Archived Grant Opportunity View - GO2162

The Linkage Program promotes national and international research partnerships between researchers and business, industry, community organisations and other publicly funded research agencies. By supporting the development of partnerships, the ARC encourages the transfer of skills, knowledge and ideas as a basis for securing commercial and other benefits of research.

The Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities (LIEF) grant opportunity provides funding for research infrastructure, equipment and facilities to Eligible Organisations. It enables researchers to participate in cooperative initiatives so that expensive research infrastructure, equipment and facilities can be shared between higher education organisations and also with Industry. The scheme also fosters collaboration through its support of the cooperative use of international or national research facilities.

LIEF grant applications are accepted once a year. The minimum level of funding provided by the ARC is $150,000 per year.

The objectives of the LIEF grant opportunity are to:

• encourage Eligible Organisations to develop collaborative arrangements with other Eligible Organisations and/or Partner Organisations to develop and support research infrastructure;
• support large-scale national or international cooperative initiatives allowing expensive research infrastructure to be shared and/or accessed;
• support areas of existing and/or emerging research strength; and
• support and develop research infrastructure for the broader research community.

An application may only be submitted through the Research Office of an Eligible Organisation listed in the Grant Guidelines. The application must nominate at least one Chief Investigator (CI); the first named CI will be the Project Leader. Additional CIs and Partner Investigators (PIs) may be nominated in the application.

To be eligible to apply as a CI or PI the individual nominated must as at the grant opportunity closing date have met their obligations regarding previously funded projects, including submission to the ARC of satisfactory final reports.

To be eligible to hold, the CI must meet at least one of the following criteria: be an employee for at least 20 per cent of full time equivalent (0.2 FTE) at an Eligible Organisation; or be a holder of an honorary academic appointment at an Eligible Organisation; a CI must reside predominately in Australia for the project activity period; a CI must not be undertaking a Higher Degree by Research (HDR) during the project activity period.

A CI can apply for and be concurrently funded for a maximum of two LIEF projects. 

The maximum number of projects a CI can be involved in will be calculated at the date of submission of an application by totalling the number of LIEF Active Projects at the grant commencement date and the number of applications submitted for LIEF funding for which the outcome has not yet been announced (excluding any applications previously announced as not recommended for funding). 

To be eligible to apply as a PI, the individual nominated must at the grant commencement date: not be eligible to be a CI.

To be eligible to hold, a PI: must not meet the eligibility criteria for a CI during the project activity period. An employee of an Eligible Organisation who does not reside predominately in Australia may be a PI.

An application may be applied for and awarded funding for one year; or one to five years if the application is for the construction of research infrastructure, or subscription or coordinated access to international facilities and major national facilities.

The application 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 grant opportunities, as expressed in the relevant Grant Guidelines. The ARC reserves the right to change these criteria in future funding rounds. Grant Guidelines for all ARC schemes may be found attached to the relevant grant opportunity.
Administering Organisations must submit applications through the ARC’s Research Management System (RMS) unless otherwise advised by the ARC.
All applications must meet the format and content requirements, including certification, as set out in the RMS online form and in the Instructions to Applicants for the relevant grant opportunity. 

All queries by researchers should be directed to the Administering Organisation of the application