LINKAGE INFRASTRUCTURE, EQUIPMENT AND FACILITIES
Instructions to Applicants
for funding commencing in 2014
Table of Contents
1.Matters to note before completing the Proposal form
2.Getting started in RMS
3.Creating a new Proposal in RMS
4.Adding Participants and Organisations
5.Filling in the Proposal form
Part A - Administrative Summary
Part B - Classification and Other Statistical Information
Part C - Project Description
Part D - Project Cost
Part E - Budget Justifications
Part F – Personnel
Part G - Partner Organisation Details
Part H - Research Support
Part I - Statements on Progress of ARC Funded LIEF Projects
Part J - Additional Details
6.Submitting the Proposal to the Research Office
7.Additional points to assist Applicants to avoid common submission errors
8. Troubleshooting - RMS...... 31
Appendix A - Format...... 33
Australian Research Council
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities
Instructions to Applicantsfor funding commencing in 2014
The Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities Instruction to Applicants for funding commencing in 2014 provides information to Applicants on how to complete and electronically submit a Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities Proposal for funding commencing in 2014. The completed Proposal form, including the PDF attachments, must comply with the Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities Funding Rules for funding commencing in 2014 (hereafter referred to as the Funding Rules).
The information in this document is underpinned by the Funding Rules. Please review the Funding Rules (available on the ARC website at before preparing the Proposal.
Please also refer to the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) which will be updated regularly and are available on the ARC website at
1.Matters to note before completing the Proposal form
Proposals are the prime source of information available to ARC assessors and must be submitted as mature research plans ready for implementation. The Proposal must contain all the information necessary for assessment of the Project without the need for further written or oral explanation, or reference to additional documentation, including the World Wide Web, unless requested by the ARC. All details in the Proposal must be current at the time of submission.
1.1Accuracy of Information
Check carefully that all the information contained in the Proposal is accurate before submission of the Proposal.
1.2Key Dates –Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilitiesfor funding commencing in2014
Please refer to the Important Dates page on the ARC website for key dates and updates relevant to these Funding Rules including the deadline for submission of a ‘Request not to Assess’ form and the Proposal submission deadline.
1.3Proposal Certification
The Proposal must be certified and submitted online through the ARC’s Research Management System (RMS) by an authorised officer of the Administering Organisation.
The authorised officer must have the roles ‘Research Office Delegate’ in RMS. Only the Administering Organisation certifies and submits online.
The Administering Organisation must obtain the agreement, attested to by written evidence of all the relevant persons and organisations named on the Proposal, excluding the employing organisations of overseas Partner Investigators (PIs) and any Participant’s Current Organisation which is not their Relevant Organisation for the Proposal. This written evidence should be retained by the Administering Organisation and must be provided to the ARC if requested.
Please note: The ARC has provided a pro forma for obtaining written evidence at: However, the use of the ARC pro forma is not mandatory. The Administering Organisation may determine the format for written evidence.
1.4RMSAssistance
Participants should click on the Help link (located on the top left corner of the RMS screen) or contact the Administering Organisation’s Research Office or equivalent in the first instance for assistance with RMS. If you still require assistance the ARC has the following help desk options:
- Send an email to tlining your problem and providing your RMS details.
- Telephone the RMS Help Desk on +61 2 6287 6789.
Note: the RMS Help Desk is staffed from 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday. For after-hours queries please send an email to and the ARC will respond to your email as soon as possible.
For queries relating to the Funding Rules, eligibility, or Proposal form, please contact the Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities team at .
2.Getting started in RMS
The Proposal is prepared and submitted through RMS at by the Administering Organisation.
To access and/or amend Proposal information, all Proposal Participants, including Chief Investigator(s) (CIs), Partner Investigator(s) (PIs) and support staff involved in the preparation of a Proposal require an RMS User ID and password.
Further information on accessing RMS is available on the ARC website at
It is recommended that intended Proposal Participants obtain an RMS User ID as soon as possible to prevent potential delays due to an anticipated increase in RMS User ID requests close to the due date for Proposals.
- Creating a new Proposal in RMS
To create a new Proposal:
Login to RMS (
- Click on ‘Create Draft Proposal’ under the Proposals heading.
- Select LE14 Round 1 from the drop down list, enter a Draft Proposal Name and click on ‘Create Proposal’.
- To return to your Draft Proposal at a later date, click on the ‘Draft Proposals’ link via your RMS Hompage.
The Proposal name is intended to be a running title for the use of the Applicant. It is not the formal title of the Proposal and is not used by the ARC in any formal documents, it can however be viewed by the ARC. Once you have saved the Proposal name it cannot be edited and the 'Draft Proposal Summary' page will appear. Further details are added into each Part of the Proposal form from this page. The formal Proposal title is entered in Part A.
