Selection Report: Discovery Projects 2021

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Overview

The Discovery Projects scheme reflects the Australian Government’s commitment to excellence in research by supporting grant funding to support research projects that may be undertaken by individual researchers or research teams.

The objectives of the Discovery Projects scheme are to: 

• support excellent basic and applied research and research training by individuals and teams;
• support national and international research collaboration; and
• enhance the scale and focus of research in Australian Government priority areas.

Selection process

Applications for funding commencing in 2021 opened on 13 November 2019 and closed on 26 February 2020. Applications were submitted through the Australian Research Council (ARC) Research Management System (RMS). This report outlines recommendations from the ARC Chief Executive Officer (CEO) to the Minister.

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 funding recommendations to 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 Unless otherwise specified, data represented in this report exclude withdrawn applications.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 Projects 2021 applications were assessed and merit ranked using the following assessment criteria:

Investigator(s)/Capability (35%)

Describe:

• Research Opportunity and Performance Evidence (ROPE);
• time and capacity to undertake the research;
• evidence of experience in research training, mentoring and supervision (where appropriate); and
• the capability of the investigator or team to build collaborations both within Australia and internationally.

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.

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’s National Science and Research Priorities and other priorities identified by Government.

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.

If the project involves Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander research describe:

• the strategies for enabling collaboration with Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities where appropriate (for example, dialogue/collaboration with an Indigenous cultural mentor); and
• any existing or developing, supportive and high quality research communities. 

Assessment process

The ARC assessment process for Discovery Projects 2021 involved 80 College of Experts members across five discipline panels and was managed in RMS. A total of 10,766 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 five years may be awarded for each Discovery Project application.

Summary of outcomes

The ARC received a total of 3027 applications for Discovery Projects for funding commencing in 2021, of which eight applications were withdrawn. 

The overall success rate for Discovery Projects for funding commencing in 2021 is 20.0 per cent, with 603 Discovery Projects approved for funding. A comparison of success rates and funding amounts is shown in Table 1.

Of the unsuccessful applications in 2021, 26 were found not to meet eligibility requirements and five were recommended to, but not funded by the Minister.

Table 1. Comparison of application numbers, success rates, requested and allocated funds for approved Discovery Projects applications from 2020 to 2021

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 (%)
2020	2875	660	23.0	$1,641,948,285	$387,282,768	$284,952,924	73.6
2021	3019	603	20.00	$1,760,327,397	$371,657,208	$260,034,079	70.0

*May include indicative funding amounts 

Outcomes by discipline 

A summary of outcomes by discipline panel is shown in Table 2.

Table 2. Application numbers, success rates and requested and allocated funds for approved Discovery Projects 2021 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	784	164	20.9	$546,806,340	$120,383,480	$83,808,816	69.6
EIC	770	143	18.6	$436,774,699	$88,596,990	$59,928,279	67.6
HCA	292	57	19.5	$127,712,964	$26,118,445	$18,208,630	69.7
MPCE	623	123	19.7	$365,334,622	$75,408,044	$53,722,175	71.2
SBE	550	116	21.1	$283,698,772	$61,150,249	$44,366,179	72.6
Total	3019	603	20.0	$1,760,327,397	$371,657,208	$260,034,079	70.0

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

Outcomes by Science and Research Priorities

A summary of outcomes by Science and Research Priorities is shown in Table 3. 

Table 3. Approved funding and success rate for Discovery Projects 2021 applications by Science and Research Priorities

Science and Research Priorities	Applications considered	Applications approved	Success rate (%)	Approved funds over project life ($)
Advanced manufacturing	489	107	21.9	$44,769,691
Cybersecurity	119	27	22.7	$11,258,471
Energy	140	25	17.9	$11,429,582
Environmental change	407	82	20.1	$36,628,016
Food	124	28	22.6	$13,701,187
Health	334	61	18.3	$26,767,974
Resources	64	7	10.9	$2,816,404
Soil and water	89	14	15.7	$6,609,020
Transport	82	15	18.3	$6,536,512
Unspecified	1171	237	20.2	$99,517,222
Total	3019	603	20.0	$260,034,079
Total within Science and Research Priorities	1848	366	19.8	$160,516,857
Percentage within Science and Research Priorities (%)	61.2	60.7		61.7

