Selection Report: Linkage Projects 2024 Round 2

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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 internationally competitive research projects and teams on challenges or opportunities of relevance to research end-users;
• foster the establishment and strengthening of research alliances between higher education organisations and research end-users;
• enhance the scale and focus of research, including in Australian Government priority areas.

Selection Process

Applications for Linkage Projects 2024 Assessment Round 2 opened on 7 August 2024 and closed on 17 September 2024. Applications were submitted using a continuous application process; this is the second of the two 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 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 decisions with respect to the eligibility of applications.

This report reflects the funding outcomes approved by the ARC Board. Unless otherwise specified, data presented in this report exclude withdrawn applications.

Assessment Criteria

All applications that meet the eligibility criteria for Linkage Projects 2024 (Round 2) were assessed and merit ranked using the following assessment criteria:

a. Project quality and innovation (30%)

• significance and innovativeness of the research in the context of previous research in the area;
• robustness and appropriateness of the conceptual framework, design, methods and analyses;
• the adequacy and appropriateness of the budget, including cash and in-kind contributions pledged by the participating organisations, and value for money considerations.

If the project involves Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander research, additional criteria include:

• The project’s level of collaboration, engagement, relationship building and benefit sharing with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, and First Nations Organisations and Communities;
• The project’s strategy and mechanisms for Indigenous research capacity building within the project;
• The project’s level of internal leadership of Indigenous research;
• The project’s adherence to the Australian Indigenous Data Sovereignty Principles; and
• The project’s understanding of, and proposed strategies to adhere to, the AIATSIS Code of Ethics for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Research and NHMRC’s guidelines on Ethical conduct in research with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and communities.

b. Impact (20%)

• demonstration of the mutual benefit for participating organisations now and into the future;
• evidence of how the research will advance/address Partner Organisation(s)’s core strategy;
• potential contribution to Australian Government priority areas;
• potential economic, commercial, environmental, social and/or cultural benefits for Australia; and
• appropriateness of strategies for adoption, commercialisation, promotion, and/or dissemination of research outcomes, including IP management arrangements.

c. Investigator(s’) capability and quality of team (20%)

• quality of the named participant(s)’ skills and experience, relative to opportunity, including evidence of potential to engage in collaborative research;
• experience in research training, mentoring and supervision;
• capability and capacity of the team to undertake and manage the project; and
• evidence of previous history of successful collaboration between the named participant(s) and this or other Partner Organisation(s).

d. Strength of the proposed research alliance (30%)

• extent and nature of commitment to the project, including provision of research environment, facilities and personnel (where relevant), relative to the scale of the project and the capacity of the participating organisations;
• extent and appropriateness of proposed governance, structures and processes to support the project;
• capacity and intent of Partner Organisations to use the outcomes of the research; and
• potential of partnership to lead to long-term collaborations.

Assessment process

The ARC assessment process for Linkage Projects 2024 (Round 2) involved 20 SAC members as part of one multidisciplinary panel and was managed in RMS. A total of 907 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 245 applications for Linkage Projects 2024 (Round 2), none of which was withdrawn. 

The overall success rate for Linkage Projects for funding applied for in 2024 (Round 2) is 30.6 per cent. 

Of the unsuccessful applications, two 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 2023 (Round 1 and 2) and 2024 (Round 1 and 2)

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 (%)
2023 (Round 1)	171	50	29.2	$90,737,777	$29,606,708	$26,077,989	88.1
2023 (Round 2)	274	72	26.3	$155,293,840	$44,811,759	$43,104,707	96.2
2024 (Round 1)	177	56	31.6	$91,831,038	$33,739,916	$29,950,177	88.8
2024 (Round 2)	245	75	30.6	$138,073,841	$48,465,607	$46,628,565	96.2

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 2024 (Round 2) 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 (%)
BSB	45	19	42.2	$29,353,611	$13,919,377	$13,786,377	99.0
EIC	105	30	28.6	$57,699,587	$16,690,417	$15,641,865	93.7
HSE	71	18	25.4	$37,627,593	$12,766,868	$12,403,018	97.2
MPCE	24	8	33.3	$13,393,050	$5,088,945	$4,797,305	94.3
Total	245	75	30.6	$138,073,841	$48,465,607	$46,628,565	96.2

* BSB – Biological Sciences and Biotechnology; EIC – Engineering, Information and Computing Sciences; HSE – Humanities and Creative Arts, Social, Behavioural and Economic Sciences; MPCE – Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry and Earth Sciences

Note – Project discipline is determined by the primary Field of Research (FoR) codes provided in the application.