4.Adding Participants and Organisations
The ‘Draft Proposal Summary’ screen is the navigational screen that opens when a new Draft Proposal is created. From this page it is possible to:
- Add Person and Organisation Participants to the Proposal,
- nominate roles for Person or Organisation Participants,
- transfer ownership of the Proposal,
- change the order in which Person or Organisation Participants appear on the Proposal,
- check the validity of form parts,
- generate a PDF of the Proposal, and
- navigate through the parts of a Proposal.
4.1 Participants
All Chief Investigators (CIs) and Partner Investigators (PIs) must be added as person participants on the ‘Draft Proposal Summary’ screen. Non-participants (those who are not named on the Proposal) are not entered here - please refer to section 4.2 to add non-participants.
Each Organisation participating/contributing to the Proposal must be listed, including the Administering Organisation. Participating Organisations do not need to accept or reject their nomination to a Proposal; however the Administering Organisation must obtain the agreement, attested to by written evidence of all the relevant persons and organisations necessary to allow the Project to proceed (see Proposal Certification).
Before inviting Participants, you may wish to enter the Proposal Title and Summary of Proposal in Part A – Administrative Summary.The Proposal title and summary provide information to invited participants and can help them decide whether to accept an invitation. If this information is not entered the invited Participants will only be able to identify a Proposal by the Proposal author name. The Proposal Title and Summary can be edited at any time before submission.
Note: Your Administering Organisation will not be able to see your Proposal unless you add them. Please ensure you add the Administering Organisation to your Proposal once created (please see section 3.4 for help in adding Organisations).
4.2Person Participants
Immediately after creation of a Proposal there will be no Participants listed, including the Proposal owner. If the Proposal owner is a Participant they can add themselves to the Proposal by clicking on the ‘Add Person Participant’ link and then clicking on the ‘Populate Person ID and Family Name with my details’. The correct role must be selected from the drop down menu. Click ‘Add Participant’ to complete the process.
Other Participants are added to the Proposal using the ‘Add Person Participant’ link. Participants who have been added to a Proposal will receive an automatic email directing them to RMS where they can accept or reject the invitation to participate in the Proposal.
Before adding Person Participants, please note the following eligibility criteria from the 2014 Funding Rules:
- The first named Participant must be from the Administering Organisation and is considered to be the Project Leader (Funding Rules section 7.1.2).
- Researchers must be significant and regular users to be eligible as CI’s or PI’s. Do not add individuals who will be minor users of the infrastructure, equipment and facilities (Funding Rules section 7.1.5).
- A Proposal must not nominate more than 30 CIs and PIs (Funding Rules section 7.1.3).
- A Proposal must not nominate more than five CIs or PIs from any one Organisation (Funding Rules section 7.1.3).
If the Participant identified as Project Leader is to be removed from the role or from the Proposal, this Project Leader must first ‘Transfer Ownership of this Draft Proposal’ to a new Project Leader. The link enabling this transfer is found on the ‘Draft Proposal Summary’ screen.
The table of Participants on the ‘Draft Proposal Summary’ screen displays the status of Participants (Invited/Accepted/Rejected) and allows the Proposal Owner to change the Access Rights of Participants, i.e.,allowing/disallowing editing of the Proposal.
Add Participants as follows:
- Click on ‘Add Person Participant’ on the ‘Draft Proposal Summary’ screen.
- Enter the Participant’s RMS Person ID, Family Name and Role.
A Participant’s role cannot be edited so please ensure the correct role is selected. To change a Participant’s role they must be removed and all information relating to that Participant, including Part F, will have to be re-entered.
Note: Successfully inviting a person to participate requires their RMS Person ID (this is not their RMS User ID) and their family name. Please obtain this directly from the participant who will be able to find their Person ID in their own personal details in RMS. Your Research Office or equivalent can search for the RMS Person IDs for individuals at your organisation.
Note: If a person does not have an RMS Account please see Section 2, ‘Getting Started in RMS’, for instructions on requesting an account.
- When a Participant has been successfully invited to a Proposal, they will receive an automated invitation email containing the Proposal details and directing them to accept or reject the invitation via RMS. Note: A Participant must accept the invitation which will change the status from ‘Requested’ to ‘Accepted’. ‘Part F – Personnel’ will not be generated for that Participant unless they have accepted the invitation.
- Participants can be re-ordered by clicking on either the up or down arrow. Please see the screenshot below.
- A Participant’s access rights can be changed by clicking on the ‘Edit access rights’ link.
4.3Non-Participants with Access to This Proposal
Access to a Draft Proposal can be given to non-participants who have an RMS account through the ‘Draft Proposal Summary’ screen. To give access and editing rights to non-participants:
- Select ‘Give access to non-participant’
- Insert Person ID and family name of the non-participant to be invited to access the proposal.
Allocate rights as appropriate. Further information about adding people and/or organisations is available from the ‘help’ link on the ‘Draft Proposal Summary’ screen.
