1. ARC LINKAGE PROJECTS 2013 FUNDING RULES KEY DATES RSO CONTACTS
Partner Organisations
Budget
KEY DATES
RSO CONTACTS
Dr Gayle Morris
Director, Research Services

2. ARC LINKAGE PROJECTS OBJECTIVES
initiate and/or develop long-term strategic research alliances between higher education organisations and other organisations, including industry and end-users, in order to apply advanced knowledge to problems and/or to provide opportunities to obtain national economic, social or cultural benefits;
enhance the scale and focus of research in National Research Priorities;
foster opportunities for researchers to pursue internationally competitive research in collaboration with organisations outside the higher education sector; and
produce a national pool of world-class researchers

3. ARC LP13 FUNDING RULES Funding Rules
Instructions to Applicants
Frequently Asked Questions

4. ARC FUNDING
Minimum request $50,000 per yr; maximum request $500,000 per annum [section Cl 5.1.2]
Period of funding: years [section Cl 5.1.3]
5.4.2 The Linkage Projects scheme does not support:
“c. Medical and dental research, defined as research and/or training primarily and substantially aimed at understanding or treating a human disease or human health condition. Where a proposal satisfies all other eligibility requirements set out in the Funding Rules, the ARC may support Projects where the primary aim is a commercial outcome in addition to Research and Development and the Project does not include clinical trials.”

5. ARC Funding can be requested for:
a. Domestic and international travel costs (economy) for Chief Investigators (CIs) and Partner Investigators (PIs), including fostering and strengthening collaborations between researchers in Australia and overseas, not exceeding $50,000 over the life of the Project (NEW)
b. Expert services of a third party if the services are deemed to be directly related to and necessary for the proposed Project (NEW)
c. Maintenance and access to infrastructure and equipment required for the Project
d. Personnel: No APDI Fellows or LIF (NEW)
salary support for research associates and assistants, technicians and laboratory attendants at an appropriate salary level, including 28 % on-costs;
stipends for postgraduate students, in whole or in part, (NEW) at an appropriate level for the Administering Organisation or the relevant industry (NEW)
e. Publication and dissemination of Project outputs and outreach activity costs at up to 2% of total ARC funding awarded to the Project
f. Specialised computer equipment and software essential to the Project (NEW)
g. Teaching relief for CIs up to a total value of $40,000 per year. (NEW)
h. Field or survey research expenses (including travel) for CIs, PIs and research support personnel. (NEW)

6. Partner Organisations
A Proposal must include at least one Australian Partner Organisation [section 6.2.1].
A Proposal that includes an overseas higher education institution, or a closely associated entity, must include at least one other Partner Organisation in the Proposal. [section 6.2.2]
(NEW) For each Partner Organisation, three conditions must be met [Section 6.2.5]:
a. evidence of new or on-going collaboration between the Partner Organisation and the Administering Organisation;
b. no duplication of Commonwealth funding for the research and/or activities funded for the Project; and
c. a contribution of cash and/or in-kind or other material resources from each Partner Organisation, having regard to the total cost of the Project and the relative contribution of each PI.

7. Partner Contributions
The combined Partner Organisation contributions for a Proposal (i.e. the total of the cash and in-kind contributions of the Partner Organisations) must at least match 100% the total funding requested from the ARC [section 6.3.2]
The combined Partner Organisation(s) eligible Cash Contribution must be at least 25 per cent of the total funding requested from the ARC [section 6.3.4] (NEW)
e.g.
If ARC request is $100,000
Partner Cash must be at least $25,000
Total of the combined Partner cash and in-kind contributions must be at least $100,000

8. Partner Investigators (PI)
at least one PI from each Partner Organisation must be nominated [section 7.2.1b] (NEW)
A PI must [section 7.3.3] (NEW)
a. take significant intellectual responsibility for the conduct of the Project and for any strategic decisions called for in its pursuit and the communication of results; and/or
b. have the experience and capacity to provide effective supervision, support and mentoring of research personnel associated with the Project; and/or
c. have the relevant skills and experiences to effectively manage a similar scale research Project.
A PI must have the capacity to make a commitment to carrying out the Project and cannot assume the role of a supplier of resources for work that will largely be placed in the hands of others.

