The ARC—overview and opportunities Presented to Indonesian delegation 9 February 2016 Mr Justin Withers Director, Policy and Integrity The Australian Research Council

Web: arc.gov.au I Presentation Overview Australian Research Council overview National Competitive Grants Programme Excellence in Research for Australia National Innovation and Science Agenda

Web: arc.gov.au I Australian Research Council Overview

Web: arc.gov.au I The Australian Research Council (1) The ARC is a Commonwealth entity within the Australian Government. The ARC’s main responsibilities are: — providing funding for research through the competitive funding schemes of the National Competitive Grants Programme (NCGP) — evaluating the quality of research in universities under the Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA) — providing policy advice on research matters to Government; and — together with the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC), administering the Australian Research Integrity Committee (ARIC)

Web: arc.gov.au I The Australian Research Council (2) The ARC’s mission is to deliver policy and programmes that advance Aust. research and innovation globally and benefit the community. In seeking to achieve its mission, the ARC: — supports the highest quality fundamental and applied research and research training through national competition across all disciplines — the ARC brokers partnerships between researchers and industry, government, community organisations and the international community. Clinical and other medical research is primarily supported by the NHMRC.

2015–16 Federal Budget—$429 billion

2015–16 Federal Budget—R&D $9.7 billion

Web: arc.gov.au I Commonwealth Investment in R&D 2015–16 ($m)

Web: arc.gov.au I National Competitive Grants Programme

ARC NCGP funding by Fields of Research 2002–2014

ARC NCGP % funding by institution 2008–2015 IRU ATN Go8 Unaligned unis & others

National Competitive Grants Programme Area of box represents funding over the period 2011–2015. N.B. - Centres of Excellence, SRIs, not awarded in every year. - ITRP and DECRA only funding since 2012 Discovery Programme Linkage Programme

ARC NCGP funding by scheme 2008–2015

Web: arc.gov.au I Discovery Programme objectives Fund excellent, internationally competitive research by individuals and teams that will produce high quality outcomes Build Australia’s research capacity through supporting and facilitating research training and career opportunities for excellent Australian and international researchers Support research in priority areas that will deliver national benefits Enhance research capacity and outcomes through support for international collaboration

Web: arc.gov.au I Key funding features of Discovery schemes Discovery Projects and Discovery Indigenous schemes primarily award project costs (travel, equipment, staff, etc.) Discovery Early Career Researcher Awards (DECRA) scheme primarily awards a salary for the awardee, with a small allocation of project costs Laureate Fellowships scheme awards a salary top-up plus funding for a team of postdoctoral and postgraduate researchers Each scheme has different selection criteria, rules and funding limits, as each serves a different purpose

Web: arc.gov.au I Discovery Projects—success and return rates

Web: arc.gov.au I DECRA—success rates

Web: arc.gov.au I Linkage Programme objectives Support excellent collaborative research initiatives involving partnerships between higher education organisations and with other sectors in Australia and internationally Foster research training and career opportunities that enable researchers and research students to gain experience working in industry settings Support collaborative research in priority areas that will deliver national benefits Enhance capacity to deliver national benefits by investing in large- scale collaborative research programmes

Web: arc.gov.au I Key funding features of Linkage schemes Linkage Projects scheme primarily award project costs (accessing infrastructure, equipment, travel, hiring personnel etc.) Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities scheme provides funding for large-scale cooperative initiatives ARC Centres of Excellence scheme supports large teams to undertake focused and sustained investigations into, and find solutions to, challenging and important problems Other programmes: Industrial Transformation Research Programme scheme and Special Research Initiatives scheme

Web: arc.gov.au I Linkage Projects—success and return rates

Linkage Projects Linkages 2011–2015 Higher Education Government Industry/business Non-profit/other

ITRP Linkages All rounds Higher Education Government Industry/Other

Current Centres of Excellence— Collaborations Centre of Excellence Australian Org. International Higher Ed. Government

Web: arc.gov.au I Support for international collaboration To pursue its mission, the ARC is guided by a strong commitment to four principles: — Excellence in programme and policy delivery to support excellence in research — Engagement with and responsiveness to all stakeholders to support relevant programme and policy development — Benefit to the community through economic and social return on investment, informed decision making, and efficient operations — Accountability through transparent, efficient and effective processes and adherence to ethical standards

Web: arc.gov.au I Support for international collaboration All ARC funding schemes are open to international applicants applying through eligible Australian organisations Support for international collaboration is incorporated within ARC’s funding schemes Partner Investigators (PIs) can be based overseas. Project funding for travel, including for overseas PIs, to support international collaboration For more information on International Collaboration in ARC schemes: > International

Web: arc.gov.au I International collaboration on ARC-funded projects 2009–2015 *Outcomes for 2015 do not include funding for Future Fellowships.

