Overview The primary goal of the Industry Fellowship Program is to create a pathway to support academic researchers in establishing careers in industry, and industry-based researchers to work in university settings, with the aim of increased two-way mobility and skill-building in research collaboration, translation and commercialisation across a range of industry settings. The objectives of the Mid-Career Industry Fellowship scheme are to: strengthen the industry collaboration skills of mid-career researchers; develop and supervise research, which may include the participation of Higher Degree by Research (HDR) students and early-career researchers (ECRs), that fosters the development of industry collaboration, commercialisation and translation skills; and deliver significant, actionable outcomes for industry partners and research end-users. Selection process Applications for Mid-Career Industry Fellowships 2025 opened on 24 September 2024 and closed on 12 November 2024. 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; ranked each application relative to the others on the basis of the application and the independent assessors’ reports; assessed and recommended budgets. Advice was also provided from the ARC’s National Competitive Grants Program (NCGP) Eligibility Committee which: considered eligibility issues identified by ARC staff, the members of the SAC or independent assessors where required, sought advice from the ARC’s Medical Research Advisory Group, and made decisions with respect to the eligibility of applications. This report reflects the funding outcomes approved by the ARC Board. Unless otherwise specified, data represented in this report excludes withdrawn applications. Assessment criteria All applications that meet the eligibility criteria for the Mid-Career Industry Fellowships 2025 were assessed and merit ranked using the following assessment criteria: a. Investigator/Capability (50%) Research Opportunity and Performance Evidence (ROPE), including a demonstrated track-record of excellent research outputs appropriate to the discipline/s Demonstrated capability to lead research projects in collaboration with industry; and Demonstrated capability to effectively supervise and mentor HDR students and ECRs in industry and/or university settings. b. Project Quality and Innovation (20%) Contribution of the project to address an important gap in knowledge or significant problem identified by the Key Industry Partner; Novelty and innovation of the project in the context of recent international research in the area; Cohesiveness and clarity of the project design and implementation plan (including the appropriateness of the aim(s), conceptual framework, method, data and/or analyses); and The clear presence of the Key Industry Partner in the design, method and delivery of the research. 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 adherence to the Australian Indigenous Data Sovereignty Principles (2018); and The project’s understanding of, and proposed strategies to adhere to, the AIATSIS Code of Ethics for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Research (2020) and NHMRC’s guidelines on Ethical conduct in research with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and communities (2018). c. Feasibility and Strategic Alignment (15%) Strength of engagement between the candidate and the Key Industry Partner, including previous projects (where applicable), and interactions to date on the proposed project; The extent to which all parties demonstrate a commitment to the success of the project, and to developing and expanding a collaborative relationship, including the necessary facilities, resources and development opportunities that the organisations will provide for the candidate; and The feasibility of the research in terms of the project’s design, participants, requested duration, required resources/facilities, risk management, and cost-effectiveness of the budget. d. Benefit (15%) Delivery of significant, actionable outcomes for the industry partner(s) and research end-users; Significant new or advanced knowledge expected to result from the project; Appropriateness, completeness and effectiveness of proposed pathways for short-, medium- or long-term adoption, translation, and/or commercialisation of the project outcomes, including IP management, by the industry partner(s) beyond the Fellowship completion; Demonstration of the mutual benefit to the candidate and the Key Industry Partner including potential to lead to longer-term collaboration; and The potential for significant commercial, economic, environmental, cultural and/or social benefit for Australia. Assessment process The ARC assessment process for Mid-Career Industry Fellowships 2025 involved 21 SAC members comprising of members from the ARC College of Experts and experts from industry on one multi-discipline panel. The process was managed in RMS. In addition, independent assessors submitted a total of 523 reports to the ARC to support the assessment process. Funding levels and duration Mid-Career Industry Fellowship projects are funded for 2 to 4 years on a full-time