Selection Report: Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities 2020

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Overview

The Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities scheme provides funding for research infrastructure, equipment and facilities to Eligible Organisations. It enables researchers to participate in cooperative initiatives so that expensive research infrastructure, equipment and facilities can be shared between higher education organisations and also with Industry. The scheme also fosters collaboration through its support of the cooperative use of international or national research facilities.

The objectives of the Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities scheme are to:

• encourage Eligible Organisations to develop collaborative arrangements with other Eligible Organisations and/or Partner Organisations to develop and support research infrastructure;
• support large-scale national or international cooperative initiatives allowing expensive research infrastructure to be shared and/or accessed;
• support areas of existing and/or emerging research strength; and
• support and develop research infrastructure for the broader research community.

Selection Process

Applications for funding commencing in 2020 opened on 23 January 2019, and closed on 20 March 2019. Applications were submitted through the Australian Research Council (ARC) Research Management System (RMS). This report outlines the outcomes from the selection process for that round.

The ARC Chief Executive Officer (CEO) provided recommendations to the Minister based on advice from the ARC Selection Advisory Committee (SAC) which:

• assessed applications and reviewed assessments made by independent assessors
• reviewed applicants’ comments on assessors’ reports
• ranked each application relative to the others on the basis of the application, the assessors’ reports and applicants’ 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 ARC SAC 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 Unless otherwise specified, data presented in this report exclude withdrawn applications.

Assessment Criteria

Assessment criteria and corresponding weightings for Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities 2020 applications are: 

Project Quality and Innovation	(25%)
Feasibility	(25%)
Investigator(s)	(20%)
Benefit	(30%)

The ARC assessment process for Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities 2020 used 16 SAC members and was managed in the RMS. A total of 524 independent assessors’ reports were submitted to the ARC.

Funding levels and duration

The minimum level of funding provided by the ARC under Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities 2020 is $150,000 per annum and the maximum level of funding cannot exceed 75 per cent of the total direct cost of the eligible budget item(s). Funding is provided for up to one year; or, up to five consecutive years for construction of research infrastructure, or subscription or coordinated access to international facilities and major national facilities.

Summary of Outcomes

The ARC received a total of 164 applications for Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities for funding commencing in 2020. This represents a 14 per cent increase from the 144 Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities applications received for funding commencing in 2019. Of the unsuccessful applications, three did not meet eligibility requirements. 

The overall success rate for Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities for funding commencing in 2020 is 28.7 per cent, with a similar percentage of allocation of requested funds compared to funding that commenced in 2019. A comparison of success rates and funding amounts is shown in Table 1.

Table 1. Comparison of application numbers, success rates, requested and allocated funds for approved Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities applications from 2019 to 2020

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 (%)
2019	144	36	25.0	$111,480,217	$29,520,578	$27,421,223	92.9
2020	164	47	28.7	$116,305,596	$33,144,068	$30,672,752	92.5

*May include indicative funds

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 Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities 2020 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	31	8	25.8	$21,837,505	$6,798,747	$6,173,000	90.8
EIC	53	14	26.4	$36,217,638	$8,238,788	$7,723,750	93.7
HCA	8	1	12.5	$5,800,943	$1,228,182	$1,100,000	89.6
MPCE	67	23	34.3	$48,771,989	$16,258,934	$15,096,002	92.8
SBE	5	1	20.0	$3,677,521	$619,417	$580,000	93.6
Total	164	47	28.7	$116,305,596	$33,144,068	$30,672,752	92.5

 ​​​​*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

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 Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities 2020 applications by Science and Research Priorities

Science and Research Priorities	Applications considered	Applications approved	Success rate (%)	Approved funds over project life ($)
Advanced manufacturing	63	21	33.3	$14,678,752
Cybersecurity	2	0	0	-
Energy	13	3	23.1	$1,743,000
Environmental change	18	4	22.2	$1,900,000
Food	5	3	60.0	$2,945,000
Health	9	3	33.3	$2,425,000
Resources	12	2	16.7	$1,310,000
Soil and water	7	2	28.6	$860,000
Transport	6	1	16.7	$475,000
Unspecified	29	8	27.6	$4,336,000
Total	164	47	28.7	$30,672,752
Total within Science and Research Priorities	135	39	28.9	$26,336,752
Percentage within Science and Research Priorities (%)	82.3	83.0		85.9

Outcomes by Administering Organisation

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

Table 4. Number of applications and success rates for approved Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities 2020 applications by Administering Organisation

