Selection Report: Linkage Projects 2021 Round 1

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Overview

The Linkage Projects scheme supports projects which initiate or develop long term strategic research alliances to apply advanced knowledge to problems, acquire new knowledge and as a basis for securing commercial and other benefits of research.

The objectives of the Linkage Projects scheme are to:

• support the development of long-term strategic research alliances between higher education organisations and industry and other research end-users, in order to apply advanced knowledge to problems;
• provide opportunities for internationally competitive research projects to be conducted in collaboration with organisations outside the higher education sector; and
• enhance the scale and focus of research in Australian Government priority areas.

Selection process 

Applications for Linkage Projects 2021 Assessment Round 1 opened on 18 December 2020 and closed on 13 April 2021. Applications were submitted using a continuous application process, this is the first of the three assessment rounds for this scheme. 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 outcomes are based on advice from the ARC Selection Advisory Committees (SAC) which:

• assigned independent assessors to review the applications
• 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 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 Unless otherwise specified, data presented in this report exclude withdrawn applications.

Assessment Criteria

All applications that meet the eligibility criteria for Linkage Projects 2021 (Round 1) were assessed and merit ranked using the following assessment criteria:

Investigator(s)/Capability (25%)

Describe the quality of the candidates’ Research Opportunity and Performance Evidence (ROPE) including evidence of:

• potential to engage in collaborative research with end-users;
• experience in research training, mentoring and supervision; and
• time and capacity to undertake and manage the proposed research in collaboration with the Partner Organisation(s).

Project quality and innovation (25%)

Describe the extent to which the project is significant and innovative including:

• any new methods or technologies to be developed that address a specific market opportunity;
• how the anticipated outcomes will advance the knowledge base to address an important problem and/or provide an end-user and/or industry advantage;
• how the project’s aims and concepts are novel and innovative; and
• how the project will significantly enhance links with industry and/or other organisations outside the Australian publicly-funded research and higher education sectors.

Describe the research approach and training including:

• the conceptual framework, design, methods and analyses, demonstrating these are adequately developed, well integrated and appropriate to the aims of the project; and
• the intellectual content and scale of the work proposed is appropriate to a higher degree by research student where relevant.

Feasibility and commitment (20%)

Describe:

• the extent to which the project represents value for money;
• the supportive and high quality environment for this research in the Administering Organisation and the Partner Organisation(s);
• the availability of the necessary facilities to conduct the research;
• the commitment of each Partner Organisation to collaboration in the research project and capacity to implement the outcomes of the research; and
• the adequacy of the budget, including cash and in-kind contributions pledged by the participating organisations.

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.

Benefit (30%)

Describe:

• the new or advanced knowledge resulting from outcomes of the research;
• the economic, commercial, environmental, social and/or cultural benefits for relevant Australian research end-users (including relevant industry sectors);
• the potential contribution to building capacity in the Australian Government’s National Science and Research Priorities and other priorities identified by Government;
• benefits of the research for Partner Organisation(s) and other relevant end-users;
• the contribution of the research to developing strategic research alliances between the higher education organisation(s) and industry and/or other organisation(s);
• strategies to encourage dissemination, commercialisation, and if appropriate, the promotion of research outcomes; and
• where relevant, the extent to which the applicants have identified the freedom to operate in the Intellectual Property and patent landscape to enable future benefits to industry and/or end-users.

Assessment process 

The ARC assessment process for Linkage Projects 2021 (Round 1) involved 17 SAC members as part of one multidisciplinary panel and was managed in RMS. A total of 538 independent assessors’ reports were submitted to the ARC.

Funding levels and duration

Funding of between $50,000 and $300,000 per annum for up to five years may be awarded for each Linkage Projects application.

Summary of outcomes 

The ARC received a total of 156 applications for Linkage Projects 2021 (Round 1), none of which were withdrawn.

The overall success rate for Linkage Projects for funding applied for in 2021 (Round 1) is 33.3 per cent.

Of the unsuccessful applications, one was found to not meet eligibility requirements.

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 Projects applications from 2020 (Rounds 1, 2 and 3) and 2021 (Round 1)

Scheme Round	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 (Round 1)	180	61	33.9	$87,268,182	$30,685,046	$26,881,001	87.6
2020 (Round 2)	259	67	25.9	$138,269,232	$36,054,450	$30,666,575	85.1
2020 (Round 3)	276	67	24.3	$140,742,080	$36,563,401	$31,724,738	86.8
2021 (Round 1)	156	52	33.3	$79,107,431	$27,924,670	$24,453,512	87.6

*May include indicative funds

Outcomes by discipline 

A summary of outcome by discipline is shown in Table 2.

