Discovery Indigenous Selection Report for funding commencing in 2025

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Overview

The Discovery Indigenous scheme provides grant funding to support research projects led by an Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander researcher. Discovery Indigenous grants include support for Discovery Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Awards (DAATSIAs) which are fellowships available to eligible Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander researchers.

The objectives of the Discovery Indigenous scheme are to:

• support the retention of excellent Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander researchers in higher education institutions to expand research capacity in Australia;
• support excellent pure basic, strategic basic and applied research and research training, across all disciplines excluding clinical and other medical research, by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander researchers as individuals and as teams;
• enhance the scale and focus of research in Australian Government priority areas and create economic, commercial, envrionmental, social and/or cultural benefits for Australia; and
• support national and international research collaboration.

Selection process

Applications for funding commencing in 2025 opened on 22 November 2023 and closed on 21 February 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 recommendations are based on advice from the ARC Selection Advisory Committee (SAC) which:

• assigned independent assessors to review the applications
• assessed applications and reviewed assessments made by independent assessors
• reviewed candidates’ comments on assessors’ reports
• ranked each application relative to the others on the basis of the application, the assessors’ reports and candidates’ 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 recommendations to the CEO in respect of ineligible applications.

This report reflects the outcomes approved by the Minister. Unless otherwise specified, data represented in this report exclude withdrawn applications.

Assessment criteria

All applications that meet the eligibility criteria for the Discovery Indigenous 2024 applications were assessed and merit ranked using the following assessment criteria:

1. Investigator(s)/Capability (35%)

Taking into account research opportunity,

• record of high-quality research outputs appropriate to the discipline(s);
• evidence of excellence in research training, mentoring and supervision (where appropriate); and
• the capability of the investigator or team to build collaborations both within Australia and internationally.

2. Project quality and innovation (40%)

Describe the:

• contribution to an important gap in knowledge or significant problem;
• novelty/originality and innovation of the proposed research (including any new methods, technologies, theories or ideas that will be developed);
• clarity of the hypothesis, theories and research questions;
• cohesiveness of the project design and implementation plan (including the appropriateness of the aim, conceptual framework, method, data and/or analyses); and
• extent to which the research has the potential to enhance international collaboration; 

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.

3. Benefit (15%)

Describe the potential benefits including the:

• new or advanced knowledge resulting from outcomes of the research;
• economic, commercial, environmental, social and/or cultural benefits for Australia and international communities; and
• potential contribution to capacity in the Australian Government priority areas.

4. Feasibility (10%)

Describe the:

• cost-effectiveness of the research and its value for money;
• suitability of the environment for the research team and their project, and for HDR students where appropriate;
• availability of the necessary facilities to complete the project; and
• extent to which the project’s design, participants and requested budget create confidence in the timely and successful completion of the project.

Assessing the DAATSIA candidate

Where an application included provision for a DAATSIA, the candidate was assessed according to the following criteria, taking into account research opportunity: 

• potential to enhance and expedite a high-quality project; 
• location within a suitable research environment that will support the candidate and project; 
• record of high-quality research outputs appropriate to the discipline(s); 
• evidence of excellence in research training, mentoring and supervision (where appropriate); and 
• capability to build collaborations both within Australia and internationally. 

The recommendation to award the DAATSIA was made separately from the overall application. If the project is funded but the DAATSIA is not awarded, the researcher remained a CI on the project.

Assessment process

The ARC assessment process for Discovery Indigenous 2025 involved 7 College of Experts members as part of one multidisciplinary panel and was managed in RMS. A total of 71 independent assessors’ reports were submitted to the ARC.

Funding levels and duration

Funding of between $30,000 and $500,000 per annum for up to 5 consecutive years may be awarded for each Discovery Indigenous application, including, annual salary contributions for Discovery Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Award (DAATSIA) recipients of $112,898 to $239,078 (including 30 per cent on-costs).

Summary of outcomes

The ARC received a total of 32 applications for Discovery Indigenous for funding commencing in 2025. No applications were withdrawn.

Eleven Discovery Indigenous projects are approved for funding commencing in 2025, shown in Table 1. The overall success rate for Discovery Indigenous for funding commencing in 2025 is 34.4 per cent. A comparison of success rates and funding amounts with the previous round is shown in Table 1.

Of the unsuccessful applications in 2024, none were found not to meet eligibility requirements.

Table 1. Comparison of application numbers, success rates, requested and allocated funds for approved Discovery Indigenous applications from 2024 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 (%)
2024	34	9	26.5	$39,255,859	$10,167,680	$8,968,522	88.2
2025	32	11	34.4	$42,390,433	$14,205,429	$11,008,555	77.5

Discovery Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Award (DAATSIA)

Of the 32 applications considered this round, there was funding requested for 17 DAATSIAs at one of 5 salary levels. The overall success rate for Discovery Indigenous DAATSIA requests in 2025 is 17.65 per cent and is shown in Table 2.

Table 2. Success rates for Discovery Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Award (DAATSIA) for approved Discovery Indigenous applications 2025

DAATSIA Salary Level	Number of DAATSIAs considered	Number of DAATSIAs approved	Success rate (%)
Salary Level 1	0	0	0
Salary Level 2	2	0	0
Salary Level 3	1	0	0
Salary Level 4	9	1	11.1
Salary Level 5	5	2	40.0
Total	17	3	17.7

Outcomes by discipline

A summary of outcomes by discipline panel is shown in Table 3.

