Our Purpose

The ARC is responsible for administering the National Competitive Grants Program (NCGP), assessing the quality, engagement and impact of research, and providing advice and support on research matters.

The ARC’s purpose is to grow knowledge and innovation for the benefit of the Australian community by:

• funding the highest quality research
• assessing the quality, engagement, and impact of research
• providing advice on research matters.

NCGP – Funding Excellent Basic and Applied Research and Research Training		Assessing the Quality, Engagement and Impact of Research
Discovery – Research and Research Training	Linkage – Cross Sector Research Partnerships	Excellence in Research for Australia	Engagement and Impact
Providing advice on research matters

The ARC’s focus is on driving the research contribution of universities to areas of national interest and to achieve improved economic and social outcomes. Central to this is strengthening the translation pipeline for Australian research, including encouraging greater collaboration with industry to stimulate research and development activity. To do this we are:

• further aligning funding schemes with national priorities
• ensuring funded research can show value
• implementing more efficient and robust research quality and impact assessments, and
• enhancing the governance of the ARC.

At the ARC, we are very proud of the highest quality fundamental and applied research being conducted under our National Competitive Grants Program. ARC-funded research delivers real cultural, economic, social and environmental benefits to all Australians. 

We fund research across multiple disciplines from pure ‘blue-sky’ knowledge creation, as well as industry-ready commercial outcomes, to a spectrum of projects that are conducted by early career researchers to well-known research leaders. This makes the ARC unique in Australia for its support of such research diversity. 

Whatever your passion or interest, you can probably find it in our supported research outcomes. The research we fund is so incredibly diverse and interesting, we learn of new possibilities in our world every day!

Be sure to check out some of our funded research highlights, feature articles and our annual Making a Difference publication.

In addition to funding research, the ARC is responsible for administering Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA), Australia’s national research evaluation framework. ERA identifies and promotes excellence across the full spectrum of research activity in Australia’s higher education institutions. It is also responsible for Engagement and Impact (EI), which assesses how well researchers are engaging with end-users of research, and shows how universities are translating their research into economic, social, environmental, cultural and other impacts. 

The State of Australian University Research 2018–19: ERA National Report, Gender and the Research Workforce and Engagement and Impact Assessment 2018-19 National Report are also available via the ARC Data Portal, along with the highly rated impact studies and assessment outcomes.