Australian Research Council Act 2001 - Linkage - Learned Academies Special Projects - Funding Rules for Funding Commencing in 2004 (Cth)

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LINKAGE—

LEARNED ACADEMIES

SPECIAL PROJECTS

Funding Rules

for funding commencing in

2004

Australian Research Council

Linkage—Learned Academies Special Projects

Funding Rules for Funding Commencing in 2004

Table of Contents

8.1.1

Failure to provide reports 8

Acronyms

ARC Australian Research Council

NAF National Academies Forum

EACExpert Advisory Committee

LASPLinkage‑Learned Academies Special Project Program

NCGPNational Competitive Grants Program

Australian Research Council

Linkage—Learned Academies Special Projects

Funding Rules for Funding Commencing in 2004

1Introduction

The Australian Research Council (ARC) provides funding to teams or individuals for high quality research through several application-based, competitive grant schemes.

These schemes aim to maintain and strengthen Australia’s knowledge base and research capabilities by developing an effective research and research training system, focused on the higher education sector.

2Objectives

The objectives of Linkage-Learned Academies Special Projects (LASP) funding are to support projects undertaken by the Learned Academies which:

  1. •

    capitalise on their unique capabilities;

  2. •

    assist programs of research undertaken by institutions; and

  3. •

    may be expected to have results of broad benefit for research and scholarship in the natural and applied sciences, technological development and applied technology, the social sciences and the humanities.

The Australian Research Council is particularly interested in supporting activities in areas of demonstrable national importance.

3Description

3.1 Funding

Linkgae-Learned Academies Special Projects have a maximum funding duration of three years but an application must be submitted each year for ongoing projects. Approximately $452,000 is available for Special Projects in 2004.

These funds are a separate component of the NCGP Budget.

4Eligibility

4.1 Applicant eligibility

Financial assistance under the LASP program may be provided to the following organisations:

  1. •

    Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering;

  2. •

    Australian Academy of Science;

  3. •

    Australian Academy of the Humanities;

  4. •

    Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia;

  5. •

    National Academies Forum (NAF).

4.2 Areas not eligible for support

Normally, funding will not be provided projects directed at specific research problems, since these are funded more appropriately through other ARC or Commonwealth Government funding programs.

4.3 Cross-scheme eligibility

Many Academy Fellows and other members of the Academies are academics carrying out research in higher education institutions.

There is no conflict in these two roles. Fellows may apply for the normal range of ARC research grants available to individuals (within a specified limits) even if associated with a Linkage-Learned Academies Special Projects.

5Application Process

Applications for Special Projects are subject to a two-phase application process.

5.1 Expressions of Interest

  1. In the first instance each Academy may

    submit expressions of interest in up to four Special Projects to the ARC by 23 May 2003. The National Academies Forum may submit up to two expressions of interest. Expressions of interest must include:

    1. •

      a clear summary of the purpose of the project and its planned outcomes;

    2. •

      a summary of the ways in which the project supports Government objectives and the objectives of the Academy;

    3. •

      a brief outline of the activities involved in the project and its planned milestones; and

    4. •

      an indicative budget which estimates how Government funds will be spent. It should show any other sources of funding for the project and how those funds will be spent, as well as any income which the Academy expects to be generated by the project.

An expression of interest should not exceed A4 three pages and must be in 12 point font size.

5.2 Application

  1. Following an assessment of the expressions of interest, some proposals will be short-listed for further development.

    For these proposals the following information will be required in a full application submitted to the ARC by 18 July 2003:

    1. •

      a detailed statement of the purpose of the project, its methodology and its planned outcomes;

    2. •

      a description of the ways in which the project supports Government objectives and the objectives of the Academy/Forum, and builds on previous work undertaken by the Academy/Forum or its fellows;

    3. •

      a clear indication of project leader, details of the staff and resources involved in the project, including staff and resources to be used in institutions other than the host Academy/Forum;

