New ARC Industry Fellowship schemes

On 1 February 2022, the Prime Minister announced the University Research Commercialisation Action Plan, a $2.2 billion investment to place university innovation and industry collaboration front and centre of Australia’s economic recovery.

It was announced, as part of this Action Plan, that the Australian Research Council (ARC) will introduce three new Industry Fellowship schemes.

The ARC’s new Industry Fellowship schemes will be supported through additional funding for the ARC’s flagship Linkage Program. These schemes will support researchers to develop cutting edge innovations and apply their research to addressing industry challenges. The fellowships will provide industry with increased access to individuals with strong technical skills, knowledge, and research capacity.

Opportunities will be available across all stages of researchers’ careers.

Early career fellowships will enhance the commercialisation and translation skills of early career researchers. They will support researchers to engage more closely with industry from the start of their careers, strengthen their universities’ connections with end-users, and open up new career pathways. 

Mid-career fellowships will harness the strong research and engagement records of mid-career researchers to conduct research into industry problems and enable them to develop their research commercialisation experience.

Industry Laureates will support world-leading researchers to connect, support and drive industry research and development activities, and to work as senior university-industry ambassadors.

Together, this suite of new fellowships aims to provide a strong pipeline of researchers, at all stages of their careers, who have a deep understanding of industry engagement and can work effectively with industry to deliver practical real-world solutions.

The ARC is working collaboratively with the Department of Education, Skills and Employment to design the fellowship schemes, which will commence from July 2022.

Further details, including program guidelines and the application process, will be made available closer to the commencement date. 

If you have any questions, please email the ARC at urcs@arc.gov.au.