basis, subject to sufficient scheme funding, the provisions of the Australian Research Council Act 2001 (the ARC Act) and continued satisfactory progress of the Mid-Career Industry Fellowship project. It is a requirement of the Industry Fellowships Program (IFP) Grant Guidelines (2024 edition) for the Administering Organisation to employ the Mid-Career Industry Fellow at a minimum of Academic Level C (or equivalent) for the project activity period. The annual salary provided by the ARC of $222,950 (2024$) per year includes 30 per cent on-costs. In addition to the Mid-Career Industry Fellowship salary and salary-related (on-cost) support, the ARC will provide the Mid-Career Industry Fellows with project funding not exceeding $290,000 over the duration of the grant. Summary of outcomes The ARC received a total of 147 applications for Mid-Career Industry Fellowships for funding commencing in 2025. 25 Mid-Career Industry Fellows are approved for funding commencing in 2025, shown in Table 1. The overall success rate for Mid-Career Industry Fellowships for funding commencing in 2025 is 17 per cent. The total indicative funding recommended is $28.1 million over 4 financial years (Tables 2 and 3). A break-down of success rates and funding amounts is shown in Table 2. Of the unsuccessful applications, one was found not to meet eligibility requirements. Table 1. Mid-Career Industry Fellows approved for funding commencing in 2025. Fellowship candidate Administering Organisation Associate Professor Shane Ellis University of Wollongong Associate Professor Jingwei Hou The University of Queensland Associate Professor Liton Kamruzzaman Monash University Associate Professor Gang Li The University of Melbourne Professor Jun Li Curtin University Associate Professor Bin Luo The University of Queensland Professor Esteban Marcellin The University of Queensland Associate Professor Thanh Vinh Nguyen The University of New South Wales Professor Emily Nicholson The University of Melbourne Associate Professor Ilyse Resnick University of Canberra Doctor Anne Sawyer The University of Queensland Professor Kate Seear La Trobe University Doctor Hannah Siddle The University of Queensland Professor James Smith Flinders University Professor Pingan Song University of Southern Queensland Associate Professor Sally Staton The University of Queensland Professor Dawei Su RMIT University Doctor Clara Tran The University of Sydney Associate Professor Tony Travouillon The Australian National University Associate Professor Susanna Venn Deakin University Associate Professor Michelle Villeneuve The University of Sydney Professor Qilin Wang University of Technology Sydney Associate Professor Yang Yang University of Technology Sydney Doctor Cheng Zhang The University of Queensland Professor Zhanying Zhang Queensland University of Technology Table 2. Application numbers, success rates, requested and allocated funds for approved Mid-Career Industry Fellowship applications from 2023 to 2025. Funding year Applications considered Applications approved Success rate (%) Requested funds over project life for all applications considered ($) Requested funds over project life for approved applications ($) Funds allocated over project life for approved applications ($) Return rate for approved applications (%) 2023 314 25 8 303,334,206 24,652,636 23,840,576 96.7 2024 109 25 22.9 116,512,663 26,675,545 25,695,428 96.3 2025 147 25 17 161,055,368 28,201,555 28,123,055 99.7 Table 3. Indicative funds for approved Mid-Career Industry Fellowship 2025 applications. Budget item 2025–2026 ($) 2026–2027 ($) 2027-2028 ($) 2028-2029 ($) TOTAL ($) Mid-Career Industry Salary including on-costs 5,573,750 5,573,750 5,573,750 4,681,950 21,403,200 Project Funding 1,774,815 1,880,160 1,896,043 1,168,837 6,719,855 TOTAL 7,348,565 7,453,910 7,469,793 5,850,787 28,123,055 Outcomes by discipline A summary of outcomes by discipline panel is shown in Table 4. Table 4. Application numbers, success rates, requested and allocated funds for approved Mid-Career Industry Fellowship 2025 applications. Discipline * Applications considered Applications approved Success rate (%) Requested funds over project life for all applications considered ($) Requested funds over project life for approved applications ($) Funds over project life for approved applications ($) Return Rate for approved applications (%) BSB 41 5 12.2 46,127,319 5,596,684 5,596,684 100 EIC 53 10 18.9 58,380,073 11,496,350 11,471,850 99.8 HSE 38 6 15.8 40,165,882 6,843,587 6,795,587 99.3 MPCE 15 4 26.7 16,382,094 4,264,934 4,258,934 99.9 Total 147 25 17 161,055,368 28,201,555 28,123,055 99.7 *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. Leverage of ARC Funding In addition to the $28.1 million of ARC indicative funding recommended, the 25 projects will also receive cash and in-kind contributions from their Administering Organisations and their Industry Partners. These participating organisations will contribute a total of $29.4 million. Outcomes by Administering Organisation The Administering Organisations of the 25 applications approved for funding are: Table 5. Participating