Australian Research Council Act 2001 Linkage Learned Academies Special Projects Guidelines for Funding commencing in 2003 (Cth)
LINKAGE—
LEARNED ACADEMIES
SPECIAL PROJECTS
Guidelines for applicants
for funding commencing in
2003
Australian Research Council
Linkage—Learned Academies Special Projects
Guidelines for Funding Commencing in 2003
Table of Contents
1 Introduction
2 Objectives
3 Description
3.1 Funding
4 Eligibility
4.1 Applicant eligibility
4.2 Areas not eligible for support
4.3 Cross-scheme eligibility
5 Application Process
Expressions of Interest
Application
6 Selection and Approval Process
6.1 Selection criteria
6.2 Selection procedure
6.3 Offer of grant
7 Appeals process
8 Grant Administration
8.1 Reporting requirements
8.1.1 Failure to provide reports
8.2 Financial management
8.2.1 Payment of Special Projects
8.2.2 Carry overs
8.2.3 Recoveries
9 General Information
9.1 Privacy of individuals
9.2 Freedom of information
9.3 Confidentiality
9.4 Intellectual property
9.5 Incomplete/misleading information
9.6 Insurance and liabilities
9.7 Contact points
Acronyms
ARC Australian Research Council
HEFA Higher Education Funding Act
NAF National Academies’ Forum
Australian Research Council
Linkage—Learned Academies Special Projects
Guidelines for Funding Commencing in 2003
1 Introduction
The Australian Research Council provides funding to teams or individuals for worthy and high quality research through several application-based 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.
2 Objectives
The objectives of Special Projects funding are to support projects undertaken by the Learned Academies which:
·capitalise on their unique capabilities;
·assist programmes of research undertaken by institutions; and
·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.
3 Description
3.1 Funding
Special Projects have a maximum funding duration of 3 years but an application must be submitted each year for ongoing projects. Approximately $452,000 is available for Special Projects in 2003 and these funds are a separate component of the ARC Budget.
4 Eligibility
4.1 Applicant eligibility
The target group for funding comprises:
·Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering;
·Australian Academy of Science;
·Australian Academy of the Humanities;
·Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia;
·National Academies Forum (NAF).
4.2 Areas not eligible for support
Normally, funding will not be provided to support research projects, which should be funded more appropriately through other ARC or Commonwealth Government funding programmes.
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. They may apply for the normal range of research grants available to individuals.
5 Application Process
Applications for Special Projects are subject to a two-phase application process.
Expressions of Interest
In the first instance each Academy should submit to the ARC by 24 May 2002 expressions of interest in up to four Special Projects. The National Academies Forum may submit up to two expressions of interest. Expressions of interest must include:
·a clear summary of the purpose of the project and its planned outcomes;
·a summary of the ways in which the project supports Government objectives and the objectives of the Academy;
·a brief outline of the activities involved in the project and its planned milestones; and
·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.
In total an expression of interest should not exceed three pages.
Application
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 19 July 2002:
·a detailed statement of the purpose of the project, its methodology and its planned outcomes;
·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;
·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;
·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;
·a detailed timeline of the activities involved in the project and its planned milestones;
·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
·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.
6 Selection and Approval Process
6.1 Selection criteria
An application for Special Projects funding is assessed against the following criteria:
·it satisfies the objectives of the Scheme, as described in Section 2 of these guidelines;
·the merit of the proposal in relation to goals and potential outcomes, the project plan and budget justification;
·the relevance of the project to issues of national significance and importance; and
·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 a selection committee which may seek advice from appropriately qualified persons. The selection committee prepares funding recommendations which are submitted to the ARC for endorsement and then to the Minister for approval.
Short-listing of a project does not guarantee that the project will subsequently be funded.
The selection committee 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 selection committee may decline to recommend 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 before payment can be made.
7 Appeals 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
CANBERRA ACT 2601
8 Grant 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:
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
Audited Financial Statement by 30 June of the year following the grant.
Final Report on 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 institution 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 Programme for the current year or initiate recovery of grant money.
8.2 Financial management
8.2.1 Payment of Special Projects
The scheme operates on a calendar year basis. 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.
8.2.2 Carry 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.
8.2.3 Recoveries
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.
9 General Information
9.1 Privacy of individuals
Documents containing personal information are handled and protected in accordance with the provisions of the Privacy Act 1988, which sets standards for the collection, storage, use and disclosure of, and access to, personal information. Personal information is disclosed only with permission of the individual to whom it relates or where the Act allows.
9.2 Freedom of information
All documents are subject to the Freedom of Information Act 1982 unless exempt in accordance with the provisions of the Act.
9.3 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.
9.4 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.
9.5 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
falsifying claims in publications records (eg. describing a paper as accepted for publication when it has only been submitted).
9.6 Insurance and liabilities
By accepting funds under an ARC research scheme, institutions 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. Institutions are responsible for taking out appropriate insurance.
9.7 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:
Manager
Linkage--Learned Academies Special Projects
Australian Research Council
GPO Box 2702
CANBERRA ACT 2601
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 02 6284 6600
Web address
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