Table 2. Application numbers, success rates and requested and allocated funds for approved Linkage Projects 2021 (Round 1) 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 (%)
BEM	26	7	26.9	$13,950,363	$3,779,879	$3,586,000	94.9
ET	49	18	36.7	$25,934,213	$9,819,880	$8,709,002	88.7
HSE	45	15	33.3	$21,212,040	$8,000,901	$6,471,314	80.9
PMI	36	12	33.3	$18,010,815	$6,324,010	$5,687,196	89.9
Total	156	52	33.3	$79,107,431	$27,924,670	$24,453,512	87.6

*BEM = Biological Sciences, Biotechnology, Environmental, Medical and Health Sciences; ET = Engineering and Technology; HSE = Humanities and Creative Arts, Social, Behavioural and Economic Sciences; PMI = Physical, Mathematical and Information 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 Projects 2021 (Round 1) applications by Science and Research Priorities

Science and Research Priorities	Applications considered	Applications approved	Success rate (%)	Approved funds over project life ($)
Advanced Manufacturing	28	10	35.7	$5,554,550
Cybersecurity	8	0	0	-
Energy	11	6	54.5	$2,381,816
Environmental Change	20	6	30.0	$2,961,578
Food	8	2	25.0	$1,346,688
Health	24	10	41.7	$4,688,777
Resources	9	3	33.3	$1,059,884
Soil and Water	11	2	18.2	$1,375,926
Transport	9	4	44.4	$1,441,964
None selected	28	9	32.1	$3,642,329
Total Applications	156	52	33.3	$24,453,512
Total Applications within Science and Research Priorities	128	43	33.6	$20,811,183
Percentage within Science and Research Priorities (%)	82.1	82.7		85.1

Leverage of ARC funding 

Of the 156 applications considered, 52 were approved with a total approved funding, of $24.5 million over the life of these projects. There are 104 unique Partner Organisations involved with these projects and they have pledged a total (cash and in-kind) of $36.5 million. This represents $1.49 from Partner Organisations for every dollar funded by the ARC.

Outcomes by Administering Organisation 

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

Table 4. Numbers of applications, success rates, ARC approved funding and Partner Organisation contributions for approved Linkage Projects 2021 (Round 1) applications by Administering Organisation

Administering Organisation	Applications considered	Applications approved	Success rate (%)	ARC approved funding over project life (approved applications)	Partner Organisation contributions (cash & in-kind) over project life (approved applications)
Australian Capital Territory	5	1	20.0	$238,000	*
The Australian National University	5	1	20.0	$238,000	*
New South Wales	62	19	30.6	$8,983,550	$15,720,908
Australian Catholic University	4	1	25.0	$777,000	*
Macquarie University	4	1	25.0	$459,593	*
Southern Cross University	1	1	100.0	$429,569	*
The University of New South Wales	17	5	29.4	$1,960,137	$4,128,321
The University of Newcastle	5	2	40.0	$909,009	$1,160,000
The University of Sydney	12	6	50.0	$2,974,768	$4,470,695
University of Technology Sydney	10	3	30.0	$1,473,474	$2,417,736
University of Wollongong	5	0	0	-	-
Western Sydney University	4	0	0	-	-
Northern Territory	1	1	100.0	$532,815	*
Charles Darwin University	1	1	100.0	$532,815	*
Queensland	27	9	33.3	$3,171,055	$3,733,635
Griffith University	7	0	0	-	-
James Cook University	1	0	0	-	-
Queensland University of Technology	6	3	50.0	$837,077	$1,009,412
The University of Queensland	10	5	50.0	$1,635,537	$1,824,223
The University of Southern Queensland	1	1	100.0	$698,441	*
University of Sunshine Coast	2	0	0	-	-
South Australia	10	6	60.0	$2,880,791	$3,962,188
Flinders University	5	2	40.0	$1,667,959	$2,107,724
The University of Adelaide	4	3	75.0	$927,194	$1,495,064
University of South Australia	1	1	100.0	$285,638	*
Tasmania	5	1	20.0	$478,589	*
University of Tasmania	5	1	20.0	$478,589	*
Victoria	30	6	20.0	$3,056,884	$4,002,432
La Trobe University	5	2	40.0	$1,084,189	$1,432,779
Monash University	10	1	10.0	$617,990	*
RMIT University	3	0	0	-	-
Swinburne University of Technology	4	1	25.0	$470,000	*
The University of Melbourne	8	2	25.0	$884,705	$1,017,637
Western Australia	16	9	56.3	$5,111,828	$7,557,762
Curtin University	4	1	25.0	$290,831	*
Edith Cowan University	2	1	50.0	$499,654	*
Murdoch University	2	1	50.0	$1,069,066	*
The University of Western Australia	8	6	75.0	$3,252,277	$4,691,804
Total	156	52	33.3	$24,453,512	$36,478,542

* For confidentiality reasons, total contributions by Partner Organisations are not shown in instances in which Administering Organisations are associated with one approved application only. The Table 4 total does, however, include the total contributions by Partner Organisations on approved Projects associated with those Administering Organisations.

