The ARC administers the National Competitive Grants Program (NCGP). NCGP grants support the highest quality early-stage research. The NCGP supports: excellent research that advances knowledge and understanding projects led by researchers and research teams across all career stages research capability, workforce development and training partnerships across universities, industry, government and international collaborations research infrastructure supporting internationally competitive research. A revitalised NCGP Following a comprehensive review, the NCGP will be revitalised. The review sets a clear direction for a simpler, more coherent program that will make it easier to access funding and navigate the system, while continuing to support excellent research across Australia. The NCGP will transition from 15 existing schemes to 7 new schemes. New schemes will be introduced progressively from 2027. The NCGP Scheme Calendar outlines upcoming opportunities during this transition. Existing schemes will continue for a period before being progressively retired. The ARC is committed to managing a smooth transition and will continue to engage with stakeholders throughout implementation. Find out more about these changes: A revitalised program for Australia’s research future - changes to the NCGP Find out about upcoming changes to the NCGP and the benefits for researchers, institutions and other collaborators including industry. New NCGP Schemes – Overview Find out more about the new NCGP schemes, including transition timelines and information resources. Changes to the NCGP - FAQ Find answers to frequently asked questions about upcoming changes to the NCGP. Scheme Calendar Key timeframes for NCGP scheme rounds. New Schemes The revitalised NCGP features a unified set of 7 new schemes and 1 sub-scheme. These are presented below according to their primary focus and benefit of supporting researchers, projects and collaboration, or infrastructure. As the ARC delivers new schemes under a revitalised NCGP, further information will be released progressively. The first scheme to launch is Explore, a high-risk, high-reward scheme supporting exploratory research to test innovative ideas with the potential to be highly transformative. Explore is expected to open in March 2027. Indicative timings for the launch of new schemes are available here: New NCGP Schemes – Overview Supporting Researchers Initiate Fellowships Initiate Fellowships will support Early Career Researchers (ECRs). These grants will provide salary and project funding for ECRs for a period up to 3 years. Indigenous Excellence Indigenous Excellence will support early and mid-career Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander researchers to undertake research projects in any discipline.’ Lead and Mentor Lead and Mentor will support mid-career and senior researchers to pursue investigator-led projects while mentoring a team of ECRs. Supporting Projects and Collaboration Breakthrough Breakthrough will support projects to address a significant problem or gap in knowledge. Collaborate Collaborate will encourage and support research alliances within Australia and internationally. Projects under the scheme will engage with research institutions, industry and a broad range of other research partners. Explore A program focused on high-risk, high- reward research. It supports researchers and teams to pursue transformative exploratory research projects. Prioritise Prioritise will support major and long-term collaborative research projects. These projects will respond to emerging opportunities and national priorities. Supporting Infrastructure Collaborate: Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities (CIEF) A sub-scheme of Collaborate, this scheme will support the creation of and access to medium-sized collaborative research infrastructure beyond the capacity of a single institution to fund. Existing Schemes To provide continuity and a smooth transition, selected schemes will continue until Explore opens in March 2027. This includes additional rounds of Laureate Fellowships (FT), Discovery Indigenous (IN), Industrial Transformation Research Program (ITRP) and Future Fellowships (FT) in 2026, and Discovery Projects (DP28) opening early 2027. To support the transition to the new NCGP, the ARC has made key changes to the existing schemes, including: IN27 invites only Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander researchers to hold Chief Investigator roles, reflecting the scheme’s focus on Indigenous-led research across all disciplines, reinforcing Indigenous leadership and strengthening Australia’s Indigenous researcher workforce ITRP27 will provide increased funding to support the rising costs of implementation of these large-scale projects DP28 will not use an Expression of Interest (EoI) step and revert to a single-step full application process. Further details on these schemes, including grant opportunity guidelines and supporting documentation will be provided as they are confirmed. The NCGP Scheme Calendar will be updated to reflect timing for additional rounds of existing schemes. Discovery Fundamental research and researchers: Linkage Collaborative research, partnerships and infrastructure including: Discovery Projects (DP) Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DECRA) Future Fellowships Australian Laureate Fellowships Discovery Indigenous ARC Centres of Excellence Industrial Transformation Research Program Linkage Projects Special Research Initiatives Industry Fellowships Industry Laureate Fellowships Discovery Supporting excellent, internationally competitive research by individuals and teams. Linkage Supporting cooperative approaches to research. This includes partnerships with business, industry and the community sector.