Professor Marian SimmsExecutive Director, Australian Research Council

ARMS SEMINAR19 November, 2012

National Competitive Grants Program

Government Investment in R&D 2011-12

The ARC

The ARC funds research and researchers under the National Competitive Grants Program (NCGP). The NCGP consists of two elements – Discovery and Linkage. Within these element are a range of schemes structured to provide a pathway of incentives for collaborative partnerships. The majority of funding decisions under the NCGP are made on the basis of peer review.

NCGP Schemes and Peer ReviewUnder larger schemes, such as Discovery Projects (DP) and the Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DECRA), all five panels of the ARC College convene for selection meetings. In other schemes, such as the Australian Laureate Fellowships scheme, a single interdisciplinary Selection Advisory Committee (SAC) may be utilised. SAC members may be ARC College members and/or other eminent researchers.

The five panels are: Biological Sciences and Biotechnology (BSB), Engineering, Mathematics and Infrmatics (EMI, Humanities and the Creative Arts (HCA), Physics, Chemistry and Earth Sciences (PCE), and Social Behavioural and Economic Sciences (SBE).

Total (all schemes, Start Year 2002 to 2012) number of proposals received in NCGP panels

Comparison of total success rate by scheme (2001 to 2012)