Archived Grant Opportunity View - GO6506

The DECRA grant opportunity provides focused research support for early career researchers in both teaching and research, and research-only positions.

 The DECRA scheme objectives are to:

• support outstanding early-career researchers with demonstrated capacity for high-quality research and emerging capability for leadership and supervision;
• foster collaboration, with national or international researchers;

• support excellent and innovative research that addresses a significant problem or gap in knowledge and represents value for money;

• create new or advanced knowledge resulting from the outcomes of the research with economic, commercial, environmental, social and/or cultural benefits for Australia; and

• advance promising early career researchers and promote enhanced opportunities for diverse career pathways in high-quality and supportive environments.

The intended outcome of the Discovery Program is to contribute to the growth of Australia’s research and innovation capacity. Increasing Australia’s research and innovation capacity generates new knowledge and results in the development of new technologies, products and ideas, the creation of jobs, economic growth and an enhanced quality of life in Australia.

An application may only be submitted through the Research Office of an Eligible Organisation listed in the relevant Grant Guidelines.

Eligibility

A DECRA candidate must satisfy the eligibility criteria for the role they are to perform as listed in the relevant Grant Guidelines.

A previous recipient, or an individual who has been nominated for a DECRA on two previous occasions, is not eligible to apply for another DECRA. This includes withdrawn and ineligible applications.

To be eligible, the candidate must, as at the grant opportunity closing date:

• not be nominated for more than one DECRA in a grant opportunity;
• have met their obligations regarding previously funded projects, including submission of satisfactory final reports to the ARC at the grant opportunity closing date;
• have an award of PhD date on, or after 1 March 2019; or
• have an award of PhD date together with an allowable period of career interruptions that would be commensurate with an award of PhD date on, or after 1 March 2019. The allowable career interruptions set out and the period allowed for each are in Table 8 of the Discovery Program Grant Guidelines – Fellowships (2023 edition).

If a DECRA candidate has more than one PhD, the earliest awarded PhD must fall within this timeframe.

A DECRA candidate can be concurrently funded through the Discovery Program for a maximum of: one ARC Fellowship and one project as a CI; or one ARC Fellowship or project if the individual is also a Director on an active ARC Centre of Excellence and/or a Special Research Initiative project.

Applications for DECRA don’t need to meet the project limit requirements at the grant opportunity closing date. If successful, project limits must be met before the project can start. Refer to the Instructions to Applicants for more information.

DECRA funding and grant duration is three consecutive years on a full-time basis. The DECRA may be undertaken on either a full-time, or a part-time basis subject to the Administering Organisation’s employment conditions and provided that the DECRA does not exceed 6 consecutive years. ARC approval for the conversion to part-time must be requested by submitting a variation.

From $338,691.00 to $488,691.00

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.

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 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 relevant scheme Instructions to Applicants.

The RMS is a web-based system used to prepare and submit research applications, requests not to assess, assessments and rejoinders for the ARC’s National Competitive Grants Program (NCGP).

Registered users can log in using their 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.