Leverage of ARC Funding

Of the 245 applications considered, 75 were approved with a total approved funding of $46.6 million over the life of these projects. There are 171 unique Partner Organisations involved with these projects, and they have pledged a total (cash and in-kind) of $65.4 million. This represents $1.40 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 3.

Table 3. Numbers of applications, success rates, ARC approved funding and Partner Organisation contributions for approved Linkage Projects 2024 (Round 2) 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	7	3	42.9	$2,518,983	$6,377,333
The Australian National University	7	3	42.9	$2,518,983	$6,377,333
New South Wales	74	29	39.2	$15,929,025	$21,978,416
Macquarie University	1	0	0	-	-
Southern Cross University	5	1	20.0	$561,251	*
The University of New South Wales	25	9	36.0	$4,622,625	$6,161,255
The University of Newcastle	3	2	66.7	$1,274,711	$1,305,192
The University of Sydney	20	8	40.0	$3,988,819	$5,934,793
University of Technology Sydney	10	5	50.0	$2,898,019	$4,250,199
University of Wollongong	3	2	66.7	$1,091,272	$1,965,746
Western Sydney University	7	2	28.6	$1,492,328	$1,790,072
Queensland	57	15	26.3	$9,801,783	$13,019,724
Griffith University	14	4	28.6	$2,133,837	$2,659,874
James Cook University	1	0	0	-	-
Queensland University of Technology	17	2	11.8	$1,301,016	$2,258,000
The University of Queensland	17	6	35.3	$4,712,704	$5,703,484
University of Southern Queensland	6	2	33.3	$1,234,576	$1,415,466
University of the Sunshine Coast	2	1	50.0	$419,650	*
South Australia	24	9	37.5	$5,852,993	$8,450,383
Flinders University	4	2	50.0	$1,492,369	$2,484,292
The University of Adelaide	15	3	20.0	$1,928,863	$3,048,408
University of South Australia	5	4	80.0	$2,431,761	$2,917,683
Tasmania	3	0	0	-	-
University of Tasmania	3	0	0	-	-
Victoria	69	18	26.1	$12,166,621	$15,236,514
Deakin University	9	0	0	-	-
La Trobe University	5	1	20.0	$709,404	*
Monash University	10	3	30.0	$2,970,408	$3,618,927
RMIT University	15	5	33.3	$2,963,755	$3,845,931
Swinburne University of Technology	7	2	28.6	$924,413	$1,014,000
The University of Melbourne	23	7	30.4	$4,598,641	$5,988,254
Western Australia	11	1	9.1	$359,160	*
Curtin University	4	1	25.0	$359,160	*
Edith Cowan University	2	0	0	-	-
The University of Western Australia	5	0	0	-	-
Total	245	75	30.6	$46,628,565	$65,447,786

* 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 3 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 2024 (Round 2) applications approved for funding are shown below in Table 4.

Table 4.    Partner Organisation contributions by sector for approved Linkage Projects 2024 (Round 2) applications 

Type		Cash		In-Kind		Total
		$	%	$	%	$	%
Government
Australian Federal		$120,000	0.7	$772,779	1.6	$892,779	1.4
Australian state, territory and local		$2,623,848	15.7	$9,068,835	18.6	$11,692,683	17.9
	Sub-total	$2,743,848	16.4	$9,841,614	20.2	$12,585,462	19.2
Industry Body
Australian		$10,415,285	62.4	$19,977,578	41.0	$30,392,863	46.4
International		$2,056,793	12.3	$6,731,607	13.8	$8,788,400	13.4
	Sub-total	$12,472,078	74.7	$26,709,185	54.8	$39,181,263	59.9
Non-profit
Australian		$1,441,010	8.6	$10,236,745	21.0	$11,677,755	17.8
International		$0	0	$943,480	1.9	$943,480	1.4
	Sub-total	$1,441,010	8.6	$11,180,225	22.9	$12,621,235	19.3
Higher Education
International		$0	0	$471,533	1.0	$471,533	0.7
	Sub-total	$0	0	$471,533	1.0	$471,533	0.7
Other
Other		$35,000	0.2	$553,293	1.1	$588,293	0.9
	Sub-total	$35,000	0.2	$553,293	1.1	$588,293	0.9
	Total	$16,691,936	100	$48,755,850	100	$65,447,786	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 176 instances of collaboration with Partner Organisations (including multiple collaborations with a number of organisations) in Linkage Projects 2024 (Round 2) applications approved for funding, giving an average of 2.35 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 5.

