Archived Grant Opportunity View - GO505

The Linkage Projects scheme promotes national, and international, collaboration and research partnerships between key stakeholders in research and innovation including higher education institutions, government, business, industry and endusers. Research and development is undertaken to apply advanced knowledge to problems, acquire new knowledge and as a basis for securing commercial and other benefits of research.

To facilitate successful collaboration between higher education institutions and other parts of the innovation system, Linkage Projects proposals can be submitted at any time and funding outcomes are announced within six months of proposal submission.

The Linkage Projects scheme provides funding to Eligible Organisations to support research and development (R&D) projects which:

• are collaborative between higher education researchers and other parts of the national innovation system
• are undertaken to acquire new knowledge, and involve risk or innovation.

The objectives of the Linkage Projects scheme are to:

• support the initiation and/or development of longterm strategic research alliances between higher education organisations and other organisations, including industry and other research end-users, in order to apply advanced knowledge to problems and/or to provide opportunities to obtain national economic, commercial, social or cultural benefits
• provide opportunities for internationally competitive research projects to be conducted in collaboration with organisations outside the higher education sector, targeting those who have demonstrated a clear commitment to high-quality research 
• encourage growth of a national pool of world-class researchers to meet the needs of the broader Australian innovation system
• build the scale and focus of research in the national Science and Research Priorities.

A Proposal may only be submitted through the Research Office of an Eligible Organisation listed in the relevant Funding Rules. 

Eligibility Criteria for Participants

All CIs and PIs named in a Proposal must satisfy the eligibility criteria for the role they are to perform as at the scheme-specific Commencement Date and for the duration of the Project. 

Roles that may be nominated in a Proposal are: 

a.Chief Investigator (CI) 

b.Partner Investigator (PI)

The Proposal must nominate at least one CI from an Eligible Organisation. The first named CI must be from the Administrating Organisation and will be the Project Leader. 

Proposal Eligibility

A CI may submit and/or be funded concurrently for a maximum of four Linkage Projects as a CI. 

The maximum number of Projects a CI can be involved in will be calculated at the date of submission of a Proposal by totalling the number of Active Projects at the Funding Commencement Date and the number of Proposals submitted for Linkage Projects funding (for which the outcome has not yet been announced) (excluding any Proposals previously announced as not recommended for funding). 

If a Proposal from any Linkage Projects scheme round (including for funding commencing in 2017) has previously been announced as not recommended for funding, a similar Proposal can be submitted for funding commencing in 2017. However, if the ARC determines that the new Proposal is not substantially different from the previous Proposal, the ARC reserves the right to utilise assessments and rejoinders submitted for the previous Proposal during the assessment process for the new Proposal. 

Researchers will not be permitted to relinquish a CI role, or existing Linkage Project held on the Funding Commencement Date to circumvent the limits in the Funding Rules.

A Project may be applied for and awarded funding for a minimum of two to a maximum of five consecutive years. 

From $100,000.00 to $1,500,000.00

The Proposal must be submitted as a mature research plan presenting the proposed Project ready for implementation and must contain all the information necessary for its assessment without the need for further written or oral explanation, or reference to additional documentation, unless requested by the ARC.

Applicants should note the eligibility criteria for access to other funding schemes, as expressed in the Funding Rules for those schemes. The ARC reserves the right to change these criteria in future funding rounds. Funding Rules for all ARC schemes may be found on the ARC website.

Administering Organisations must submit Proposals through RMS (rms.arc.gov.au) unless otherwise advised by the ARC.

All Proposals must meet the format and content requirements, including certification, as set out in the RMS online form and the relevant scheme Instructions to Applicants. 

The Research Management System (RMS) is a web-based system used to prepare and submit research proposals, assessments and rejoinders for the Australian Research Council’s (ARC) National Competitive Grants Program (NCGP).

Registered users can login using your email address and password at https://rms.arc.gov.au. To request a new account, go to https://rms.arc.gov.au and click on the Request New Account link.