Administering  Organisation	Applications considered	Applications approved	Success rate (%)	Funds over project life for approved applications ($)
Australian Capital Territory	10	2	20.0	$1,232,000
The Australian National University	10	2	20.0	$1,232,000
New South Wales	55	17	30.9	$10,067,697
Macquarie University	5	0	0	-
Southern Cross University	5	3	60.0	$1,320,000
The University of New South Wales	17	6	35.3	$4,422,947
The University of Newcastle	5	2	40.0	$1,160,000
The University of Sydney	13	3	23.1	$1,989,000
University of Technology Sydney	3	1	33.3	$400,000
University of Wollongong	5	1	20.0	$245,750
Western Sydney University	2	1	50.0	$530,000
Queensland	16	3	18.8	$2,309,000
Griffith University	1	1	100	$744,000
Queensland University of Technology	5	0	0	-
The University of Queensland	9	2	22.2	$1,565,000
University of Southern Queensland	1	0	0	-
South Australia	8	1	12.5	$950,000
Flinders University	1	0	0	-
The University of Adelaide	4	0	0	-
University of South Australia	3	1	33.3	$950,000
Tasmania	6	1	16.7	$420,000
University of Tasmania	6	1	16.7	$420,000
Victoria	53	16	30.2	$10,820,055
Deakin University	1	1	100	$475,000
Federation University Australia	1	0	0	-
La Trobe University	2	2	100	$1,700,000
Monash University	22	6	27.3	$3,943,000
RMIT University	9	1	11.1	$535,000
Swinburne University of Technology	4	1	25.0	$580,000
The University of Melbourne	14	5	35.7	$3,587,055
Western Australia	16	7	43.8	$4,874,000
Curtin University	5	3	60.0	$1,480,000
The University of Western Australia	11	4	36.4	$3,394,000
Total	164	47	28.7	$30,672,752

Gender

Of the 1675 Chief Investigators (CIs) in this round, 357 were female CIs and 1318 were male CIs. The success rate for female and male CIs in this round of Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities is 30.5 per cent and 28.1 per cent respectively. 

Collaboration with Other Eligible Organisations, Partner Organisations and Other Organisations 

Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities applications are expected to develop collaborative arrangements with Other Eligible Organisations and/or Partner Organisations and Other Organisations. 

The success rate for applications with one Eligible Organisation (the Administering Organisation) is 14.3 per cent. A summary of success rates by number of Eligible Organisations is shown in Table 5.

Table 5. Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities 2020 application success rates by number of Eligible Organisations

Number of Eligible Organisations	Number of applications considered	Number of applications approved	Success rate within band (%)
1*	7	1	14.3
2	19	8	42.1
3	39	9	23.1
4	31	10	32.3
5	33	11	33.3
6	18	2	11.1
7	3	1	33.3
8	8	2	25.0
9	2	2	100
10	3	1	33.3
11	1	0	0
Total	164	47	28.7

* An application with only one Eligible Organisation (the Administering Organisation) may or may not include Partner Organisations and/or Other Organisations.  

A summary of application success rates by number of collaborating organisations is shown in Table 6. Applications involving collaboration with five Eligible Organisations, Partner Organisations and/or Other Organisations have the highest success rate - 54.8 per cent.

Table 6. Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities 2020 application success rates by number of collaborating organisations

Number of collaborating organisations*	Number of applications considered	Number of applications approved	Success rate within band (%)
1	3	0	0
2	13	4	30.8
3	25	5	20.0
4	26	6	23.1
5	31	17	54.8
6	25	4	16.0
7	12	6	50.0
8	11	0	0
9	6	2	33.3
10	4	1	25.0
11	5	1	20.0
12	2	1	50.0
14	1	0	0
Total	164	47	28.7

* Collaborating organisations include the Administering Organisation, Other Eligible Organisations, Partner Organisations and Other Organisations. There were no applications with 13 collaborating organisations. 

International Collaboration

Among 164 of the applications considered, applicants foreshadowed 288 instances of collaboration with researchers in 42 overseas locations. Of the applications approved for funding, 25 foreshadowed 80 instances of collaboration with researchers in 21 overseas locations (Figure 1).

Figure 1. International collaborations by location in approved Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities 2020 applications*

*The top 13 international collaboration locations are listed in Figure 1 and the remaining locations are grouped in the ‘Other’ category.

Leverage of ARC funding

On Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities 2020 applications approved for funding, for every dollar funded by the ARC the proposed dollar contribution of the collaborating organisations listed on these applications is $1.46. The leverage of ARC funds for approved applications is shown in Table 7.

Table 7. Leverage of ARC funds for approved applications

Number of applications approved	Approved ARC funding	Number of unique collaborating organisations*	Incidence of involvement of collaborating organisations*	Collaborating organisation* Cash and In-kind contribution	Leverage (Collaborating organisation* contribution/ARC approved funding)
47	$30,672,752	61	249	$44,775,762	$1.46

 *Collaborating organisations include the Administering Organisation, Other Eligible Organisations, Partner Organisations and Other Organisations.

Summary of Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities applications approved for funding

A summary of the Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities applications approved for funding commencing in 2020, by Administering Organisation is outlined in Table 8. The application titles indicate the variety of equipment, infrastructure and facilities supported in this scheme round.

