Linkage Projects

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

This scheme is OPEN.

Linkage Projects for funding commencing in 2023 opened on Thursday 14 December 2023 and will close  Wednesday 11 December 2024.

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.

In 2024 there will be two assessment rounds for applications for Linkage Projects for funding applied for in 2024. Applications can be submitted at any time between 14 December 2023 and 11 December 2024 and will be assessed within one of two assessment rounds.

 2024 Assessment Round 12024 Assessment Round 2
Applications open in RMSThu 14 December 2023
University E&C Check PeriodMon 8 - Tue 16 April 2024Tue 12 - Wed 20 November 2024
Request Not to Assess due to Research OfficeThu 17 April 2024Wed 20 November 2024
Request Not to Assess due to ARCThu 24 April 2024Wed 27 November 2024
Certification (Written Evidence) for Other Eligible organisationsTue 23 April 2024Wed 27 November 2024
University Deadline for Final Application9:00am Tue 23 April 20249:00am Wed 27 November 2024
ARC CloseWed 8 May 2024Wed 11 December 2024
Rejoinders10 to 23 July 202426  February 2025 to 12 March 2025
Anticipated Announcement*31 October to 13 November 202412 June to 25 June 2025

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

Please note: A Final Application comprises of a final submission-ready application submitted to the Research Office in RMS, a complete and fully signed External Application Cover Sheet and all CI/PI and Other/Eligible Organisation Certifications (Written Evidence) emailed to research-applications@newcastle.edu.au.

Please review our ARC/NHMRC Grant Rounds Submission Procedures (PDF) for essential information regarding application submission under this scheme.


ARC Final Reports

Please note that any outstanding ARC Final Reports now have eligibility implications for current ARC applications. Within the current Grant Guidelines under Eligibility to apply it states:

4.16 “All named participants in an application must have met their obligations regarding previously funded projects, including submission of satisfactory final reports to the ARC at the date of application submission and any relevant consequential actions that may have been applied under the ARC Research Integrity Policy.”

In this application round, the ARC and assessors will be able to view grants with outstanding reports in Section D8 for each researcher. If such grants have had approved extensions and as such the Final Report is not overdue then this should be stated in the report within Section G2.

If you have an outstanding Final Report for any project for which you are a named CI, it is your responsibility to ensure this is submitted to the ARC in adequate time prior to your intended submission date to the ARC.


Documents

Certification Proforma and Other Useful Information

University of Newcastle ARC Written Evidence Certification proformas, Guide to writing the National Interest Test (NIT) Statement, Guide to auto-populate Research Outputs and ORCHID, Preparing budgets and other useful information is available in the ‘Preparing ARC Grants’ accordion located at the top of this page.

ARC Supporting Documents

The ARC is now required to publish Grant Guidelines and associated documents on GrantConnect, is the Australian Government whole-of-government, centralised, 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 Linkage Projects.

If you have any problems using GrantConnect or accessing relevant documentation please contact us at research-applications@newcastle.edu.au or 02 4921 7733.

Please note that the following important information is still available directly through the ARC:

University of Newcastle Documents


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.


Linkage Project Information Sessions

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


Rejoinders

Instructions for submitting a Rejoinder in RMS are available on the Rejoinders Information page of the ARC website. The Research Office will email the first named Participants individually with further advice.

Download a Rejoinder Guide (PDF)


Further Information

For further information regarding the Linkage Projects Scheme, please contact research-applications@newcastle.edu.au or phone on (02) 4921 7733.