Web: arc.gov.au I Percentage of international collaboration on ARC-funded projects 2016

Web: arc.gov.au I ARC-funded projects involving international collaboration with Indonesia, by scheme, 2015

Web: arc.gov.au I ARC-funded projects involving international collaboration with Indonesia, by scheme, 2016

Web: arc.gov.au I Total ARC funding by allocation year, for projects collaborating with Indonesia Funding allocation year Total $ $13,933,073$14,761,880$18,398,251$17,799,015$15,938,068 Total # of projects

Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA) 2015

What is ERA? ERA evaluates the quality of the research undertaken in Australian universities against national and international benchmarks The outcomes (ratings) are determined and moderated by committees of distinguished researchers from Australia and overseas The unit of evaluation is broadly defined as the Field of Research (FoR) within an institution based on the Australia and New Zealand Standard Classification (ANZSRC) The indicators used in ERA include a range of metrics such as citation profiles which are common to disciplines in the natural sciences, and peer review of a sample of research outputs which is more broadly common in the humanities and social sciences ERA is a comprehensive collection—the data submitted by universities covers all eligible researchers and their research outputs

The ERA rating scale Rating 5 The Unit of Evaluation profile is characterised by evidence of outstanding performance well above world standard presented by the suite of indicators used for evaluation. 4 The Unit of Evaluation profile is characterised by evidence of performance above world standard presented by the suite of indicators used for evaluation. 3 The Unit of Evaluation profile is characterised by evidence of average performance at world standard presented by the suite of indicators used for evaluation. 2 The Unit of Evaluation profile is characterised by evidence of performance below world standard presented by the suite of indicators used for evaluation. 1The Unit of Evaluation profile is characterised by evidence of performance well below world standard presented by the suite of indicators used for evaluation.

Objectives of ERA? Establish an evaluation framework that gives government, industry, business and the wider community assurance of the excellence of research conducted in Australia’s institutions Provide a national stock take of discipline-level research Identify excellence across the full spectrum of research performance Identify emerging research areas and opportunities for further development Allow for comparison of Australia’s research nationally and internationally for all discipline areas

ERA Unit of Evaluation—the FoRs 2-digit 4-digits 6-digits *The ERA Unit is not the department nor the individual researcher 19Studies in Creative Arts and Writing 1901Art Theory and Criticism 1902Film, Television and Digital Media 1903Journalism and Professional Writing 1904Performing Arts and Creative Writing > Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Performing Arts > Creative Writing (incl. Playwriting) > Dance > Drama, Theatre and Performance Studies > Māori Performing Arts > Music Composition > Music Performance > Music Therapy > Musicology and Ethnomusicology > Pacific Peoples Performing Arts 1905 Visual Arts and Crafts 1999 Other Studies in Creative Arts and Writing

ERA 2015—Outcomes ERA 2015 results are available in: State of Australian University Research , Volume 1, ERA National Report.* ERA 2015 outcomes show Australia’s universities continue to produce high-quality research across a wide range of disciplines. Overall research quality is improving and reflects ERA’s role in focussing universities on research quality. Of the UoEs assessed in both ERA 2015 and the previous round, ERA 2012, 56 per cent of these maintained the same rating, while 29 per cent improved their rating by one. The ERA results show an extraordinary breadth of outstanding research performance in Australia. *Available at:

ERA 2012 to ERA 2015 Growth There was steady growth in Australia’s university research activity between the ERA 2012 and ERA 2015 rounds, including increases in: — the total number of assessed UoEs, up 6% to 2460 — the number of research outputs submitted, up 5% to 432,747 — the number of research staff submitted, up 11% to 67,579 — total number of patents, up 20% to 936

Distribution of ERA 2015 ratings across all Australian universities

High Performing two-digit Units of Evaluation Two-digit Fields of Research codes: 01 Mathematical Sciences 02 Physical Sciences 03 Chemical Sciences 05 Environmental Sciences 07 Agricultural and Veterinary Sciences 09 Engineering 11 Medical and Health Sciences 17 Psychology and Cognitive Sciences 18 Law and Legal Studies 21 History and Archaeology

Web: arc.gov.au I National Innovation and Science Agenda

Web: arc.gov.au I National Innovation and Science Agenda In December 2015, the Aust. Government announced the National Innovation and Science Agenda, providing $1.1 billion over four years to support innovation across the economy The ARC will implement two main initiatives under the Agenda: — Impact and engagement assessment at a university level by discipline, as a companion to the ERA exercise — From 1 July 2016, the ARC Linkage Projects scheme will be open to continuous applications and decision-making will be fast tracked to better support collaborative research with industry More information at

Web: arc.gov.au I Impact and Engagement Assessment National Innovation and Science Agenda includes $11.2 million over five years ($2.2 million on average) to conduct a national assessment measuring impact and engagement in university research Government invests $3.5 billion a year in university research ARC and Department of Education to develop methodology in 2016, including extensive sector consultation Pilot assessment in 2017 Full assessment in 2018 as a companion to ERA

Web: arc.gov.au I Boosting the Commercial Returns from Research Boosting the Commercial Returns from research is a key component of the Government’s innovation agenda The strategy aims to improve Australia’s economic performance through better translation of publicly funded research into commercial and practical outcomes The strategy includes a suite of complementary actions the Government will take to improve collaboration between the research sector and industry to enhance research commercialisation and better application of research

Web: arc.gov.au I Focusing Government Investment— Research Priorities Science and Research Priorities and corresponding Practical Research Challenges developed by Government Designed to increase investment in areas of immediate and critical importance to Australia and its place in the world - soil and water - transport - cybersecurity - energy - resources - advanced manufacturing - environmental change - Health More information at

Thank you