Group of Eight Australia
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Module 6: Grant and Contract Administration

1.1 The nature of research grants

1.1.2 Funding bodies and their expectations

Funding bodies. Research grants are provided to researchers by a variety of funding agencies, typically on a competitive basis, to conduct basic, strategic, or applied research across a range of disciplines. For example, the Australian Research Council (ARC) funds research across the following inter-disciplinary groupings: Biological Sciences and Biotechnology; Engineering and Environmental Science; Humanities and Creative Arts; Mathematics, Information and Communication Sciences; Physics, Chemistry and Geoscience; and Social, Behavioural and Economic Sciences. The National Health & Medical Research Council (NHMRC) funds research in all areas of human health and well-being. These are the two major Commonwealth funding schemes, but research is also supported by, for example, state and local governments, industry bodies, medical research foundations, and philanthropic bodies. Increasingly, Australian researchers are accessing funds from international agencies, either directly or in collaboration with their international colleagues. Each institution provides information about research funding opportunities and you need to contact your Research Office to access this information.

Before discussing the expectations of research funding bodies, it is important to consider the Australian Competitive Grants Register (ACGR). The ACGR lists qualifying, nationally competitive research schemes. The income (research grants) that universities receive from schemes listed on the ACGR drives the allocation of over $200 million of Research Infrastructure Block Grants (RIBG) annually, based on an average of the two most recent years’ data collected through the Higher Education Research Data Collection (HERDC).

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Expectations. As an employee of an Australian university, the agreement to fund your research will be between the funding body and your employer, and your research grant will be administered by your institution. Agreements are not entered into between funding bodies and individual researchers because individual researchers are not in a position to comply with many of the contractual obligations – for example, requirements relating to indemnity and insurance. It is the university, therefore, that agrees to comply with the terms of the agreement and, in turn, the university establishes administrative processes to ensure that the first-named CI/PI conducts the project in such a way that the university is able to meet its obligations.
The expectations of funding bodies can be summarised as follows:

  • That the project will commence on a specified date and will be performed within the specified period of funding.
  • That the first-named CI/PI on the funding application will lead and coordinate the project. Any changes to lead or other named personnel will require the approval of the funding body.
  • That, if applicable, research will not be allowed to commence until relevant ethical clearances have been obtained.
  • That the description, aims, and research plan of the project will not vary substantially from the proposal described in the funding application. Any variation will require the approval of the funding body.
  • That the project funds will be spent in accordance with the approved project budget. Any variation will require the approval of the funding body.
  • That financial and project reports will be provided to the funding body in accordance with the funding agreement.
  • That the institution will provide the assistance, facilities, and services necessary to carry out the project.
  • That the institution will comply with all the requirements of the funding body in relation to the conduct of the project.

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