    4. •

      the curriculum vitae of key personnel involved in the project, not exceeding one page per person, including - name, qualifications and current appointment, employment history, relevant experience and other relevant information;

    5. •

      a detailed timeline of the activities involved in the project and its planned milestones;

    6. •

      an indication of the intellectual property issues which may arise from the project and the intention of the Academy/Forum with respect to the publication of findings; and

    7. •

      a detailed budget which indicates how Government funds will be spent. It should show any other sources of funding for the project and how those funds will be spent as well as any income which the Academy/Forum expects to be generated by the project. Each activity should be assigned a priority ranking according to whether that activity is considered essential, desirable or beneficial to a successful outcome of the project, and should be justified. Funding for direct costs of administration (eg travel costs, external meeting costs, publication costs) related to the conduct of the project may be requested (and must be fully justified); general administrative overheads must be met by the host Academy/Forum.

6Selection and Approval Process

6.1 Selection criteria

An application for Special Projects funding is assessed against the following criteria:

  1. •

    it satisfies the objectives of the Scheme, as described in Section 2 of these funding rules;

  2. •

    the merit of the proposal in relation to goals and potential outcomes, the project plan and budget justification;

  3. •

    the relevance of the project to issues of national significance and importance; and

  4. •

    if part funding is available from other sources special consideration will be given to the project.

6.2 Selection procedure

Assessment of the application is undertaken by an Advisory Committee consisted of representatives from the ARC’s Expert Advisory Committees (EACs) which may seek advice from appropriately qualified persons.

The Selection Committee:

  1. •

    assesses and recommends budget; and

  2. •

    prepares funding recommendations that are submitted to the ARC for Board and then to the Minister for approval.

Short listing of a project does not guarantee that the project will subsequently be funded.

The ARC reserves the right to negotiate amendments to project proposals where it believes the project outcomes will be improved by such changes.

The Academy is not obliged to accept amendments, but the ARC may decline to endorse a proposal for funding if amendments are not made.

6.3 Offer of grant

Following the Minister’s approval for payment of Special Project funds, the ARC will write to each successful Academy advising the amount of its grant.

The grant offer must be accepted in writing (as per the Funding Agreement) before payment can be made.

6.4Variation to the Funding ApprovalRequests to vary the Funding Approval or the Funding Agreement must be forwarded in writing by the Academy to the ARC.

The Funding Approval may be varied where any of the circumstances described in s.55 (3) of the Australian Research Council Act 2001 occurs namely:

(a) the organisation’s involvement with the research program ends;

(b) the research program changes so that it is no longer consistent with the description in the Funding Approval;

(c) the person named in the Funding Approval as the person leading the research program ceases to lead the program; and

(d) any other such circumstances as the ARC may, in its discretion, determine.

7Appeals process

Appeals will be considered only against process issues and not against Committee decisions or comments.

Appeals must be made on the appeals form available on the ARC website ( form must be lodged through the institution’s research office and be received, within 28 days of the date on the letter notifying the outcome of applications, to:

The Appeals Officer

Australian Research Council LC 321

GPO Box 2702

  1. CANBERRA

    ACT 2601

8Grant Administration

8.1 Reporting requirements

Special Projects funds must be spent in the year for which they are allocated, or the period for which approval to carry them over was obtained.

The following report must be provided:

  1. •

    End of Year Report on the project, including statement of actual expenditure of project funds at the end of each year's funding, to the ARC by 31 March of the year following the year for which the grant was provided; and

  2. •

    Audited Financial Statement by 30 June of the year following the grant.

  3. •

    Final Reporton the project, within six months of the completion of the project, and expenditure of all ARC funds.

The ARC reserves the right to suspend payment of further instalments of any current grant until the appropriate reports have been received and assessed as satisfactory.

8.1.1 Failure to provide reports

Where an institute fails to submit satisfactory reports, as required, the Minister may determine that funds have not been used in accordance with conditions applicable to the grant, and that all or part of the grant must be repaid.