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 Projects 2021 applications by Administering Organisation

Administering Organisation	Applications Considered	Applications approved	Success rate (%)	Funds over project life for approved applications ($)
Australian Capital Territory	150	36	24.0	$16,009,115
The Australian National University	140	34	24.3	$15,120,465
University of Canberra	10	2	20.0	$888,650
New South Wales	1016	191	18.8	$83,793,458
Australian Catholic University	23	4	17.4	$1,853,137
Charles Sturt University	5	0	0.0	$0
Macquarie University	101	14	13.9	$5,142,464
Southern Cross University	16	1	6.3	$364,850
The University of New England	9	0	0.0	$0
The University of New South Wales	306	68	22.2	$32,917,472
The University of Newcastle	88	14	15.9	$5,191,356
The University of Sydney	261	49	18.8	$20,986,078
University of Technology Sydney	115	23	20.0	$9,779,446
University of Wollongong	59	12	20.3	$5,090,233
Western Sydney University	33	6	18.2	$2,468,422
Northern Territory	9	4	44.4	$1,624,505
Charles Darwin University	9	4	44.4	$1,624,505
Queensland	461	80	17.4	$32,772,255
Bond University	1	0	0.0	$0
Central Queensland University	4	1	25.0	$425,912
Griffith University	86	15	17.4	$6,021,081
James Cook University	13	1	7.7	$401,000
Queensland University of Technology	86	13	15.1	$4,917,549
The University of Queensland	255	47	18.4	$19,787,676
University of Southern Queensland	9	2	22.2	$941,578
University of the Sunshine Coast	7	1	14.3	$277,459
South Australia	212	31	14.6	$13,178,713
Flinders University	44	4	9.1	$1,725,753
The University of Adelaide	133	21	15.8	$9,227,942
University of South Australia	35	6	17.1	$2,225,018
Tasmania	52	8	15.4	$3,957,269
University of Tasmania	52	8	15.4	$3,957,269
Victoria	929	210	22.6	$90,304,623
Deakin University	67	14	20.9	$4,906,297
Federation University Australia	6	0	0.0	$0
La Trobe University	54	10	18.5	$4,182,332
Monash University	317	83	26.2	$35,902,333
RMIT University	80	15	18.8	$5,740,238
Swinburne University of Technology	57	10	17.5	$4,305,887
The University of Melbourne	338	78	23.1	$35,267,536
Victoria University	10	0	0.0	$0
Western Australia	190	43	22.6	$18,394,141
Curtin University	59	13	22.0	$4,692,187
Edith Cowan University	7	2	28.6	$637,674
Murdoch University	7	0	0.0	$0
The University of Notre Dame Australia	2	0	0.0	$0
The University of Western Australia.	115	28	24.3	$13,064,280
Total	3019	603	20.0	$260,034,079

Career age and gender

Of the 7118 Chief Investigators (CIs) named in applications in this round, 2110 were female, 4972 were male and 36 chose not to specify their gender. The success rate for female, male and unspecified CIs in this round of Discovery Projects is 20.7 per cent, 19.8 per cent and 13.9 per cent respectively.

Success rates of CIs by career age and gender in the current Discovery Projects round are presented in Figure 1. CIs who did not provide gender information (0.5 per cent) and CIs who did not specify the date of completion of their PhD or who do not hold a PhD (0.8 per cent) are not represented in the figure below.

Figure 1. Participation and success rate of Chief Investigators in Discovery Projects 2021 by gender and career age*

* Career age is calculated as years since PhD (or equivalent). The earliest PhD award date was used where there was more than one PhD.

International collaboration

Among 3019 of the applications considered, applicants foreshadowed 4862 instances of collaboration with researchers in 107 overseas locations. Of the applications approved for funding, 503 foreshadowed 1029 instances of collaboration with researchers in 69 overseas locations (Figure 2).

Figure 2. International collaborations by location in approved Discovery Projects 2021 applications*

*The top 10 international collaboration locations are listed in Figure 2 and the remaining locations are grouped in the ‘Other’ category.