Selection Report: Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities 2022

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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:

• support excellent basic and applied research and research training through the acquisition of research equipment and infrastructure and access to national and international research facilities; and
• encourage Eligible Organisations to develop collaborative arrangements with other Eligible Organisations and/or Partner Organisations for the acquisition and use of research equipment and infrastructure or access to national and international facilities;

Selection process

Applications for funding commencing in 2022 opened on 27 January 2021, and closed on 31 March 2021. 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 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 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 Unless otherwise specified, data presented in this report exclude withdrawn applications.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 Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities 2022 were assessed and merit ranked using the following assessment criteria:

Investigator(s)/Capability (20%)

Describe the:

• demonstrated record in these activities (for CIs and PIs who will manage the purchase, design, manufacture, installation, maintenance and coordination of access to the proposed research infrastructure); and
• relevance of the research infrastructure to the research capacity and planned activities of each CI and PI on the application and, where relevant, to the research groups represented on the application.

Project quality and innovation (25%)

Describe the:

• aims and significance of the research that will be supported by LIEF funding;
• relevance of the proposed research infrastructure to the needs of ARC and other competitively funded research projects/programs;
• importance of equipment for the training of research students;
• enhancement of support for areas of existing and/or emerging research strength; and
• demonstrated national or international focus for large scale cooperative initiatives.

Feasibility and strategic alignment (25%)

Describe the:

• extent to which the project represents value for money;
• feasibility of the plan to use the research infrastructure;
• relevance of the research to the strategic priorities of the organisations;
• evidence that each of the organisations is genuinely committed to, and prepared to collaborate in, the project;
• existing or planned strategic research alliances between the higher education organisation(s) and other organisation(s); and
• effectiveness of cooperative arrangements for the management and sharing of the proposed research infrastructure, including arrangements for ongoing operational expenditure where applicable.

Benefit (10%)

Describe the:

• benefit of the proposed research infrastructure to the broader research community; 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.

Suitability/Need (20%)

Describe the:

• demonstrated needs from the researchers and/or research projects that they will utilise the proposed research infrastructure, including level of demand and likely measurable impact on the research program, including beyond the project activity period;
• availability of and access to similar research infrastructure at organisational, regional, national and/or international level;
• planned rate of use of the proposed research infrastructure, including proposed arrangements for broader access to individuals not named on the application;
• alignment of the planned use with other similar existing infrastructure within Australia and/or internationally; and
• special needs for regional or otherwise remote institutions.

Assessment process 

The ARC assessment process for Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities 2022 involved 16 SAC members as a part of one multidisciplinary panel and was managed in the RMS. A total of 454 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 2022 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 years for leasing infrastructure, equipment or facilities, the 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 139 applications for Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities for funding commencing in 2022, one of which was withdrawn.

The overall success rate for Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities for funding commencing in 2022 is 33.3 per cent.

Of the unsuccessful applications, three were 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 Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities applications from 2021 and 2022.

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 (%)
2021	138	47	34.1	$112,226,899	$41,171,620	$38,827,812	94.3
2022	138	46	33.3	$127,970,814	$34,910,236	$32,611,772	93.4

*May include indicative funds

Outcomes by discipline 

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

Table 2.     Application numbers, success rates and requested and allocated funds for approved Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities 2022 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	20	5	25.0	$14,347,643	$2,775,950	$2,593,950	93.4
EIC	55	19	34.5	$49,495,707	$18,172,122	$16,588,944	91.3
HCA	7	2	28.6	$4,287,955	$1,389,515	$1,371,723	98.7
MPCE	51	18	35.3	$57,196,137	$11,678,815	$11,182,131	95.7
SBE	5	2	40.0	$2,643,372	$893,834	$875,024	97.9
Total	138	46	33.3	$127,970,814	$34,910,236	$32,611,772	93.4

* 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 2022 applications by Science and Research Priorities.

Science and Research Priorities	Applications considered	Applications approved	Success rate (%)	Approved funds over project life ($)
Advanced manufacturing	50	21	42.0	$14,697,394
Cybersecurity	6	0	0	-
Energy	13	2	15.4	$1,407,000
Environmental change	8	3	37.5	$2,126,791
Food	7	1	14.3	$675,000
Health	4	2	50.0	$875,024
Resources	10	4	40.0	$4,482,745
Soil and water	7	2	28.6	$487,234
Transport	4	1	25.0	$548,940
Unspecified	29	10	34.5	$7,311,644
Total	138	46	33.3	$32,611,772
Total within Science and Research Priorities	109	36	33.0	$25,300,128
Percentage within Science and Research Priorities (%)	79.0	78.3		77.6

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 2022 applications by Administering Organisation.

