A guide to the external research funding process

All grant applications, requests for tender, offers, research contracts, progress and final reports and other grant-related administrative matters must be directed through the central Deakin Research Grants Unit in the first instance. The Faculty Grants Officer can assist and advise staff preparing an application for external research funding. Please contact: Dr Paul Jones, Ph: +61 3 9244 6105.

The nature of your interactions with the DU Research Grants Unit will depend on the source of funding for your research project. The Faculty Research Office has devised a set of guidelines for researchers, to assist you in negotiating the internal University requirements for applying for external funding. There are separate guidelines for:

Applying for a grant from a funding body (55 KB) (non-ARC, often called a 'grant-in-aid');
Submitting a 'Request for tender' (133 KB); and
Negotiating a research project, to be funded by an industry partner (55 KB).

There is a separate Faculty and University-level procedure for the submission of Australian Research Council (ARC) grant applications (which includes the Discovery, Linkage and Infrastructure schemes). Information about this can be found on the Research Services Division website

When submitting a grant application, request for tender for a research project, or negotiating a research project with partner external to the University, it is important to note the following:

the Deakin University Research Grants Unit should be the first point of contact between applicants, grantees and funding agencies;
the research has been costed appropriately (in terms of National Competition Policy and AVCC cost recovery guidelines);
All the necessary forms have completed correctly, signed appropriately and provided to the DU Research Grants Unit in a timely manner - normally the internal deadline is at least 10 days prior to the external deadline;
Applicants should not commence work on the project until there is a legitimate agreement which has been approved and finalised by the DU Research Grants Unit;
Applicants should not commence work on the project until the Chief Investigators have received Ethics approval for this particular project.

Further information relating to grant applications is available from the DU Research Grants Unit.

Further information on external funding opportunities are available from the University's Research Administration website.

Slides from a presentation by Professor Phyllis Tharenou (233 KB) are available here. (Business and Law staff only, password required)

Download a sample of a successful ARC Linkage Project application (800 KB). (Business and Law staff only, password required)