4.4Organisation Participants
Each organisation participating/contributing to the proposed infrastructure, equipment or facilities must be listed on the Proposal, including the Administering Organisation. Organisations do not need to be ‘invited’ nor do the organisations ‘accept’ participation. However, signed certifications from all organisations (excluding the Administering Organisation) must be obtained before the Proposal can proceed. A certification proforma for organisations may be found on the ARC website at
There can only be one Administering Organisation and it must be listed first. If the Proposal is successful, the Eligible Organisation responsible for the administration of the Project will be referred to as the Administering Organisation. Refer to Appendix A of the Funding Rules for a list of Eligible Organisations.
- Organisations can be added from the ‘Draft Proposal Summary’ screen under ‘Organisation Participants’.
- Selecting ‘Add Organisation Participant’ will open a new window in which participation type is selected.
- Selection of Participation Type opens an option in which Organisation is selected. Use the ‘Set Organisation’ link in this window to find and select eligible organisations.
- Select ‘Add Participant’ to copy the organisation details to the Draft Proposal. This information will auto-populate into Part A1 of the Proposal form. Other organisations can be added as either ‘Partner Organisation’ or ‘Other Eligible Organisation’ by the same process.
- Before selecting an organisation type ensure that the chosen ‘Organisation Participant’ is eligible for that organisation type under Section 6 of the Funding Rules.
- Repeat the steps above until all ‘Organisation Participants’ are invited.
Organisation Not Listed?
a)Search for the Organisation Name: Please ensure that the organisation is not already listed by doing a partial name search as the organisation you are looking for may be recorded with a slightly different name. Please ensure that the organisation that you select has the correct name and ABN of your intended organisation.
For example, if you were looking for “The Great Barrier Reef Foundation” and entered this exact text into the Organisation search field, it would not return any results. However, if you enter “great barrier reef”, the search results will return several options that may match the text for you to select from.
b)If the search was unable to find any organisations matching your criteria and the organisation is required to be added to the RMS database, please contact the ARC via email at .
Please include the following organisational details in the email request as below:
- Organisation full legal or trading name (Legal/trading name and ABN can be confirmed via the ABN website:
Note: If an overseas organisation name is provided to you in a foreign language, please provide an English translation as well.
- Generic organisation email address (this cannot be the email address of any individual with an RMS account, it must be unique).
- Organisation postal address.
- Organisation type (Australian Company Industry Body; Australian Non-profit; Australian private company; Commonwealth Government; State or Local Government; Higher Education International; International Company Industry; International Non-Profit; International Government; International Private Company; Other).
- For Australian Organisations, please provide ABN and ANZSIC classification details.
- Information on ANZSIC codes is available from the ARC web site:
Note: The RMS Help Desk will advise by return email when the record is created. Please allow sufficient time for your request to be processed prior to any deadlines.
Further information about adding Participants and organisations is available from the ‘Help’ link on the ‘Draft Proposal Summary’ screen.
5.Filling in the Proposal form
IMPORTANT: After 30 minutes of inactivity RMS will timeout and any unsaved data will be lost. Proposal form parts should be completed sequentially where possible to assist with pre-population of subsequent sections. (Note: Part D, Project Budgetcan be completed at any time).
Please also note that where information is being entered in textboxes, formatting (e.g. underlined headings and bold font) will not be preserved.
Part A - Administrative Summary
A1If this proposal is successful, which organisation will it be administered by?
This information will be auto-populated from the ‘Draft Proposal Summary’ screen. The Proposal must be submitted by an Eligible Organisation. This organisation will administer the project and be identified as the Administering Organisation. Refer to Section 6 of the Funding Rules for further information.
A2Proposal Title
Under ‘Application Form’ select the link ‘Part A - Administrative Summary’. Enter a formal Proposal title in Part A2.
- The title should include the name of the item of infrastructure, equipment or facility to be acquired.
- The title should be precise, informative and, as far as possible, should use language that is comprehensible and accessible to the general public.
- The title should not include acronyms, quotation marks or use all upper case characters.
Return to ‘Draft Proposal Summary’ screen using the link at the top of the page. The Proposal title and summary provides information to invited participants and might help them decide whether to accept.
A3Person Participant Summary
This information will be auto-populated from the ‘Draft Proposal Summary’ screen when the Participants have accepted the invitation to participate on the Proposal.
The first-named participant at Question A3 will be considered the Project Leader. The order of person participants is populated into A3 from the ‘Draft Proposal Summary’ screen (See part xyz).
If a Participant’s information is incorrect or incomplete they must update their personal information in ‘Personal Details’ through their own RMS login homepage. All personal information should be up to date, including organisation details and employment type. If a participant's 'Current Organisation' is not showing at A3, that participant must ensure that the 'Position is currently held' box is ticked in their 'Personal Details' in RMS (see below).
Updated personal information will auto-populate in the proposal when the Proposal Owner resaves Part A.