In this case, the ARC may withhold the remainder of the institution’s payments under the Program for the current year or initiate recovery of grant money.

8.2 Financial management

8.2.1Payment of Special Projects

Payment of funds will be made to institutions in regular instalments, in accordance with approved payment arrangements made under the Australian Research Council Act 2001. Funds must only be used for purposes approved under the scheme otherwise they must be returned.

8.2.2Carry overs

Special Projects grants are made for the specified calendar year.

Carry overs beyond

31 December of the year in which the grant was made require approval which should be requested in the Annual Report due by 31 March in the year following the grant year.

8.2.3Recoveries

If an Academy cannot spend the entire grant amount for the purposes it was given, it must show the amount to be returned in the statement of income and expenditure in the Annual Report.

Any Special Projects funds which have not been spent, and are not to be carried over, will be recovered by the ARC after the reconciliation of the statement of income and expenditure has been completed.

9General Information

9.1 Privacy of individuals

Documents containing personal information are handled and protected in accordance with the provisions of the Privacy Act 1988 ( the Privacy Act). The Privacy Act sets the minimum standards for the collection, storage, access, use and disclosure of personal information by the ARC.

Persons, bodies and organisations involved in the ARC program must abide by the IPPs and the Privacy Act 1988 when handling personal information collected for the purposes of that program. In brief, persons, bodies and organisations must ensure that:

  1. •

    personal information is collected in accordance with IPPs 1-3;

  2. •

    suitable storage arrangements, including appropriate filing procedures are in place;

  3. •

    suitable security arrangements exist for all records containing personal information;

  4. •

    access to a person’s own personal information held by the organisation is made available to the person at no charge;

  5. •

    records are accurate, up-to-date, complete and not misleading;

  6. •

    where a record is found to be inaccurate, the correction is made;

  7. •

    where a person requests that a record be amended because it is inaccurate but the record is found to be accurate, the details of the request for amendment are noted on the record;

  8. •

    the personal information is only to be used for the purposes for which it was collected, or for other purposes where expressly allowed by IPP 10; and

  9. •

    personal information is only disclosed in accordance with IPP 11.

Complaints about breaches of privacy should be referred to the Chief Executive Officer of the ARC.

Privacy complaints can be made directly to the Federal Privacy Commissioner, but the Federal Privacy Commissioner prefers that the ARC be given an opportunity to deal with the complaint in the first instance. You can contact the Privacy Commissioner on 1300 363 992.

9.2 Confidentiality

Information contained in applications is regarded as confidential unless otherwise stated and will be received and treated as confidential by the ARC, institutions and assessors.

9.3 Intellectual property

All intellectual property is owned by the Academies, the NAF and the researchers.

Applicants must agree to comply with the National Principles of Intellectual Property Management for Publicly Funded Research (available at The Learned Academies should each have a policy concerning intellectual property.

9.4 Incomplete/misleading information

It is a serious offence to provide false or misleading information. If an application is incomplete or contains information which is considered misleading, it will not be considered for funding.

If the ARC believes that omissions or inclusion of misleading information is intentional, or if there is evidence of malpractice, it reserves the right to undertake an investigation.

Examples of malpractice include, but are not restricted to:

•

providing fictitious track records; and

  1. •

    falsifying claims in publications records (eg. describing a paper as accepted for publication when it has only been submitted).

9.5 Insurance and liabilities

By accepting funds under an ARC research scheme, academies agree to indemnify the Commonwealth from any expense arising from any action that may be made or brought against the Commonwealth resulting from activities funded under the scheme.

Academies are responsible for taking out appropriate insurance.

9.6 Contact points

In the first instance, grantees and applicants for grants should contact their Academy if they require further information.

Enquiries and applications for funding under this Scheme should be sent to:

LASP Program Co-ordinator

Australian Research Council

GPO Box 2702

CANBERRA ACT 2601

Email: [email protected]

Phone: 02 6284 6600

Fax: 02 6684 6638

Web address

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