Table 5.    Application data by Field of Research category for Linkage Projects 2024 (Round 2)

Field of Research category	Number of applications approved#	Partner Organisation contributions (cash & in-kind) over project life (approved applications)
Agricultural, Veterinary and Food Sciences	8	$7,682,069
Biological Sciences	5	$5,457,645
Built Environment and Design	1	*
Chemical Sciences	4	$3,672,103
Commerce, Management, Tourism and Services	3	$3,012,302
Earth Sciences	2	$1,954,517
Economics	2	$1,589,207
Education	2	$1,790,164
Engineering	22	$15,387,514
Environmental Sciences	6	$5,787,492
Health Sciences	1	*
History, Heritage and Archaeology	2	$1,127,388
Human Society	1	*
Indigenous Studies	4	$4,468,856
Information and Computing Sciences	8	$5,125,516
Language, Communication and Culture	1	*
Physical Sciences	2	$3,104,106
Psychology	1	*
Total	75	$65,447,786

# 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 5 total does, however, include the total contributions by Partner Organisations on approved Projects associated with those FoR codes.

Career age and gender

Of the 873 Chief Investigators (CIs) in this round, 321 were a woman or female, 549 were a man or male, 2 were non-binary and one was unspecified. The success rate for woman or female, man or male, non-binary and unspecified CIs in Linkage Projects 2024 (Round 2) is 29.6 per cent, 31.7 per cent, 50.0 per cent and 0 per cent respectively.

Success rates of CIs by career age and gender in Linkage Projects 2024 (Round 2) are presented in Figure 1. CIs who did not specify the date of completion of their PhD or who do not hold a PhD (1.5 per cent) are not represented in the figure below.

Of the 245 Lead Chief Investigators (CIs) in this round, 79 were a woman or female, 165 were a man or male, one was non-binary and none were unspecified. The success rate for woman or female, man or male, non-binary and unspecified for Lead CIs in Linkage Projects 2024 (Round 2) is 27.8 per cent, 32.1 per cent, 0 per cent and 0 per cent respectively. Success rates of the Lead CIs by Project Discipline are provided in Table 7 below. 

Figure 1.    Participation and success rate of Chief Investigators (CIs) in Linkage Projects 2024 (Round 2) 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.

^ Calculated career age does not take career interruptions into consideration. 

Gender by project discipline

Table 6. Linkage Projects 2024 (Round 2): Chief Investigator gender by project discipline - submission and approved numbers, and success rates

Project discipline	Woman or female considered	Woman or female approved	Woman or female success rate (%)	Man or male considered	Man or male approved	Man or male success rate (%)	Non-binary considered	Non-binary approved	Non-binary success rate (%)	Unspecified submitted	Unspecified approved	Unspecified success rate (%)
BSB	63	25	39.7	90	47	52.2	0	0	N/A	1	0	0
EIC	68	16	23.5	266	69	25.9	0	0	N/A	0	0	N/A
HSE	173	47	27.2	132	41	31.1	1	0	0	0	0	N/A
MPCE	17	7	41.2	61	17	27.9	1	1	100.0	0	0	N/A
Grand Total	321	95	29.6	549	174	31.7	2	1	50.0	1	0	0

Note – The data provided in the above table is a representation of all Chief Investigators listed on applications considered in Linkage Project 2024 (Round 2).

Table 7. Linkage Projects 2024 (Round 2): Lead Chief Investigator Gender by project discipline – submission numbers, applications approved and success rates

Project discipline	Woman or female considered	Woman or female approved	Woman or female success rate (%)	Man or male considered	Man or male approved	Man or male success rate (%)	Non-binary considered	Non-binary approved	Non-binary success rate (%)	Unspecified considered	Unspecified approved	Unspecified success rate (%)
BSB	17	7	41.2	28	12	42.9	0	0	N/A	0	0	N/A
EIC	19	5	26.3	86	25	29.1	0	0	N/A	0	0	N/A
HSE	40	9	22.5	30	9	30.0	1	0	0	0	0	N/A
MPCE	3	1	33.3	21	7	33.3	0	0	N/A	0	0	N/A
Grand  Total	79	22	27.8	165	53	32.1	1	0	0	0	0	N/A

Note – The data provided in the above table is a representation of Lead Chief Investigators listed on applications considered in Linkage Project 2024 (Round 2).

Figure 2.  Participation and success rate of Linkage Projects 2024 (Round 2) Chief Investigators by gender and project discipline

Note - The data provided in the above figure is a representation of all Chief Investigators listed on applications considered in Linkage Projects 2024 (Round 2)

International Collaboration

In the 245 applications considered, applicants foreshadowed 133 instances of collaboration with researchers in 36 overseas locations. Of the applications approved for funding, 34 foreshadowed 43 instances of collaboration with researchers in 17 overseas locations (Figure 3).

 

Figure 3.  International collaborations by location on approved Linkage Projects 2024 (Round 2) applications*

*The top 9 international collaboration locations are listed in Figure 3 and the remaining locations are grouped in the ‘Other’ category.