NSW RESEARCH ATTRACTION AND ACCELERATION PROGRAM

GUIDELINES FOR APPLICANTS

AustraliaN Research Council

CENTRES OF EXCELLENCE

2015 ROUND

1.0Program Purpose / 1.1The NSW Government’s Research Attraction and Acceleration Program (RAAP) will provide, on a competitive basis, grants to NSW applicants funded in the 2015 round of the Centres of Excellence (CoE) Program (‘the Commonwealth Program’). The RAAP is administered by the NSW Office of the Chief Scientist & Engineer within the NSWDepartment of Industry (‘the Department’).
1.2The RAAPwill offer grantsfor newCentres or extension Centresin the 2015Round of the Commonwealth Program.
1.3The provision of RAAP money to successful applicants will enhance the capacity and capability of the NSW-based operations of the Centres.
1.4The RAAP has been developed in recognition of the fact that the provision of funding by NSW Governmentgrows the capacity of the Centre and increases the likelihood of success of Centres applying under the Commonwealth Program.
1.5The RAAP Program seeks to encourage consortia submitting applications that demonstrate significant potential contribution to the NSW society, environment and economy.
2.0Support available / 2.1It is expected that each successful RAAP application will receive agrant of up to $500,000.
3.0Use of grant funds / 3.1Funding from the RAAP will take the form of a cash contribution following the establishment of the Centre and the execution of a Deed of Agreement between the applicant, and the Department.
3.2The grant monies must only be used on activities undertaken within NSW, and onnew Centres and extension Centres located in NSW. For example, grant funds might be used to:
  • fund employment of technical staff at the NSW nodes;
  • support or top-up scholarships or fellowships of students or post-doctoral researchers to be located within NSW;
  • support the Centre-related travel or exchanges of researchers who are based in NSW, or to support visits or exchanges of people to NSW for Centre-related activities;
  • cover expenses related to rent or fit out of offices and laboratories located in NSW; or
  • purchase or lease instrumentation or plant equipment that will be located in NSW.

4.0Eligibility criteria / 4.1Funding is available for consortia bidding as a new Centre or an extension Centre under the Commonwealth Program.
4.2The RAAP grant application process will be open to Centre consortia applying for funding under the Commonwealth Program which have:
  1. been invited to submit their Centre’sapplications to the full proposal stage of the Commonwealth process; and
  2. theirCentre’s headquarters and/or a major research presence located in NSW;
  3. for the purposes of this grant, Centre headquarters are defined as the main administrative office of the Centre, and location of the CEO. Headquarters must remain in NSW for the period of the RAAPAgreement;
  4. Centres with a major research presence in NSW would be those that retain approximately 40% (or more) of their researchers(total staff and students) in NSW for the period of the RAAP agreement; and
  5. Centres that are unsuccessful in their applications under the Commonwealth Program shall not receive RAAP funding.

5.0Selection criteria / 5.1Applications will be ranked and preference given according to the criteria outlined below:
  1. economic, environmental and social benefits of the research program for NSW, and alignment to the NSW Premier’s State Priorities document;
  2. value added by the Centre to NSW research capabilities;
  3. size of Centre presence in NSW, including presence of headquarters, number of staff, planned expenditure in NSW;
  4. track record of current Centre (applies to centre seeking extension funding and does not apply to consortia seeking support for a new Centre);
  5. explanation of how you will apply the research outcomes into practice in NSW;
  6. NSW industry, Government agency and end-user linkages;
  7. impact on NSW skills, advanced education and training; and
  8. use and value-add of RAAP support.
  9. The responses to these criteria will be used by the Departmentto determine whether to recommend funding to the applicant, and how much funding to recommend.
  10. The Departmentwill make recommendations regarding maximum funding allocations.
  11. The Department, in its discretion, may choose not to award or recommend funding under this program.
  12. The Department will undertake a two stage application process. Stage 1 will involve the submission of an Expression of Interest for bids invited to submit a full proposal to the Commonwealth. Following the Commonwealth announcement of successful Centres of Excellence, the Department will undertake stage 2 to confirm funding levels received by successful bids. This will inform final RAAP funding allocations.

6.0Application process / 6.1RAAPExpressions of Interest applications close at5pm, Tuesday 1 December 2015
6.2Submitan electronic version of BOTH your draft full proposalCoE bidand a completed RAAP Application Form to:
6.3All eligible applicants will be assessed on merit against the selection criteria. However the Department, in its discretion, may choose not to provide funding to applicants.
6.4All questions must be answered. If they are not applicable, please indicate.
6.5Applicants should clearly identify in their application (including attachments) any information that the applicant requests be treated as confidential.
6.6The application must be signed by at least one of the core participants (by the head of the organisation or their authorised delegate). Where not all core participants’ representatives have signed the application, the signatories must acknowledge that the application is made with the knowledge and on behalf of all core participants.
6.7Due to the short timeframe of this round extensions will not be considered.
7.0Selection process / 7.1The role of the Department is to administer the NSW RAAP, including:
  1. assessing the RAAP applications;
  2. making a recommendation on the successful applicants and the maximum level of funding;
  3. entering into funding deeds with successful applicants;
  4. making grant payments; and
  5. monitoring grant recipients’ use of funds. Grant recipients will be required to provide the Department information on how the funding was utilised. (Further details of this are shown at 8.1 below, and will be outlined in the RAAPfunding deed.)
  6. an internal NSW GovernmentRAAPexpert panel will:
  1. assess and rank grant applications according to the RAAP’s eligibility and selection criteria; and
  2. make recommendations on which applicants, if any, should receive grants and the amount of those grants.
  3. The RAAPexpert panel will assess each application on a competitive basis relative to the criteria and other applications.
  4. All applicants will be informed of the outcome of the decision on their applications, whether or not they are successful.
  5. The proposed timetable for the selection process is as follows:
16 Oct 2015 / RAAP EOI applications open
1 Dec 2015 / RAAP EOIapplications close
Week of 7 Dec 2015 / Applicants are informed of the outcome of their RAAP application
16 Dec 2015 / CoEfull proposals due to the Commonwealth
Three weeks following the notification of successful bids by the Commonwealth, RAAP stage 2 applications will be sought.
8.0Funding Agreements & Reporting Requirements / 8.1All applicants that are successful under the RAAP and the Commonwealth’sCoERound, and who accept the offer of a grant will be required to enter into a formal funding deed relating to the grant. The funding deed will specify obligations that relate primarily to the recipient’s accountability for the grant, including using the grant for activities occurring in NSW, the return of unspent grant funds and reporting on the use of the grant.
8.2The Deed must be signed by at least one core participant in the Centre consortium.