Administering Organisation	Applications considered	Applications approved	Success rate (%)	Funds over project life for approved applications ($)
Australian Capital Territory	12	4	33.3	$1,599,888
The Australian National University	11	3	27.3	$1,284,864
University of Canberra	1	1	100.0	$315,024
New South Wales	54	18	33.3	$14,964,174
Charles Sturt University	1	0	0	-
Macquarie University	4	2	50.0	$2,046,279
Southern Cross University	1	0	0	-
The University of New South Wales	17	6	35.3	$6,024,373
The University of Newcastle	5	1	20.0	$420,347
The University of Sydney	15	5	33.3	$3,679,658
University of Technology, Sydney	4	2	50.0	$1,058,350
University of Wollongong	3	1	33.3	$521,816
Western Sydney University	4	1	25.0	$1,213,351
Queensland	18	6	33.3	$4,849,892
James Cook University	2	0	0	-
Queensland University of Technology	5	3	60.0	$1,997,296
The University of Queensland	10	3	30.0	$2,852,596
University of Southern Queensland	1	0	0	-
South Australia	9	4	44.4	$1,715,929
Flinders University	2	1	50.0	$405,049
The University of Adelaide	7	3	42.9	$1,310,880
Tasmania	1	1	100.0	$552,086
University of Tasmania	1	1	100.0	$552,086
Victoria	35	12	34.3	$8,544,803
Deakin University	3	0	0	-
La Trobe University	1	1	100.0	$675,000
Monash University	11	3	27.3	$3,519,691
RMIT University	3	0	0	-
Swinburne University of Technology	3	2	66.7	$1,071,723
The University of Melbourne	14	6	42.9	$3,278,389
Western Australia	9	1	11.1	$385,000
Curtin University	4	0	0	-
The University of Western Australia	5	1	20.0	$385,000
Total	138	46	33.3	$32,611,772

Career age and gender 

Of the 1396 Chief Investigators (CIs) in this round, 332 were female, 1057 were male and seven chose not to specify their gender. The success rate for female and male and unspecified CIs in Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities 2022 is 33.4 per cent, 32.5 per cent and 71.4 per cent respectively.

Success rates of CIs by career age and gender in Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities 2022 are presented in Figure 1. CIs who did not provide gender information (0.5 per cent) and CIs who did not specify the date of completion of their PhD or who do not hold a PhD (0.9 per cent) are not represented in the figure below.

Figure 1.  Participation and success rate of Chief Investigators (CIs) in Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities 2022 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.

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.

A summary of success rates by number of Eligible Organisations is shown in Table 5.

Table 5. Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities 2022 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	20	5	25.0
3	34	13	38.2
4	28	11	39.3
5	15	2	13.3
6	14	7	50.0
7	9	4	44.4
8	4	1	25.0
9	2	0	0
10	1	0	0
11	3	1	33.3
13	1	1	100.0
Total	138	46	33.3

* An application with only one Eligible Organisation (the Administering Organisation) may or may not include Partner Organisations and/or Other Organisations.  There were no applications with 12 Eligible Organisations.

A summary of application success rates by number of collaborating organisations is shown in Table 6.

Table 6.    Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities 2022 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	4	1	25.0
2	10	2	20.0
3	27	7	25.9
4	22	8	36.4
5	20	6	30.0
6	20	10	50.0
7	15	8	53.3
8	6	1	16.7
9	3	0	0
10	3	0	0
11	3	1	33.3
12	1	0	0
15	1	1	100.0
16	1	0	0
21	1	1	100.0
27	1	0	0
Total	138	46	33.3

* Collaborating organisations include the Administering Organisation, Other Eligible Organisations, Partner Organisations and Other Organisations. There were no applications with 13,14,17-20,22-26 collaborating organisations.

International Collaboration 

In the 138 applications considered, applicants foreshadowed 247 instances of collaboration with researchers in 38 overseas locations. Of the applications approved for funding, 33 foreshadowed 115 instances of collaboration with researchers in 28 overseas locations (Figure 2).

Figure 2.   International collaborations by location in approved Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities 2022 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 2022 applications approved for funding, for every dollar funded by the ARC the proposed dollar contribution of the collaborating organisations listed on these applications is $1.20. 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)
46	$32,611,772	76	259	$39,109,326	$1.20

*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 2022, 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 2022.

