Monash University The ARC Linkage Program Leveraging your R&D dollars June, 2006 Dr Ian Mackinnon Programme Coordinator: Linkage Projects Executive Director:

Monash University

The ARC Linkage Program Leveraging your R&D dollars

June , 2006

Dr Ian MackinnonProgramme Coordinator: Linkage ProjectsExecutive Director: Engineering and Environmental ScienceAustralian Research Council

• Is a Commonwealth organisation which became an independent agency in July 2001 under the Australian Research Council Act 2001, within the Education, Science and Training portfolio.

• Administers funds on behalf of the Commonwealth for the purpose of supporting research in Australia

• Provides policy advice to Government regarding research

• Provides:– Support for the highest quality research, leading to the discovery of new

ideas and the advancement of knowledge– Funds for the facilities and equipment that our researchers need so that

they can compete with the best in the world– Support for training and skills development of our next generation of

researchers– Incentives for our most talented researchers to work in partnership with

leading researchers throughout the national innovation system and internationally, and form alliances with Australian industry

The ARC

The ARC Community

• CEO – Professor Peter Hoj

• DCEO and COO – senior public servants

• 6 EDs – 3 year positions, coming from senior roles in universities or research organisations

• Approx 70 staff

• National office at 8 Brindabella Circuit, Canberra Airport

• Annual departmental budget approx $15 M to administer research funding of $556 M per annum

• College of Experts, 75 senior university and industry researchers contracted to the ARC for up to 3 years.

• A pool of active researchers who assist the assessment process via peer-review of proposals

Discovery (DP, IRD and Fed Fellows)

excellent research by individuals and teams(FY $290M)

Linkage (LP, LIEF and LX)

collaborative research and infrastructure use - national &

international(FY $160M)

Centres (Centres and Research Networks)

national centres of research excellence(FY $105M)

National Competitive Grants Program

(FY 05/06 $555M)

Commonwealth support for R&DMajor Federal Research Agencies 2005-06 $M·   DSTO 329.7·   CSIRO 593.9·   Other R&D Agencies, ANSTO, GA, AIMS etc 400.1SUB-TOTAL 1323.7

Business Enterprise Sector·   IR&D Tax Concession 491.0·   R&D Start 87.4·   Other Innovation Support 396.3SUB-TOTAL 974.7

Higher Education Sector·   Australian Research Council 556.5·   Performance Based Block Funding 1251.3·   Other R&D Support and Research Training 449.5 ''

SUB-TOTAL 2257.3

Multisector·   NH&MRC and Other Health 431.9·   Cooperative Research Centres 208.2·   Rural R&D 207.2·   Energy and Environment 63.7·   Other Science and Technology Support 71.4SUB-TOTAL 982.4

TOTAL COMMONWEALTH 5538.1

Major Federal Research Agencies 2005-06 $M·   DSTO 329.7·   CSIRO 593.9·   Other R&D Agencies, ANSTO, GA, AIMS etc 400.1SUB-TOTAL 1323.7

Business Enterprise Sector·   IR&D Tax Concession 491.0·   R&D Start 87.4·   Other Innovation Support 396.3SUB-TOTAL 974.7

Higher Education Sector·   Australian Research Council 556.5·   Performance Based Block Funding 1251.3·   Other R&D Support and Research Training 449.5 ''

SUB-TOTAL 2257.3

Multisector·   NH&MRC and Other Health 431.9·   Cooperative Research Centres 208.2·   Rural R&D 207.2·   Energy and Environment 63.7·   Other Science and Technology Support 71.4SUB-TOTAL 982.4

TOTAL COMMONWEALTH 5538.1

• An Environmentally Sustainable Australia

• Promoting and Maintaining Good Health

• Frontier Technologies for Building and Transforming Australian Industries

• Safeguarding Australia

National Research Priorities

National Competitive Grants Program

Discovery Discovery Projects early March 2006

 Indigenous Researchers Development

early May 2006

  Federation Fellowships October 2006

Linkage Linkage ProjectsLP07R1: 5th May 2006LP07R2: 24th November, 2006

 Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities

early May 2006

Linkage International Fellowships – 14th July 2006Awards – 5th April, 14th July, 13th October, 2006

Thinking Systems 14 December 2005

Centres ARC Centres of Excellence TBA

Linkage Projects• Primary aim

– Encourage and extend cooperative approaches to research by strengthening links within Australia’s innovation system and within innovation systems internationally

• Participant roles – Chief Investigator, Partner Investigator

– APAI (Aust. Postgraduate Award, Industry)

– APDI (< 3 years from PhD),

– Linkage Industry Fellowships (LIF)

• Partners– Private sector; private non-profit organisation; a Govt org with

funds not committed to internal research or any other purpose of research, evaluation and/or consultancy.

– Does not fund clinical medical and dental research & training

– Eligibility ruling can be requested

Timing 2 rounds per year; close May and November

No. of active projects ~1,500

2006 allocation for current & new grants

$110M

% of total ARC funds 20%

Project duration 1 – 5 years, normally 3 years

Project size$20k to $500k (or more) p.a., average $101k p.a. (non-APAI)

No. of CIs per project 2.2

No. applications per yr ~1,100

Success rate 36.7% for LP06 R1

Partner Contributions

If no APAI, match ARC with cash+in-kind

If < $500K pa, match 20% of ARC as cash

If > $500K pa, match 50% of ARC as cash

Linkage Projects

• Selection Criteria

– Investigators’ Track Record 20%– Project significance and innovation 25%– Project approach and training 20%– Project national benefit 10%– Collaborating Organisation commitment 25%

Linkage Projects

LP Selection process

• Assessment by Australian based readers (who read and rank up to 20 applications), or by committee members only for smaller value applications

• Where received, provision of assessment reports to applicants, and receipt of applicant rejoinders

• Consideration of applications, assessment reports, and rejoinders by the Committee, who rank applications and form recommendations for funding (including duration and budget).

