and success rate for Discovery Early Career Researcher Award 2023 applications by Science and Research Priorities
Science and Research Priorities
Applications
approved
Approved funds over project life ($)
Advanced manufacturing
206
34
16.5
$14,752,249
Cybersecurity
60
10
16.7
$4,259,464
Energy
99
13
13.1
$5,488,707
Environmental change
159
28
17.6
$12,224,649
Food
53
5
9.4
$2,163,677
Health
182
$13,089,098
Resources
2
5.9
$806,020
Soil and water
41
3
7.3
$1,346,156
Transport
29
10.3
$1,296,653
Unspecified
472
72
15.3
$30,364,210
Total within Science and Research Priorities
863
128
$55,426,673
Percentage within Science and Research Priorities (%)
64.6
64.0
A summary of outcomes by Administering Organisation is shown in Table 4.
Table 4. Numbers of applications and success rates for approved Discovery Early Career Researcher Award 2023 applications by Administering Organisation
Administering Organisation
Australian Capital Territory
88
14
15.9
$6,108,275
The Australian National University
81
16.0
$5,669,366
University of Canberra
7
1
14.3
$438,909
New South Wales
430
64
14.9
$27,351,633
Australian Catholic University
23.1
$1,193,752
Charles Sturt University
0
0.0
$0
Macquarie University
35
$2,007,289
Southern Cross University
50.0
$456,607
The University of New England
10.0
$399,064
The University of New South Wales
149
18
12.1
$7,679,265
The University of Newcastle
20
5.0
$393,903
The University of Sydney
103
22
21.4
$9,565,347
University of Technology Sydney
49
8
16.3
$3,475,800
University of Wollongong
32
$1,298,711
Western Sydney University
16
12.5
$881,895
Northern Territory
4
Charles Darwin University
Queensland
245
$13,827,889
Bond University
Central Queensland University
Griffith University
13.8
$1,760,660
James Cook University
6
33.3
$877,765
Queensland University of Technology
58
$3,550,041
The University of Queensland
129
17
13.2
$7,217,849
University of Southern Queensland
9
11.1
$421,574
University of the Sunshine Coast
South Australia
96
12
$5,097,718
Flinders University
23
The University of Adelaide
$4,190,402
Torrens University Australia
University of South Australia
$907,316
Tasmania
21
4.8
$426,216
University of Tasmania
Victoria
381
67
$28,852,458
Deakin University
52
15.4
$3,434,232
Federation University Australia
La Trobe University
27
$1,673,010
Monash University
107
19.6
$8,952,863
RMIT University
48
20.8
$4,384,598
Swinburne University of Technology
19
10.5
$899,991
The University of Melbourne
124
17.7
$9,507,764
University of Divinity
Victoria University
Western Australia
70
$4,126,694
Curtin University
24
$1,305,878
Edith Cowan University
$375,573
Murdoch University
The University of Notre Dame Australia
$410,154
The University of Western Australia
40
$2,035,089
Of the 1335 Discovery Early Career Researcher Award candidates in this round, 539 were female, 785 were male, and 11 chose not to specify their gender. The success rate for female, male and unspecified candidates is 16.0 per cent, 14.4 per cent and 9.1 per cent, respectively.
Success rates of Discovery Early Career Researcher Award candidates by career age and gender in the current Discovery Early Career Researcher Award round are presented in Figure 1. Candidates who did not provide gender information (0.8 per cent) are not represented in the figure below.
At the closing time of submission of applications, of the 1335 candidates, 822 were within five years of the award of their PhD and 513 candidates were beyond five years of the award of their PhD. To be eligible to apply for a Discovery Early Career Researcher Award, the latter group of researchers had their significant career interruptions certified by their Administering Organisation.
Of the approved Discovery Early Career Researcher Awards, 120 candidates were within five years of the award of their PhD and 80 candidates were beyond five years of the award of their PhD.
Figure 1. Participation and success rate of candidates in Discovery Early Career Researcher Award 2023 by gender and career age*^
* Career age is calculated as years since PhD based on the relevant qualification as selected in the application.
^ Calculated career age does not take career interruptions into consideration.
Applications were open to Eligible Organisations to nominate candidates who are promising early career researchers, resident either within Australia or overseas (Table 5).
Table 5. Citizenship/residency status of Discovery Early Career Researcher Award 2023 candidates and approved Awardees
Citizenship/residency status
% of applications considered
Foreign Nationals
193
14.5
Resident Australians
1067
79.9
Returning Australians
75
5.6
17.3
100
Note: All totals and percentages are shown using rounded figures, and as such may not sum.
Among 1335 of the applications considered, applicants foreshadowed 2713 instances of collaboration with researchers in 102 overseas locations. Of the applications approved for funding, 181 foreshadowed 488 instances of collaboration with researchers in 56 overseas locations (Figure 2).
Figure 2. International collaborations by location in approved Discovery Early Career Researcher Award 2023 applications*
*The top 10 international collaboration locations are listed in Figure 2 and the remaining are grouped in the ‘Other’ category