Applications approved for funding	Administering Organisation	Lead CI
SA Spectromicroscopy Facility: From Band Mapping to Atomic Scale Imaging	Flinders University	Harmer, Prof Sarah
A flow cytometry suite for multiscale biosorting	La Trobe University	Humbert, Prof Patrick
MAVIS: A Revolutionary New Instrument for the European Southern Observatory	Macquarie University	McDermid, A/Prof Richard
The MARVEL exoplanet facility		Schwab, Dr Christian
Advanced lattice light sheet microscope optimised for biological imaging	Monash University	Lieschke, Prof Graham
An in-situ and multiscale scanning electron microscopy suite		Preuss, Prof Michael
Near Infrared Fluorescence and Photoacoustic Imaging Facility		Egan, Prof Gary
A cyclic ion-mobility mass spectrometer for resolving molecular isomers	Queensland University of Technology	Blanksby, Prof Stephen
A platform for upscaled demonstration of emerging photovoltaic materials		Wang, Prof Hongxia
DynaMix-FM, dynamic mixed reality environment for future mobility		Glaser, Prof Sebastien
The Australian Emulation Network: Born Digital Cultural Collections Access	Swinburne University of Technology	Swalwell, Prof Melanie
Transportable high-power blue laser for processing of reflective materials		Juodkazis, Prof Saulius
Enhanced high-field nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy	The Australian National University	Otting, Prof Gottfried
Integrated volatile-mineral-isotope micro-analysis of Earth environments		King, Prof Penelope
The milli-arcsecond cosmos: astrophysical imaging with Heimdallr		Ireland, Prof Michael
Enhancing the SA Regional Facility for Molecular Ecology & Evolution	The University of Adelaide	Sanders, A/Prof Kate
Mass spectrometry for mass geochronology		Spandler, A/Prof Carl
The Australian Rental Monitor: A Data Infrastructure		Baker, Prof Emma
A facility to produce and quantify accelerated flow mixing at high fidelity	The University of Melbourne	Klewicki, Prof Joseph
A geotechnical centrifuge to underpin Australia's energy and construction		Cassidy, Prof Mark
An autonomous sea state monitoring system for Australia's research fleet		Toffoli, A/Prof Alessandro
MATRIX: enhancing access to global research in the mathematical sciences		DeGier, Prof Jan
Modularised cultural heritage archives – future-proofing PARADISEC		Thieberger, A/Prof Nicholas
X-LAB beamline: accelerating applied research with tunable electron beams		Sheehy, Dr Suzie
Atomic Scale Control over Quantum Materials	The University of New South Wales	Rogge, Prof Sven
Australian Participation in the Legacy Survey of Space and Time		Brough, Prof Sarah
Facility for enabling low thermal budget Si/SiGe technologiestt		Michael, Dr Aron
Nano-IR Facility for the Search of New Multifunctional Materials		Seidel, Prof Jan
National groundwater recharge observing system		Baker, Prof Andrew
Space Resources Environmental Analogue Facility		Dempster, Prof Andrew
BioSHeM: A High-Resolution Imaging and Spectroscopic Helium Atom Microscope	The University of Newcastle	Dastoor, Prof Paul
An integrated analytical network for protein characterisation	The University of Queensland	Schulz, A/Prof Benjamin
Microanalytical Facility Supporting Resources Development and Manufacturing		Jak, Prof Evgueni
Solar Photovoltaics forecasting for efficient power management		Saha, Prof Tapan
Advanced materials synthesis and environmental characterisation facility	The University of Sydney	Bilek, Prof Marcela
Australian Peptide Display Facility		Payne, Prof Richard
Investigating biological processes in tissues by spatial profiling		Molloy, Prof Mark P
Metallurgical Facility for Solid-State Additive Manufacturing		Paradowska, Prof Anna
Versatile laser processing system for multi-disciplinary research		Ho-Baillie, Prof Anita
Equipment for research on future gravitational wave detectors	The University of Western Australia	Zhao, Dr Chunnong
A national eInfrastructure for high-resolution population spatial modelling	University of Canberra	Coffee, A/Prof Neil
HydroBox: A containerised hydrochemistry lab for Australian oceanography	University of Tasmania	Chase, Prof Zanna
A Secure Smart Sensing and Industry Analytics Facility for Industry 4.0	University of Technology Sydney	Xu, Prof Guandong
Australian 3D Beam Measurement Platform from Radio Waves to Terahertz Waves		Yang, Dr Yang
Scoping the world of ultra-thin film and ultra-high pressure environments	University of Wollongong	Wang, Prof Xiaolin
National Facility for Physical Fire Simulation	Western Sydney University	Tao, Prof Zhong