Selection Report: Discovery Projects 2022

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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 2022 opened on 11 November 2020 and closed on 24 February 2021. Applications were submitted through the Australian Research Council (ARC) Research Management System (RMS). This report outlines recommendations 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 Unless otherwise specified, data represented in this report exclude withdrawn applications.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 Projects 2022 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 2022 involved 80 College of Experts members across five discipline panels and was managed in RMS. A total of 9,402 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 3096 applications for Discovery Projects for funding commencing in 2022, of which one application was withdrawn. 

The overall success rate for Discovery Projects for funding commencing in 2022 is 19.0 per cent, with 587 Discovery Projects approved for funding. A comparison of success rates and funding amounts is shown in Table 1.

Of the unsuccessful applications in 2022, 51 were found not to meet eligibility requirements and 6 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 2021 to 2022*

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 (%)
2021	3019	603	20.0	$1,760,327,397	$371,657,208	$260,034,079	70.0
2022	3095	587	19.0	$1,818,835,491	$362,221,320	$258,691,272	71.4

*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 2022 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	795	149	18.7	$557,360,733	$105,607,626	$77,223,571	73.1
EIC	788	149	18.9	$447,266,635	$91,619,693	$65,043,051	71.0
HCA	289	54	18.7	$137,025,052	$31,114,038	$21,939,205	70.5
MPCE	647	126	19.5	$382,803,334	$78,096,085	$54,628,894	70.0
SBE	576	109	18.9	$294,379,737	$55,783,878	$39,856,551	71.4
Total	3095	587	19.0	$1,818,835,491	$362,221,320	$258,691,272	71.4

*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 

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 2022 applications by Science and Research Priorities

Science and Research Priorities	Applications considered	Applications approved	Success rate (%)	Approved funds over project life ($)
Advanced manufacturing	496	88	17.7	$39,608,676
Cybersecurity	131	25	19.1	$10,197,926
Energy	162	32	19.8	$14,009,988
Environmental change	373	86	23.1	$38,025,019
Food	139	18	12.9	$8,849,441
Health	331	37	11.2	$17,049,878
Resources	68	16	23.5	$7,034,723
Soil and water	96	25	26.0	$11,081,279
Transport	87	20	23.0	$9,001,551
Unspecified	1212	240	19.8	$103,832,791
Total	3095	587	19.0	$258,691,272
Total within Science and Research Priorities	1883	347	18.4	$154,858,481
Percentage within Science and Research Priorities (%)	60.8	59.1		59.9

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 2022 applications by Administering Organisation

Administering Organisation	Applications Considered	Applications Approved	Success rate (%)	Funds over project life for approved applications ($)
Australian Capital Territory	165	31	18.8	$15,301,972
The Australian National University	154	29	18.8	$13,759,447
University of Canberra	11	2	18.2	$1,542,525
New South Wales	1003	207	20.6	$89,126,086
Australian Catholic University	14	2	14.3	$936,715
Charles Sturt University	6	0	0.0	$0
Macquarie University	103	17	16.5	$7,410,232
Southern Cross University	11	3	27.3	$1,261,118
The University of New England	11	2	18.2	$784,124
The University of New South Wales	297	65	21.9	$27,474,475
The University of Newcastle	88	13	14.8	$5,166,330
The University of Sydney	270	67	24.8	$30,052,390
University of Technology Sydney	96	18	18.8	$7,407,671
University of Wollongong	65	8	12.3	$3,381,735
Western Sydney University	42	12	28.6	$5,251,296
Northern Territory	10	2	20	$687,381
Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education	1	0	0.0	$0
Charles Darwin University	9	2	22.2	$687,381
Queensland	530	103	19.4	$44,313,411
Bond University	3	0	0.0	$0
Central Queensland University	4	0	0.0	$0
Griffith University	86	17	19.8	$6,963,716
James Cook University	18	2	11.1	$761,000
Queensland University of Technology	103	19	18.4	$7,977,670
The University of Queensland	294	61	20.7	$27,229,842
University of Southern Queensland	15	4	26.7	$1,381,183
University of the Sunshine Coast	7	0	0.0	$0
South Australia	241	39	16.2	$18,758,328
Flinders University	67	10	14.9	$5,491,549
The University of Adelaide	135	22	16.3	$10,189,703
Torrens University Australia	1	0	0.0	$0
University of South Australia	38	7	18.4	$3,077,076
Tasmania	47	14	29.8	$5,536,642
University of Tasmania	47	14	29.8	$5,536,642
Victoria	934	163	17.5	$72,135,170
Deakin University	68	12	17.6	$4,997,495
Federation University Australia	5	0	0	$0
La Trobe University	59	9	15.3	$3,488,504
Monash University	341	65	19.1	$29,736,366
RMIT University	86	17	19.8	$6,472,032
Swinburne University of Technology	52	9	17.3	$4,479,000
The University of Melbourne	316	50	15.8	$22,496,773
Victoria University	7	1	14.3	$465,000
Western Australia	165	28	17	$12,832,282
Curtin University	55	9	16.4	$3,470,825
Edith Cowan University	7	1	14.3	$447,500
Murdoch University	7	1	14.3	$495,000
The University of Notre Dame Australia	1	0	0	$0
The University of Western Australia.	95	17	17.9	$8,418,957
Total	3095	587	19.0	$258,691,272

Career age and gender

Of the 7392 Chief Investigators (CIs) named in applications in this round, 2297 were female, 5054 were male, two were indeterminate/intersex and 39 chose not to specify their gender. The success rate for female, male, indeterminate/intersex and unspecified CIs is 18.8 per cent, 19.6 per cent, 100 and 20.5 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 (0.6 per cent) are not represented in the figure below.

Figure 1. Participation and success rate of Chief Investigators in Discovery Projects 2022 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. 

International collaboration

Among 2,247 of the applications considered, applicants foreshadowed 4473 instances of collaboration with researchers in 107 overseas locations. Of the applications approved for funding, 461 foreshadowed 978 instances of collaboration with researchers in 68 overseas locations (Figure 2).

Figure 2. International collaborations by location in approved Discovery Projects 2022 applications*

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