Selection Report: Future Fellowships for funding commencing in 2023

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Overview

The Future Fellowships scheme reflects the Australian Government’s commitment to excellence in research by supporting excellent mid-career researchers to undertake high quality research in areas of national and international benefit.

The objectives of the Future Fellowships scheme are to:

• support excellent basic and applied research and research training by outstanding mid-career researchers to be recruited and retained by universities in continuing academic positions;
• 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 2023 opened on 5 October 2022 and closed on 30 November 2022. 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 Unless otherwise specified, data represented in this report exclude withdrawn applications.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 Future Fellowships 2023 applications were assessed and merit ranked using the following assessment criteria:

1. Investigator/Capability (50%)

Describe the quality of the candidate as per the relevant section in Table 1.

Table 1: Future Fellowship candidate.

Future Fellowship Level 1	Future Fellowship Level 2	Future Fellowship Level 3
Research Opportunity and Performance Evidence (ROPE) including record of high quality research outputs appropriate to the discipline/s; evidence of research training, mentoring and supervision; evidence of leadership capability and national research standing; and capability of the candidate to build collaborations across research organisations, industry and other disciplines both within Australia and internationally.	Research Opportunity and Performance Evidence (ROPE) including record of high quality research outputs appropriate to the discipline/s; evidence of research training, mentoring and supervision; evidence of leadership capabilities and national and emerging international research standing; and capability of the candidate to build collaborations across research organisations, industry and other disciplines both within Australia and internationally.	Research Opportunity and Performance Evidence (ROPE) including record of outstanding research outputs appropriate to the discipline/s; evidence of experience in initiating and managing large research projects; evidence of international research standing; evidence of excellence in research training, mentoring and supervision; and capability of the candidate to build collaborations across research organisations, industry and other disciplines both within Australia and internationally.

2. Project quality and innovation (25%)

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.

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 and strategic alignment (10%)

Describe the:

• cost effectiveness of the research and its value for money;
• extent to which the Future Fellowship candidate aligns with and/or complements the core or developing research strengths and staffing profile of Your organisation;
• availability of the necessary facilities to conduct the research;
• resources You will provide to support the Future Fellowship candidate during her/his Future Fellowship; and
• capacity within Your organisation to transition the candidate at the end of the Future Fellowship to a continuing position.

       If the project involves research pertaining Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander      communities 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);
• any existing or developing, supportive and high-quality relationships with Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander communities; and
• any personal affiliations with local Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander communities that can facilitate the proposed research.

Assessment process

The ARC assessment process for Future Fellowships 2023 involved 54 Selection Advisory Committee members across four discipline panels and was managed in RMS. A total of 1227 independent assessors’ reports were submitted to the ARC.

Funding levels and duration

Future Fellowships are funded for four consecutive years on a full-time basis. The annual salary contribution may be awarded at one of three salary levels, either $165,070, $199,824 or $234,573 (2022$) including 30 per cent on-costs. In addition, the ARC may provide up to $60,000 in project costs per annum.

Summary of outcomes

The ARC received a total of 505 applications for Future Fellowships for funding commencing in 2023, none of which were withdrawn.

One hundred Future Fellows are approved for funding commencing in 2023, shown in Table 2. The overall success rate for Future Fellowships for funding commencing in 2023 is 19.8 per cent. The total indicative funding approved is $97.6 million over four financial years (Table 2 and 3).

Of the unsuccessful applications in 2023, 10 were found not to meet eligibility requirements.

A comparison of success rates and funding amounts is shown in Table 2 and the overall success rate by salary level is shown in Table 3.

Table 2. Comparison of application numbers, success rates, requested and allocated funds for approved Future Fellowships applications from 2022 to 2023

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 (%)
2022	627	100	15.9	$645,938,071	$103,014,716	$94,249,836	91.5
2023	505	100	19.8	$525,788,093	$103,656,614	$97,623,550	94.2

 
Table 3. Application numbers, success rates, requested and allocated funds for approved Future Fellowships applications 2023

Salary Level	Applications considered	Applications approved	Success rate (%)	Requested funds over project life for all applications considered ($)	Requested funds over project life approved applications ($)	Funds allocated over project life approved applications ($)	Return rate for approved applications (%)
Level 1	118	27	22.9	$103,782,681	$24,066,762	$22,321,404	92.7
Level 2	184	38	20.7	$186,768,641	$38,792,134	$36,722,124	94.7
Level 3	203	35	17.2	$235,236,771	$40,797,718	$38,580,022	94.6
Total	505	100	19.8	$525,788,093	$103,656,614	$97,623,550	94.2

Outcomes by discipline

A summary of outcomes by discipline panel is shown in Table 4.