9. Partner Support Letters
Each Partner Organisation’s letter of support must [section ]:
a. certify that no part of its Cash Contribution is drawn from funds previously appropriated or awarded from Commonwealth or Australian State or Territory sources for the purposes of research (NEW);
b. demonstrate the source of its Cash Contribution (NEW); and
c. certify that it will meet the requirements outlined in a standard Funding Agreement, including the requirement to enter into arrangements regarding intellectual property.
Cash Contributions cannot be sourced from funds awarded or appropriated by the Commonwealth or an Australian State or Territory for the purposes of research nor from funds previously used to leverage government research funding. [section 6.3.5] (NEW)
For explanation: see FAQ’s 4.5, 4.6, 4.7.

10. Other Organisations
In addition to Partner Organisations, Other Organisations can be involved in Linkage Projects
An Other Organisation is one which is listed in a Linkage Projects Proposal and is not an Eligible Organisation or a Partner Organisation.

11. BUDGET - Personnel Cost Calculations
Calculation steps
1. Determine appropriate time in-put
project leader (CI 1) - typically EFT depending upon size of project
other CIs and PI’s – typically EFT
0.05 EFT (~1 day/month) for a Prof who would attend fortnightly project meetings, six monthly workshops and edit reports and publications.
0.1 EFT (1 day/fortnight) – specialist role
0.2 EFT (1 day/week) – active and regular contributor role possibly involving some supervision
2. Determine appropriate level
Predetermined if current staff member or PI
If to be recruited, consider qualification and experience required
If with PhD qualified – level A/4 and above
Research assistant – level A 1-3
Technical support – HEO
Student or staff??
3. Use Flinders salary scales + 28% oncosts – or PO salaries
4. For part or full stipends for PhD, use current APA rate.

12. budget - Non Personnel Calculations
Domestic and international travel costs (economy only; not exceeding $50,000 total)
Travel to Partner Organisations or PI travel to CI’s
Conference travel requests must include conference details
Expert services of a third party
Consultants e.g. translator, statistician
Justify why the services are directly related to and necessary for the proposed Project
Specialised computer equipment and software
Cannot be basic computer facilities such as desktop computers, portable computer devices, printers, word processing and other standard software
Teaching Relief
Provision for CI’s to interact with Partner Organisations (PO)
Up to a total value of $40,000 per year
Maintenance
Technical support (remember Uni in-kind)
Basic items (inc. PO in-kind)
Field or survey research expenses (including travel)
Include accommodation and living costs
$50,000 travel limit applies to these flights

13. BUDGET - JUSTIFICATION
Use same budget headings and order as budget table – e.g.
Personnel
Identify which personnel are being funded (level, %) + on-costs. CI, staff member/PI responsible for …
Domestic / International Travel
To allow researchers to travel from … to … to undertake …. Figure reflects the cost for travel between …. and …., return. The estimated cost per person is: $a return airfare, $b/day car hire, daily meal allowance of $c/day and accommodation expenses of $d/day
Expert services
Maintenance and access to infrastructure and equipment
Consumable, glassware & material costs are estimated to be $..($..cash and $1.. in-kind) pa
Specialised computer equipment and software
Two important and low cost pieces of equipment for the project are requested: X
Y (discussed in section z).
Teaching relief for CIs
Maintenance
Costs calculated on internal, cost-recovery payments and include:
Field or survey research expenses
Specify who is travelling, dates, destinations, accommodation, per diem etc

14. IMPORTANT DATES Key Activities Dates
Flinders RSO Expressions of Interest Due Date
1 August 2012
EOI face-to-face feedback meetings
during August/September 2012
ARC Linkage Scheme LP13 Opens in RMS*
TBA - September 2012*
Eligibility Exemption Requests
Not applicable
Flinders Quality Review Process & Feedback to Researchers: Draft Application (full; RMS generated)
17 October 2012
RSO Compliance Review: Final Application
24 October 2012
ARC Linkage Scheme LP13 Closes in RMS*
14 November 2012
*The ARC has not yet announced the Opening Date for Linkage to be submitted for LP13. The timeframe above is based on the LP12 dates.

15. Useful Resources
RSO website
Faculty / peers
Grants library: contact RSO Grants Officers
Budget tool:
Salaries:
Flinders Partners Partnering Program
a service package (including market research, workshops, mentoring and funding) designed to enable researchers to develop a partnership over a period of up to 12 months, culminating in a collaborative grant submission.

16. Contact Amy Petty (X15173) for assistance with RMS ID
ALL Applications MUST be accompanied by a fully signed Flinders Certification Form, and relevant ARC Certification Forms, signed
RSO Contacts
Contact Amy Petty (X15173) for assistance with
RMS ID
Flinders Certification Form
Contact Christine Maher (X12045) for assistance with
Funding rules
Eligibility
Access to ARC Proposal library etc.
Compliance Review 16