Table 3. Application numbers, success rates and requested and allocated funds for approved Discovery Indigenous 2025 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	3	1	33.3	$4,656,781	$858,790	$858,790	100.0
EIC	2	1	50.0	$2,459,293	$149,386	$149,386	100.0
HCA	11	3	27.3	$17,917,077	$6,829,645	$4,461,713	65.3
MPCE	0	0	0	$0	$0	$0	0
SBE	16	6	37.5	$17,357,282	$6,367,608	$5,538,666	87.0
Total	32	11	34.4	$42,390,433	$14,205,429	$11,088,555	77.5

 

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

Note - Project Discipline is determined by the primary FoR codes provided in the application

Outcomes by Administering Organisation

A summary of outcomes by Administering Organisation is shown in Table 4.

Table 4. Numbers of applications and success rates for approved Discovery Indigenous 2025 applications by Administering Organisation

Administering Organisation	Applications Considered	Applications Approved	Success rate (%)	Funds over project life for approved applications ($)
Australian Capital Territory	4	1	25.0	$845,141
The Australian National University	4	1	25.0	$845,141
New South Wales	7	3	42.9	$3,794,019
Charles Sturt University	1	0	0	$0
Macquarie University	1	0	0	$0
The University of New South Wales	1	0	0	$0
The University of Sydney	2	1	50.0	$2,060,052
Western Sydney University	2	2	100.0	$1,733,967
Northern Territory	3	0	0	$0
Charles Darwin University	3	0	0	$0
Queensland	8	5	62.5	$4,644,945
Central Queensland University	1	1	100.0	$867,741
Griffith University	2	1	50.0	$326,784
James Cook University	1	1	100.0	$1,767,114
Queensland University of Technology	2	1	50.0	$1,533,920
The University of Queensland	2	1	50.0	$149,386
South Australia	2	1	50.0	$865,660
Flinders University	1	0	0	$0
University of South Australia	1	1	100.0	$865,660
Tasmania	2	0	0	$0
University of Tasmania	2	0	0	$0
Victoria	6	1	16.7	$858,790
Monash University	2	0	0	$0
The University of Melbourne	4	1	25.0	$858,790
Total	32	11	34.4	$11,008,555

Career age and gender

Of the 117 Chief Investigators (CIs), including 17 DAATSIAs candidates, considered in this round, 81 (69.23%) were female, 35 (29.91%) were male, and 1 (0.85%) was unspecified. The success rate for female, male, and unspecified CIs is 33.33 percent, 25.71 percent and 0 percent respectively.

Success rates of CIs by career age and gender in Discovery Indigenous 2025 round are presented in Figure 1. CIs who did not specify the date of completion of their PhD (or equivalent) or who do not hold a PhD are not represented in the figure below.

Figure 1. Participation and success rate of CIs in Discovery Indigenous 2025 by gender and career age*^

* Career age is calculated as years since PhD based on the relevant qualification as selected in the application.
^ Calculated career age does not take career interruptions into consideration.

Gender by Project Discipline

Table 5. Discovery Indigenous 2025: Gender by Project Discipline– submission numbers, applications approved and success rates

Project Discipline	Female considered	Female approved	Female success rate	Male considered	Male approved	Male success rate	Unspecified considered	Unspecified approved	Unspecified success rate
BSB	5	1	20%	4	2	50%	0	0	N/A
EIC	4	1	25%	4	2	50%	0	0	N/A
HCA	32	12	38%	10	1	10%	1	0	0%
MPCE	0	0	N/A	0	0	N/A	0	0	N/A
SBE	40	13	33%	17	4	24%	0	0	N/A
Total	81	27	33%	35	9	26%	1	0	0%

Note – The data provided in the above table is a representation of all Chief Investigators listed on applications considered in IN25. Project Discipline is determined by the primary FoR codes provided in the application.

Table 6. Discovery Indigenous 2025: Lead Chief Investigator Gender by Project Discipline – submission numbers, applications approved and success rates

Project Discipline	Female considered	Female approved	Female success rate	Male considered	Male approved	Male success rate	Unspecified considered	Unspecified approved	Unspecified success rate
BSB	2	0	0%	1	1	100%	N/A	N/A	N/A
EIC	0	0	0%	2	1	50%	N/A	N/A	N/A
HCA	9	2	22%	2	1	50%	N/A	N/A	N/A
MPCE	0	0	N/A	0	0	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
SBE	13	6	46%	3	0	0%	N/A	N/A	N/A
Total	24	8	33%	8	3	38%	N/A	N/A	N/A

 

Figure 2. Participation and success rates of Discovery Indigenous 2025 Chief Investigators by gender and project discipline 

Note - The data provided in the above table is a representation of all Chief Investigators listed on applications considered in IN25. Project Discipline is determined by the primary FoR codes provided in the application.

Table 7. Success rates by gender for Discovery Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Award (DAATSIA) candidates, for approved Discovery Indigenous 2025 applications

Gender of DAATSIA candidate	No of DAATSIAs considered	No of DAATSIAs approved	Success rate (%)
Female	14	2	14.29
Male	3	1	33.33
Total	17	3	17.65

 

International Collaboration

Among 32 of the applications considered, applicants foreshadowed 42 instances of collaboration with researchers in 14 overseas locations. Of the applications approved for funding, 5 foreshadowed 12 instances of collaboration with researchers in 6 overseas locations (Figure 3).

Figure 3. International collaborations by location in approved Discovery Indigenous 2025 applications*

* The international collaboration locations are listed in Figure 3.