Table 8.  Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities applications approved for funding commencing in 2020

Applications approved for funding	Administering Organisation	Lead CI
A particle detector array for the Murchison Widefield Array	Curtin University	Dr Clancy James
Returning WA Rapid Acquisition Fluorescent Microscopy to the cutting edge.		Prof John Mamo
WA CRC-MC-ICPMS for Earth, Planetary and Environmental science		Prof Noreen Evans
A high-payload, high-fidelity haptically-enabled motion simulation facility	Deakin University	Prof Saeid Nahavandi
Multi-kilohertz laser for attosecond and ultrafast science	Griffith University	A/Prof Igor Litvinyuk
A platform consortium for integrated 'systems-omics' research	La Trobe University	Prof Tony Bacic
X-Ray Nanolithography Facility: Towards the ultimate resolution		Dr Grant Van Riessen
A facility for quantification and isotopic analysis of trace gases	Monash University	Prof Perran Cook
A triple beam microscope: new frontiers in materials nanocharacterisation		Dr Amelia Liu
Fast Disk Storage to Enable Big Data Science in Weather, Oceans and Climate		Prof Michael Reeder
Integrated Functional Printing Facility for Advanced Material Technologies		Prof Mainak Majumder
New generation direct electron detector for cryo-electron microscopy		Dr Georg Ramm
The 3D Nanofabrication Facility		Prof Nicolas Voelcker
Photonic Chip Integration Facility	RMIT University	Prof Arnan Mitchell
A 4D habitat-modelling facility to support marine ecological research	Southern Cross University	Prof Brendan Kelaher
An Equilibrium Inlet-Proton Transfer Reaction-Mass Spectrometer		Prof Bradley Eyre
New frontier in Geoscience: A tandem trace element and isotopes facility		Dr Renaud Joannes-Boyau
Data Co-operative Platform for Social Impact and Wellbeing	Swinburne University of Technology	Prof Jane Farmer
Advanced Multifunctional Electro-Opto-Magneto-Mechanical Analysis Platform	The Australian National University	A/Prof Yuerui Lu
Exploring the Dynamic Universe with DREAMS		Prof Anna Moore
Crossing the biology meso-nanoscale divide by scanning electron microscopy	The University of Melbourne	Prof Geoffrey McFadden
Live Cell Super Resolution Imaging Facility		Prof Frank Caruso
National Facility for Quantum Diamond		Dr David Simpson
Single Particle Elemental Analysis – Imaging Mass Cytometer Facility		Prof Amanda Ellis
Ultrafast Laser Spectroscopy Facility		A/Prof Trevor Smith
A 4-D X-Ray Microscopy Laboratory	The University of New South Wales	Prof Klaus Regenauer-Lieb
Australian Rheo-Scattering Facilities		A/Prof Patrick Spicer
Cryogenic Scanning Microwave Measurement Facility for Quantum Materials		Prof Alexander Hamilton
High Performance Solid State NMR Spectroscopy for Materials Research		Prof Martina Stenzel
In situ Environmental Electron Microscope Facility		Prof Richard Tilley
Next generation facility to measure microfluidic flows		Dr Charitha de Silva
Adaptive Electrical Capacitance Volume Tomography for Multiphase Flows	The University of Newcastle	Prof Behdad Moghtaderi
Synthetic Biology: from Genomics to Valuable Bioproducts		Prof Brett Neilan
Electrophysiology Platform for Ion-channel Characterisation	The University of Queensland	Prof Glenn King
An integrated, multi-nodal bio-layer interferometry facility		A/Prof Bryan Fry
High Resolution PET-CT for Small Animal Molecular and Anatomical Imaging	The University of Sydney	Prof Steven Meikle
Rapid Molecular (Bio)material Imaging by Infrared and Raman Microscopies		Prof Peter Lay
Whopping Volta GPU Cluster – Transforming Artificial Intelligence Research		Prof Dacheng Tao
A next-generation receiver for Radio Astronomy	The University of Western Australia	Prof Lister Staveley-Smith
Australian Seismic Imaging Array		Prof Li Ju
Quantitative Movies of Nanoscale Dynamics by Video Atomic Force Microscopy		Prof Rob Atkin
The Digitisation Centre of Western Australia (Phase 1)		Prof Benjamin Smith
Protein Quantitation Centre of South Australia renewal for Systems Biology	University of South Australia	Prof Peter Hoffmann
Rapid Deployment Seismic Recorders for Interdisciplinary Antarctic Research	University of Tasmania	Prof Anya Reading
3D Nanofabrication and Nanocharacterisation facility	University of Technology Sydney	Prof Igor Aharonovich
An upgraded nanoindenter facility with in-situ Raman at high temperature	University of Wollongong	Prof Kiet Tieu
A major upgrade to the Australia Telescope Compact Array	Western Sydney University	Prof Raymond Norris