Faculty of Health, Medicine, Nursing and Behavioural Sciences
Deakin University
The Linkage grants scheme is administered by the Australian Research Council. The objectives of Linkage scheme include "develop long-term strategic alliances between higher education organisations and other organisations, including with industry ", addressing the nation's economic and social objectives and providing "outcome-oriented training to prepare high calibre postgraduate research students". The Linkage program consists of Linkage Industry Fellowships, Australian Postdoctoral Fellowships (Industry) and postgraduate research training awards (Industry).
The Linkage grant scheme will support basic research, applied research, or strategic research, provided the research is being undertaken to acquire new knowledge. Support will not be provided for research viewed by the ARC as contract research or consultancies. A test the ARC uses to determine eligibility is whether the research entails innovation and risk or uncertainty in outcome. In addition the Linkage scheme does not support "medical research and training (clinical medicine) and public health research and training that are covered by the National Health and Medical Research Council". This still permits a large number of grants to be funded where health is the setting for research that investigates activities that have wider applications in society. Each year, almost one in every two applications are funded. Guidelines and application forms are published electronically each year.
What do you get?
In a Linkage grant application you can seek:
Linkage applications are called for twice each year. The ARC closing dates are advertised with each round. Please note that the applications need to be lodged with Research Services, Deakin University, two weeks beforehand. Applicants cannot lodge applications directly but must submit applications through their University Research Office.
Each Chief Investigator for a Linkage grant must be an active researcher, reside in Australia for the full term of the grant, be at least a half-time academic or an adjunct professor who does not have a substantive position or paid employment elsewhere, not have any financial interest in the Industry Partner(s), take intellectual responsibility for the project, and have the time and capacity to make a serious commitment to the project.
The criteria used in evaluating Linkage grant applications for an APAI is:
Investigators:
Track Record (20%) - Track record of all CIs, PIs and APRI Fellowship candidates relative to opportunities and, where relevant, suitability to supervise postgraduate students (as appropriate). Capacity to undertake and manage the proposed research.
Proposed project content
Significance and Innovation (25%)- Does the research address an important problem? How will the anticipated outcomes advance the knowledge base of the discipline? Are the project aims and concepts novel and innovative? Will new methods or technologies be developed?
Approach and Training (20%) - Are the conceptual framework, design, methods and analyses adequately developed, well integrated and appropriate to the aims of the project? If the project involves and APAI, is the project suitable for research training? Where relevant, is the intellectual content and scale of the work proposed appropriate to a research higher degree? How appropriate is the proposed budget?
National Benefit (10%) - What is the potential of the research project to result in economic and/or social benefits for Australia from the expected results and outcomes of the project? Is the research principally focused upon a topic or outcome that falls within one of the National Research Priorities and associated Priority Goals, and if so how does it address the National Research Priorities and Priority Goals?
Nature of the alliance, commitment from Partner Organisation(s) and Budget (25%) Is there evidence that each part of the Partner Organisation(s) is genuinely committed to, and prepared to collaborate in, the research project? Will the proposed research encourage and develop strategic research alliances between the higher education organisation(s) and other organisation(s)? Value for money and justification.
The Industry Partner may be a private sector industry organisation, a State/Local Government Agency, or a private non-profit organisation. Commonwealth Agencies are eligible, where the funds being committed to the project have not been allocated for purposes of research, evaluation or consultancies.
Where the application is seeking an APAI stipend, the Industry Partner must contribute a minimum of $6,000 in cash plus $6,000 in cash or in kind ($12,000 in total) for each year the student is to receive a stipend (usually three years). The minimum cash contribution from the Industry Partner is 20% of the total ARC Linkage Contribution. Where the proposal is seeking Commonwealth funding on average $50,000 a year or more the partner organisations must contribute at least 20% of the total Commonwealth Contribution. Where the proposal is seeking Commonwealth funding of on average $500,000 or more the partner must contribute at least 50% of the total Commonwealth funding provided. Ideally the in-kind contribution plus the cash contribution should match the amount sought through Linkage on a dollar-for-dollar basis.
The Chief Investigator (university academic) lodges the application (through Research Services), but the Industry Partner completes the sections of the application relating to commitment to the project.
