Linkage Program

Preparing ARC Grants

Research Office Mailing Lists

The Research-ARC mailing list is managed by the Research Office and used to communicate updates regarding grants and fellowships offered by the Australian Research Council (ARC). If you currently hold an ARC grant or fellowship, or intend applying for one, the Research Office strongly recommends subscribing to this list. Information about applying, changes to guidelines and conditions of award, progress report requirements etc. will be communicated via this list.

• Subscribe to the Research-ARC Mailing list (University staff and students only)

Documents

The ARC is required to publish Grant Guidelines and all associated scheme documents on GrantConnect, the Australian Government whole-of-government, web-based, grant information system. You will need to sign in or create a User Registration account in GrantConnect to access all relevant documentation for ARC applications.

Once you have signed in to GrantConnect, the essential documents can be found by searching for the relevant scheme under ‘grant opportunities’ (open schemes) or ‘forecast opportunities’ (upcoming schemes). As the ARC often updates documents after the scheme opens, it is highly recommended that you sign up for alerts by editing your profile.

If you encounter any problems accessing or downloading these documents please contact the Research Grants team.

University of Newcastle Documents

• University of Newcastle ARC Certification [Written Evidence] (DOC)
• ARC/NHMRC Grant Rounds Submission Procedures (PDF)
• Partner Organisation Letter of Support Template (DOC)
• ARC Rejoinder Guide and Tips (PDF)

RMS Access

RMS allows researchers requesting funding from the ARC National Competitive Grants Program to prepare and submit proposals electronically via the internet.

Each proposal is completed by researchers and consists of an electronic document generated from a combination of data entered directly into the proposal form, and PDF documents attached to the proposal form in RMS.

Note: The Admin Organisation will be The University of Newcastle

The RMS Information Page contains links to key documents such as:

• RMS User Management Guide
• Submitting a Proposal in RMS

All new applications as well as final reports will need to be submitted to RMS.

RMS minimum system requirements

RMS is compatible with the latest versions of Google Chrome and Microsoft Esge. Compatibility with different browsers or older versions of Chrome or Edge is not guaranteed.

Research Outputs/Publications

RMS auto-population of Research Outputs and ORCID

As part of the ARC’s commitment to integrating ORCID into RMS, it is possible to auto-populate research output data into ARC RMS profiles and application forms.

• User Guide (PDF)

For more information on ORCID and your grant application, please see the below resources that the UON Library has kindly developed:

• Grant Applications and ORCID
• How to add your publications to your ORCID profile

Research Liaison Librarians

Research Liaison Librarians offer a number of specialist research services and resources, including advice and support for undertaking literature searches, systematic reviews, referencing, citation analysis, current awareness, promotion of research, and management of research data.

Contact your school’s Research Liaison Librarian to discuss your research needs.

Preparing ARC Budgets

Information on how to calculate salary costs for your budget can found on our Preparing Research Budgets page.

• 30% on-costs must be included in all salary requests.
• Indexation cannot be included.
• Salary increase due to increase in HEW step levels can be included.

Eligibility Matters

The ARC has developed an Eligibility Matters webpage which address some of the most common eligibility requirements for ARC schemes. It covers items including:

• Researcher Roles
• Fellowships/Awards
• Number of Applications, Funded Projects and Cross-Scheme Eligibility
• Organisational types
• Incomplete or Misleading Information
• Medical Research
• Submission of applications

Visit the ARC Eligibility Matters webpage for more details.

Eligibility and Compliance Checks

Research Grants uses an online booking process to manage optional Eligibility and Compliance Checks (E&C Checks) on applications for ARC Schemes.

In these checks, scientific content is not reviewed but rather, this check will look at your application to make sure it meets the grant guidelines and ensure that you won’t be ruled out due to an ineligible proposal. It is recommended that you also seek Peer Review of your application via your College and/or School where available.

A booking must be made within the allocated E&C Check period for each scheme. Applicants are strongly encouraged to commence their application in RMS ASAP after the scheme opens so they can book their preferred day for an E&C Check. Bookings without a RMS Application ID will be cancelled.