Table 4. Application numbers, success rates and requested and allocated funds for approved Future Fellowships 2023 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	99	22	22.2	$99,859,213	$22,760,153	$21,378,833	93.9
EIC	130	24	18.5	$134,236,076	$24,084,491	$22,831,205	94.8
HSE	181	31	17.1	$196,472,778	$33,383,444	$31,636,460	94.8
MPCE	95	23	24.2	$95,220,026	$23,428,526	$21,777,052	93.0
Total	505	100	19.8	$525,788,093	$103,656,614	$97,623,550	94.2

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

Outcomes by Administering Organisation

A summary of outcomes by Administering Organisation is shown in Table 5.

Table 5. Number of applications and success rates for approved Future Fellowships 2023 applications by Administering Organisation

Administering Organisation	Applications considered	Applications approved	Success rate (%)	Funds over project life for approved applications ($)
Australian Capital Territory	36	9	25.0	$8,981,812
The Australian National University	35	9	25.7	$8,981,812
University of Canberra	1	0	0.0	$0
New South Wales	178	29	16.3	$28,231,639
Australian Catholic University	5	1	20.0	$770,338
Macquarie University	14	6	42.9	$6,040,628
Southern Cross University	1	0	0.0	$0
The University of New South Wales	57	8	14.0	$7,798,249
The University of Newcastle	15	0	0.0	$0
The University of Sydney	46	8	17.4	$7,906,049
University of Technology Sydney	23	3	13.0	$2,840,566
University of Wollongong	12	3	25.0	$2,875,809
Western Sydney University	5	0	0.0	$0
Queensland	99	18	18.2	$17,262,343
Griffith University	16	1	6.3	$968,816
James Cook University	4	0	0.0	$0
Queensland University of Technology	17	4	23.5	$4,187,665
The University of Queensland	57	11	19.3	$10,246,770
University of Southern Queensland	3	2	66.7	$1,859,092
University of the Sunshine Coast	2	0	0.0	$0
South Australia	28	12	42.9	$12,077,905
Flinders University	9	4	44.4	$4,450,195
The University of Adelaide	15	8	53.3	$7,627,710
University of South Australia	4	0	0.0	$0
Tasmania	4	1	25.0	$966,706
University of Tasmania	4	1	25.0	$966,706
Victoria	128	25	19.5	$24,311,178
Deakin University	12	3	25.0	$2,659,702
La Trobe University	8	0	0.0	$0
Monash University	30	6	20.0	$5,924,467
RMIT University	15	3	20.0	$3,146,276
Swinburne University of Technology	11	2	18.2	$1,752,303
The University of Melbourne	50	10	20.0	$9,841,996
University of Divinity	1	0	0.0	$0
Victoria University	1	1	100.0	$986,434
Western Australia	32	6	18.8	$5,791,967
Curtin University	13	1	7.7	$839,280
Edith Cowan University	2	0	0.0	$0
Murdoch University	2	0	0.0	$0
The University of Western Australia	15	5	33.3	$4,952,687
Total	505	100	19.8	$97,623,550

Career age and gender

Of the 505 Future Fellowship candidates in this round, 179 were female, 322 were male, 1 was Indeterminate/Intersex and 3 chose not to specify gender. The success rate for female, male, Indeterminate/Intersex and unspecified candidates in this round is 19.6 per cent, 20.2 per cent and 0.0 per cent respectively.

Success rates of Future Fellowship candidates by career age and gender in the current Future Fellowship round are presented in Figure 1.

At the closing time of submission of applications, of the 505 candidates, 424 were between 5 and 15 years of the award of their PhD and 81 were beyond 15 years of the award of their PhD. To be eligible to apply for Future Fellowships, the latter group of researchers had their significant career interruptions certified by their Administering Organisation.

Of the approved Future Fellows, 84 candidates were between 5 and 15 years of the award of their PhD and 16 were beyond 15 years of the award of their PhD.

Figure 1. Participation and success rate of Future Fellowships 2023 candidate 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. 

Attracting and retaining outstanding researchers

Applications were open to Eligible Organisations to nominate candidates who are outstanding mid-career researchers of international repute, resident either within Australia or overseas (Table 6).

Table 6. Citizenship/residency status of Future Fellowships 2023 candidates and approved Awardees

Citizenship/residency status	Applications considered	% of Applications considered	Applications approved	Success rate (%)
Foreign Nationals	34	6.7	8	23.5
Resident Australians	456	90.3	88	19.3
Returning Australians	15	3.0	4	26.7
Total	505	100	100	19.8

Note: All totals and percentages are shown using rounded figures, and as such may not sum.

International collaboration

Among 505 of the applications considered, applicants foreshadowed 1,357 instances of collaboration with researchers in 85 overseas locations. Of the applications approved for funding, applicants foreshadowed 296 instances of collaboration with researchers in 42 overseas locations (Figure 2).

Figure 2. International collaborations by location in approved Future Fellowships 2023 applications*

*The top 11 international collaboration locations are listed in Figure 2 and the remaining are grouped in the ‘Other’ category.