Application numbers by broad discipline area, LP05 and LP06

Discipline

LP05 Rd 1 LP05 Rd 2 LP06 Rd 1

BSB 82 108 107

EE 103 128 77

HCA 59 44 65

MIC 45 73 62

PCG 41 35 40

SBE 133 197 184

Total 463 585 535

Linkage Projects 2006 Rd 1

Ave. 1st year funding

Ave. $ funded as % ave. $

requested

Ave. total grant size *

LP $100,964 82.7% $320,105

LA $31,337 95.8% $109,757

Total $94,862 83.0% $301,672

* These amount include 1/2 APAI amount for year 4.

Linkage Projects1st Yr

FundingApplications

Req’d ($M)

FundedAllocated

($M)Success Rate (%)

1998 742 126.1 345 50.6 46.0

1999 873 130.5 407 51.7 47.0

2000 982 152.0 458 58.9 47.0

2001 1,085 168.8 485 62.1 45.0

2002 908 146.6 470 76.7 52.0

2003 1,175 231.0 588 106.3 50.0

2004 1,047 225.3 532 119.9 51.0

2005 1,048 255.8 488 116 47.0

2006(R1) 529 149.1 194 58.5 37.0

Linkage Projects 2006 Rd 1

Discipline

Applications

FundedSuccess

rate

BSB 108 38 35.2%

EE 76 29 38.2%

HCA 65 23 35.4%

MIC 60 22 36.7%

PCG 39 15 38.5%

SBE 181 67 37.0%

Total 529 194 36.7%

Linkage Projects 2006 Rd 1

ARC funds Partner organisation

funds

Partner organisation $ for ARC $1

LP $56,658,515 $82,552,835 1.46

LA $1,865,875 $1,688,069 0.90

Total $58,524,390 $84,240,904 1.44

Year Host Project Title Partner Org

LP02 JCUCharacterisation of snake venom components and screening venom for bioactive compounds

Wilsha Holdings Pty Ltd

LP02 UNSWEngineering of anti-platelet antibodies for the diagnosis and therapy of infants with bleeding disorders

Australian Red Cross Blood Service

LP02Murdoch

UnivFungal glucanase genes for engineering disease resistance in plants

Grain Biotech Australia

LP02 Univ of QldMetabolic engineering of sugarcane: production of a biodegradable bioplastic as a test-case

Bureau of Sugar Experiment Stations

LP03Macquarie

Univ

Generic modification and lyophilisation of micro-organisms for the generation of bacteriological quality controls

BTF Pty Ltd

Aust. Govt Analytical Labs

LP03Univ West

Sydney

Mammalian chitinases and gene therapy: new weapons to combat fungal and insect attack in mammals

Westmead Hospital

LP03 UNSWSpecific gene inhibition through functional genomics and high through-put small molecule screening

Quark Biotech Inc

Cleveland Biolabs

LP04 ANUNew methods for directed molecular evolution of novel protein functions

Evogenix Pty Ltd

LP04 Griffith UnivDevelopment of improved technologies for high throughput screening of potential diseased genes

Corbett Research Pty Ltd

LP05 Univ of QldBiocatalysts mined from cytochrome P450 libraries: an innovative tool for accelerating drug development

AstraZeneca R&D

Suggestions …

• LP is about collaboration – relationships matter

• Establish shared expectations and goals

• Sort out IP early and clearly; establish fundamentals of contractual arrangements as early as possible (e.g. while drafting proposal)

• Review the ARC draft funding agreement with University before proposal submission

• Appreciate the “cash leverage” – about 2:1 – within your organisation as an industry partner; understand IP implications

• Establish regular and alternate communication channels within the R&D group

• Recognise possible cultural differences in workplace (including where the work will be undertaken)

• Primary aims– encourages institutions to collaborate to develop research

infrastructure– supports large-scale cooperative initiatives for sharing

expensive facilities– supports areas of research strength and researchers in

recognised areas of research potential

• Funding– Applications request > $100,000– ARC contributes at most 75% of the direct cost of

purchasing equipment or establishing facility.

Linkage Infrastructure

Linkage Infrastructure

Timing 1 round per year, closes May

No. of grants per year ~70

2006 allocation ~$35M

% of total ARC funds ~7%

Project duration N/A

Grant size Average about $400k

No. of Orgs per grant Average ~4

No. of applications/yr ~150

Typical success rate 50%

Linkage Infrastructure 2000-2006

1st yr funding

Applications Funded Success rate

2000 144 70 48.6%

2001 136 75 55.1%

2002 129 70 54.3%

2003 121 67 55.4%

2004 146 75 51.4%

2005 159 78 49.1%

2006 168 83 49.4%

Linkage Infrastructure

Requested funds by funded

applications

Total ARC allocation

Partner contribution (cash component only)

% of average

requested funds

$45,130,007 $37,314,577 $30,337,722 82.7%

Thank you