Organisation contributions for approved Mid-Career Industry Fellowship applications by Administering Organisation. Administering Organisation Submitted applications Approved applications Success rate (%) Total allocated funding amount ($) Participating organisation contributions (cash & in-kind for funded applications) ($) Australian Capital Territory 4 2 50.0 2,115,008 3,312,062 The Australian National University 3 1 33.3 949,250 2,617,126 University of Canberra 1 1 100.0 1,165,758 694,936 New South Wales 31 6 19.4 6,624,222 7,853,673 Macquarie University 3 0 0.0 0 0 The University of New England 1 0 0.0 0 0 The University of New South Wales 9 1 11.1 1,181,800 1,594,396 The University of Newcastle 3 0 0.0 0 0 The University of Sydney 10 2 20.0 2,133,514 2,248,296 University of Technology Sydney 3 2 66.7 2,128,028 3,488,214 University of Wollongong 2 1 50.0 1,180,880 522,767 Queensland 40 9 22.5 10,031,868 10,613,876 Griffith University 5 0 0.0 0 0 James Cook University 1 0 0.0 0 0 Queensland University of Technology 9 1 11.1 1,146,592 2,253,612 The University of Queensland 23 7 30.4 7,725,476 6,882,013 University of Southern Queensland 1 1 100.0 1,159,800 1,478,251 University of the Sunshine Coast 1 0 0.0 0 0 South Australia 12 1 8.3 1,133,337 775,279 Flinders University 4 1 25.0 1,133,337 775,279 The University of Adelaide 5 0 0.0 0 0 University of South Australia 3 0 0.0 0 0 Tasmania 3 0 0.0 0 0 University of Tasmania 3 0 0.0 0 0 Victoria 52 6 11.5 7,058,420 5,565,731 Deakin University 7 1 14.3 1,181,800 619,220 La Trobe University 8 1 12.5 1,181,367 604,228 Monash University 10 1 10.0 1,181,620 789,489 RMIT University 9 1 11.1 1,150,033 755,954 Swinburne University of Technology 2 0 0.0 0 0 The University of Melbourne 15 2 13.3 2,363,600 $2,796,840 Victoria University 1 0 0.0 0 0 Western Australia 5 1 20.0 1,160,200 1,299,341 Curtin University 2 1 50.0 1,160,200 1,299,341 Murdoch University 1 0 0.0 0 0 The University of Western Australia 2 0 0.0 0 0 Total 147 25 17.0 28,123,055 29,419,962 Industry Partners Australian companies, government entities and non-profit organisations will participate in the recommended projects as Key Industry and Other Industry Partners. International organisations will also contribute as Other Industry Partners. In total, there are 66 unique Key Industry Partners or Other Industry Partners involved with the 25 projects recommended for funding, giving an average of 2.6 Industry Partners involved in each project. Together, they have pledged a total (cash and in-kind) of $18.1 million. This represents 64 cents from Industry Partners for every dollar funded by the ARC. Table 6. Industry Partner contributions by sector for approved Mid-Career Industry Fellowship 2025 applications. Type Cash In-Kind Total $ % $ % $ % Government Australian Federal 334,825 4.8 558,152 5.0 892,977 4.9 Australian state, territory and local 1,020,000 14.6 2,031,935 18.3 3,051,935 16.9 Sub-total 1,354,825 19.3 2,590,087 23.4 3,944,912 21.8 Industry Body Australian 5,263,544 75.1 5,716,128 51.6 10,979,672 60.7 International 60,000 0.9 333,000 3.0 393,000 2.2 Sub-total 5,323,544 76.0 6,049,128 54.6 11,372,672 62.9 Non-profit Australian 325,666 4.7 574,556 5.2 900,222 5.0 Sub-total 325,666 4.7 574,556 5.2 900,222 5.0 Other Other 0 0.0 81,360 0.7 81,360 0.5 Sub-total 0 0.0 81,360 0.7 81,360 0.5 Education Higher Education International 0 0.0 1,791,000 16.1 1,791,000 10.0 Sub-total 0 0.0 1,791,000 16.1 1,791,000 10.0 Total 7,004,035 100.0 11,086,131 100.0 18,090,166 100.0 Note: All percentages are shown using rounded figures, and as such may not sum to 100%. Gender The genders of the applicants and awardees are: Table 7. Gender of Mid-Career Industry Fellowship 2025 candidates and approved awardees. Gender Applications considered % of Applications considered Applications approved Success rate (%) Woman or Female 52 35.4 9 17.3 Man or Male 93 63.3 15 16.1 Unspecified 2 1.4 1 50 Total 147 100 25 17 Note: All percentages are shown using rounded figures, and as such may not sum to 100%. Attracting and retaining outstanding researchers Applications were open to Eligible Organisations to nominate candidates who are world-class researchers of international repute, residing either within Australia or overseas (Table 8). Table 8. Citizenship/residency status of Mid-Career Industry Fellowship 2025 candidates and approved Awardees. Citizenship/residency status Applications considered % of Applications considered Applications approved Success rate (%) Foreign Nationals 2 1.4 0 0 Resident Australians 144 98 25 17.4 Returning Australians 1 0.7 0 0 Total 147 100 25 17 Note: All totals and percentages are shown using rounded figures, and as such may not sum. International Collaboration Among 147 of the applications considered, applicants foreshadowed 110 instances of collaboration with researchers in 33 overseas locations. Of the applications approved for funding, applicants foreshadowed 26 instances of collaboration with researchers in 11 overseas locations (Figure 1). Figure 1. International collaborations by location in approved Mid-Career Industry Fellowships 2025 applications.