• Make an E&C Check booking

Written Evidence for ARC Projects - Certification

The University of Newcastle is required to obtain written evidence of all Other Eligible organisations included on applications under the relevant Grant Guidelines. Certification for individual participants is now requested in RMS as part of the application.

Download the Certification Proforma (DOC) and follow the guidelines on the first page for submission.

The completed ARC Certification Proforma is required for ALL Eligible Organisations listed in an ARC application.

Please attach and send ALL responses in ONE email to research-applications@newcastle.edu.au by the internal deadline (at least 10 business days prior to submission date).

Participation on externally-led ARC applications

If you are participating on an ARC application being led by another university, you will need to provide the Project Leader (CIA) with a Certification form signed by the DVCRI delegate from the University of Newcastle. Many universities will have their own form, based on the ARC proforma. Please ask the CIA to provide this to you in advance with a deadline for its return. The University of Newcastle ARC Certification form (DOC) can be used if the lead university does not have their own form.

In addition, you will need to complete and then seek the signature of your Head of School (HoS) and College Assistant Dean of Research (ADR) on an Externally-led Application Coversheet. Please contact Research Grants to obtain this coversheet.

Conflict of Interest and Confidentiality Policy

The ARC Conflict of Interest and Confidentiality Policy outlines the obligations that apply to individuals involved in ARC business including. Researchers are requested to provide this information as a named participant for ARC research funding (both CIs and PIs).

National Interest Test (NIT) Statement

All ARC applications require a National Interest Test (NIT) Statement. The purpose of the NIT is to explain the societal benefits (economic, commercial, environmental, social and/or cultural) of the proposed research beyond the academic community. The audience of the NIT is the general public - a different audience than the Application Project Summary, which is addressed to the applicant’s peers. Further information is in the Guidelines and Instructions to Applicants for each scheme.

The NIT is assessed by the ARC Chief Executive Officer prior to recommendation to the Minister. It will not be visible to Assessors or within the application PDF.

Please see the ARC webpage Articulating National Interest in grant applications for more details.

Submission Process

Please see the ARC Submission Procedure on the ARC Grants webpage and the Online Booking System User Guide for instructions on how to make a booking for an Eligibility and Compliance Check.

Once complete, the CI submits the final, submission ready application in RMS via the 'Submit to Research Office' button and forwards all associated documentation to research-applications@newcastle.edu.au on or before the internal deadline.

ARC Reporting and Eligibility

If you have a current ARC grant with outstanding reports, this may affect your eligibility for current ARC applications. Please see the ARC Reporting Requirements webpage.

RMS now has improved functionality to detect and prevent applications from being submitted where any participant has not met their ARC reporting requirements or where project or application limits have been breached.

Please see the scheme-specific Grant Guidelines and the ARC Reporting Requirements webpage.

Access to Successful Applications

Research Grants can provide researchers with access to view successful applications where the lead Chief Investigator has provided consent.

Applications must be viewed in hard copy at the Research Grants Office.

How to Arrange to View a Successful Application

Contact the Research Grants team to request access to view successful applications for a specific scheme. Please include preferred date(s) and time(s) in your email.

Presentations

The Research Advantage team have developed a Resources Hub which provides recordings and slides of recent presentations.

Research Office Contact
research-applications@newcastle.edu.au

Please subscribe to the Research Grants office ARC mailing list to receive updates on this scheme.

The program

ARC Centres of Excellence are prestigious outstanding collaborative research initiatives addressing areas of national priority to both maintain and enhance Australia's international standing.

Scheme objectives are:

• Undertake highly innovative and potentially transformational research that aims to achieve international standing in the fields of research envisaged and leads to a significant advancement of capabilities and knowledge;
• Link existing Australian research strengths and build critical mass with new capacity for interdisciplinary, collaborative approaches to address the most challenging and significant research problems;
• Develop relationships and build new networks with major national and international centres and research programs to help strengthen research, achieve global competitiveness and gain recognition for Australian research;
• Build Australia's human capacity in a range of research areas by attracting and retaining, from within Australia and abroad, researchers of high international standing as well as the most promising research students;
• Provide high-quality postgraduate and postdoctoral training environments for the next generation of researchers;
• Offer Australian researchers opportunities to work on large-scale problems over longer periods of time; and
• Establish Centres of such repute in the wider community that they will serve as points of interaction among higher education institutions, governments, industry and the private sector generally.

