Archived Grant Opportunity View - GO4502

The Discovery Projects scheme provides grant funding to support research projects that may be undertaken by individual researchers or research teams.

The Discovery Project scheme objectives are to:

• support excellent basic and applied research and research training by individuals and teams;
• support national and international research collaboration; and
• enhance the scale and focus of research in Australian Government priority areas

The intended outcomes of the Discovery Projects scheme are:

• expanded knowledge base and research capacity in Australia; and
• economic, commercial, environmental, social/or cultural benefits for Australia.

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.

A CI must meet at least one of the following criteria at the grant commencement date and for the project activity period: 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 and must not be undertaking a Higher Degree by Research (HDR) during the project activity period.

A CI can be concurrently funded through the Discovery Program for a maximum of: two projects as CI; or one ARC Fellowship and one project as a CI; or one ARC Fellowship or project if the individual is also a Director on active ARC Centre of Excellence or a Special Research Initiative project. Limits will be calculated at the closing time for submission of applications and may be re-calculated as other grant opportunity announcements are made.

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

PIs must not meet the eligibility criteria for a CI as at the grant commencement date or during the project activity period. An employee of an Eligible Organisation who does not reside predominately in Australia for the project activity period may be a PI.

An application may be applied for and awarded funding for a minimum of one to a maximum of five consecutive years. 

From $30,000.00 to $2,500,000.00

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 funding schemes, as expressed in the Grant Guidelines for those schemes). 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 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 the Instructions to Applicants for Discovery Projects for funding commencing in 2022.

The RMS is a web-based system used to prepare and submit research applications, assessments and rejoinders for the ARC National Competitive Grants Program.

Registered users can login using your email address and password at https://rms.arc.gov.au.

To request a new account, please go to https://rms.arc.gov.au and click on the Request New Account link.

All queries by researchers should be directed to the administering organisation of the application.