Partner Organisations were identified as Australian, international, government, non-profit, industry or overseas higher education organisations. The Partner Organisation contributions in these categories for Linkage Projects 2021 (Round 1) applications approved for funding are shown below in Table 5.

Table 5. Partner Organisation contributions by sector for approved Linkage Projects 2021 (Round 1) applications

Type		Cash		In-Kind		Total
		$	%	$	%	$	%
Government
Australian Federal		$113,900	1.2	$1,078,606	4.1	$1,192,506	3.3
Australian state, territory and local		$1,133,900	11.5	$3,516,834	13.2	$4,650,734	12.7
	Sub-total	$1,247,800	12.6	$4,595,440	17.3	$5,843,240	16.0
Industry Body
Australian		$6,102,419	61.8	$12,200,630	45.9	$18,303,049	50.2
International		$440,000	4.5	$1,516,318	5.7	$1,956,318	5.4
	Sub-total	$6,542,419	66.3	$13,716,948	51.6	$20,259,367	55.5
Non-profit
Australian		$1,196,753	12.1	$6,594,505	24.8	$7,791,258	21.4
International		$125,000	1.3	$287,822	1.1	412,822	1.1
	Sub-total	$1,321,753	13.4	$6,882,327	25.9	$8,204,080	22.5
Higher Education
International		$0	0.0	$89,463	0.3	$89,463	0.2
	Sub-total	$0	0.0	$89,463	0.3	$89,463	0.2
Other
Other		$760,900	7.7	$1,321,492	5.0	$2,082,392	5.7
	Sub-total	$760,900	7.7	$1,321,492	5.0	$2,082,392	5.7
	Total	$9,872,872	100	$26,605,670	100	$36,478,542	100

Note: All percentages are shown using rounded figures, and as such may not sum to 100%.

Partnerships 

Linkage Projects applications represent partnerships between researchers, higher education organisations and other organisations, as well as collaborations between Partner Organisations within projects. There are a total of 107 instances of collaboration with Partner Organisations (including multiple collaborations with a number of organisations) in Linkage Projects 2021 (Round 1) giving an average of 2.06 Partner Organisations involved in each application. These partnerships form congruent and/or complementary linkages in Fields of Research (FoR). A summary of the FoR categories identified by applicants of approved applications and the total Partner Organisation contributions are shown below in Table 6.

Table 6. Application data by Field of Research category for Linkage Projects 2021 (Round 1)

Field of Research category	Number of applications approved#	Partner Organisation contributions (cash & in-kind) over project life (approved applications)
Mathematical Sciences	1	*
Physical Sciences	1	*
Chemical Sciences	4	$2,597,221
Earth Sciences	3	$2,480,561
Environmental Sciences	3	$2,022,167
Biological Sciences	3	$1,735,775
Agricultural and Veterinary Sciences	1	*
Information and Computing Sciences	3	$2,392,231
Engineering	16	$11,527,853
Technology	2	$1,619,896
Medical and Health Sciences	2	$2,192,231
Built Environment and Design	1	*
Education	2	$2,749,999
Commerce, Management, Tourism and Services	1	*
Studies in Human Society	4	$1,335,436
Law and Legal Studies	1	*
Studies in Creative Arts and Writing	1	*
History and Archaeology	3	$1,839,972
Total	52	$36,478,542

# Based on the primary FoR

*For confidentiality reasons, total contributions by Partner Organisations are not shown in instances in which FoR codes are associated with one approved application only. The Table 6 total does, however, include the total contributions by Partner Organisations on approved Projects associated with those FoR codes.

Career age and gender 

Of the 543 Chief Investigators (CIs) in this round, 189 were female, 353 were male and one chose not to specify their gender. The success rate for female, male and unspecified CIs in Linkage Projects 2021 (Round 1) is 35.4 per cent, 34.0 and 100 per cent respectively. 

Success rates of CIs by career age and gender in Linkage Projects 2021 (Round 1) are presented in Figure 1. CIs who did not provide gender information (0.2 per cent) and CIs who did not specify the date of completion of their PhD (or equivalent) or who do not hold a PhD (2.2 per cent) are not represented in the figure below.

Figure 1. Participation and success rate of Chief Investigators (CIs) in Linkage Projects 2021 (Round 1) 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 

In the 156 applications considered, applicants foreshadowed 129 instances of collaboration with researchers in 39 overseas locations. Of the applications approved for funding, 26 foreshadowed 45 instances of collaboration with researchers in 21 overseas locations (Figure 2).

Figure 2. International collaborations by location on approved Linkage Projects 2021 (Round 1) applications*

 

*The top 8 international collaboration locations are listed in Figure 2 and the remaining locations are grouped in the ‘Other’ category.