The ARC selection process for the ARC Centres of Excellence round involves a competitive three-stage process:

1. Expression of Interest (EOI) to the ARC
2. Shortlisted EOIs will be invited to submit a full proposal
3. Shortlisted full Proposals will be invited to participate in an interview process conducted by the ARC's Selection Advisory Committee.

The selection criteria is weighted as follows:

For further information regarding the scheme, please visit the ARC Centres of Excellence website.

Key dates

Current and Past University of Newcastle ARC Centres of Excellence

If you have any questions regarding the ARC Centres of Excellence scheme, please contact research-applications@newcastle.edu.au.

Research Office Contact:
research-applications@newcastle.edu.au

The Linkage Projects scheme provides funding to Eligible Organisations to facilitate collaborative research and development (R&D) projects between higher education researchers and other parts of the national innovation system.

Proposals for funding under the Linkage Projects scheme must include at least one Partner Organisation. The Partner Organisation must make a contribution in cash and/or in kind to the project. 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 the total funding requested from the ARC.

For further information, please visit the Linkage Projects page on the ARC website.

Key Dates

Please subscribe to the Research Office ARC mailing list to receive up to date information on ARC funding opportunities.

The ARC has announced dates for one assessment round in 2026 for applications for Linkage Projects. If more dates are announced, they will be communicated by Research Grants via our ARC mailing list.

* Announcements are anticipated approximately six months from the application closing date for the round.

AusIndustry R&D Tax Incentive

Under the R&D Tax Incentive, businesses can offset the cost of eligible R&D that is undertaken by them or through partners such as universities. This could be through eligible expenses in an ARC Linkage Projects grant, contract research, or a Cooperative Research Centre (CRC).

The R&D Tax Incentive provides a tax offset for eligible companies which reduce the cost and risk to businesses of undertaking R&D, increasing the incentive to invest in research and innovation. The University of Newcastle and Newcastle Innovation are both registered Research Service Providers (RSPs) for this scheme.

Further information on this scheme for researchers and industry can be found at AusIndustry R&D Tax Incentive.

Further Information

For further information regarding the Linkage Projects Scheme, please contact the Research Grants team.

Research Office Contact:
research-applications@newcastle.edu.au

The Industrial Transformation Research Program (ITRP) supports university researchers to partner with industry in priority areas for Australia.

Industrial Transformation Research Hubs fund research projects focused on issues facing industry and Industrial Transformation Training Centres support Higher Degree by Research (HDR) students and postdoctoral researchers gain practical skills and experience through placements with industry.

The Industrial Transformation Priorities for ITRP for funding commencing in 2024 (ITRP24) were:

• Renewables and low emissions technologies
• Medical science*
• Transport
• Value-add in the agriculture, forestry and fisheries sectors
• Value-add in resources
• Defence capability
• Enabling capabilities.

* Applications which address the ‘Medical Science’ industrial transformation priority must take the ARC Medical Research Policy into consideration.

Key Dates

For funding commencing in 2026

Please subscribe to the Research Office ARC mailing list to receive updates for this scheme.

Further information

For further information regarding the ARC Industrial Transformation Training Hubs Scheme, please contact the Research Grants team.

Research Grants contact:
research-applications@newcastle.edu.au

The ARC LIEF scheme provides funding for large-scale cooperative initiatives to enable the purchase of expensive infrastructure, equipment and facilities costing at least $200,000 (with the minimum amount of $150,000 requested from the ARC).

For more information, please visit the LIEF page on the ARC website.

Key Dates

For funding commencing in 2027

Dates are indicative only and may be subject to change.

Please subscribe to Research Grants ARC mailing list to receive up to date information on ARC funding opportunities.

* It is a requirement for all applicants intending to submit an ARC LIEF grant commencing in 2027, either through the University of Newcastle or through another institution, to submit a Notification of Intent to Apply (NOI). Cash and in-kind support cannot be assured for applicants who do not submit an NOI by the deadline. Incomplete NOIs will not be considered.

Further Information

For further information regarding the ARC LIEF scheme, please contact the Research Grants team.