Linkage Program Grant Guidelines
(2024 edition – Variation 1):

Linkage Projects

Australian Research Council Act 2001

I, Jason Clare, Minister for Education, having satisfied myself of the matters set out in section 58 of the Australian Research Council Act 2001, approve these grant guidelines under section 59 of that Act.

Dated 19 August 2025

Jason Clare

Minister for Education

Contents

1. Linkage Program: Linkage Projects processes...........................3

2. About the grant program..............................................5

3. Grant amount and grant period........................................5

4. Eligibility criteria....................................................5

5. What the grant money can be used for..................................9

What grant funds can be used for........................................9

What grant funds cannot be used for......................................9

6. The assessment criteria.............................................10

7. How to apply.......................................................11

Application process..................................................11

National Interest Test Statement........................................11

Timing of the grant opportunities........................................11

8. The grant selection process..........................................12

Eligibility and assessment.............................................12

Who will approve grants...............................................12

Requests not to assess process........................................12

Rejoinder process...................................................13

9. Successful grant applications........................................13

Advice and Announcement............................................13

Grant Agreements...................................................13

Responsibilities.....................................................14

Specific research policies and practices..................................14

Monitoring and reporting..............................................15

10. Probity............................................................15

Appeals process.....................................................15

Conflict of interest....................................................16

Privacy and protection of personal information.............................16

Confidential information...............................................16

Freedom of information...............................................16

Appendix A: Glossary.......................................................17

Appendix B: Eligible Organisations...........................................24

1.                      Linkage Program: Linkage Projects processes

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We notify You of the outcome.
We advise You if Your application was successful or not through RMS.

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1.                      About the grant program

1.                     The Linkage Program is one of two Programs under the ARC National Competitive Grants Program (NCGP). Information about the Linkage Program is available on the ARC website.
2.                     The ARC administers funding of excellent pure basic, strategic basic and applied research in all disciplines under the NCGP, excluding medical research. The ARC does not fund experimental development.

About the Linkage Projects grant opportunity

1.                     The Linkage Projects scheme is funded under the Linkage Program.
2.                     The Linkage Projects scheme objectives are to:

1.                     The intended outcomes of the Linkage Projects scheme are:

1.                      Grant amount and grant period

1.                     For each Linkage Projects grant opportunity, applications for the levels of funding listed in Table 1 will be considered.
2.                     Table 1: Linkage Projects funding and grant duration.

1.                      Eligibility criteria

Who is eligible to apply for a grant?

1.                     We will only accept applications from Eligible Organisations as identified in Appendix B. The Eligible Organisation that applies will be the ‘Administering Organisation’ (henceforth, ‘You’).
2.                     If
   1.        an application was submitted pursuant to these grant guidelines by either the University of Adelaide or the University of South Australia (collectively, ‘Previous Universities’) during the period that Adelaide University was being established and becoming operational; and
   2.       at the time that We award grants pursuant to these grant guidelines, one or more named participants on the application has transferred from one of the Previous Universities to Adelaide University,

then We may award the grant to Adelaide University.

What are the eligibility requirements for applications?

1.                     Your application must:

1.                     You and each Other Eligible Organisation on an application must commit a significant contribution of cash and/or in-kind and/or other material resources to the application having regard to the total cost of the proposed project and the relative contribution of any Chief Investigators or Partner Investigator(s) at the organisation.
2.                     You must ensure that any additional certification requirements, applied by the ARC as a result of findings of breaches of the Australian Code for the Responsible Conduct of Research (2018), are provided at the grant opportunity closing date for any named participant on an application.
3.                     Your application must not include medical research as detailed in the ARC Medical Research Policy (2025 version) on the ARC website.

Who is eligible to be a Partner Organisation?

1.                     A Partner Organisation is an Australian or overseas organisation, other than an Eligible Organisation, which satisfies the eligibility requirements for a Partner Organisation in 4.8-4.12.
2.                     Each Partner Organisation must:

1.                     A Partner Organisation cannot be:

1.                 Partner Organisation cash contributions cannot:

1.                 Partner Organisation(s) whose funds are appropriated predominantly from Commonwealth or Australian State or Territory Government funding sources for the purposes of research are only eligible to make up a maximum of 25% of the combined cash and/or in-kind contributions from Partner Organisations. This maximum of 25% is the combined eligible contribution from Partner Organisations of this type, and is not the maximum per individual Partner Organisation of this type.
2.                 Partner Organisation(s) whose funds are appropriated predominantly from Commonwealth or Australian State or Territory Government funding sources for the purposes of research can make combined contributions to the project over and above 25% of the required Partner Organisation contribution, however these additional contributions are not eligible to make up part of the required Partner Organisation contribution.

Who is eligible to be an Other Organisation?

1.                 Organisations that are not Eligible Organisations and not Partner Organisations but that are named as organisational participants on an application will be Other Organisations. Other Organisations are not required to make a cash or in-kind contribution to the project, but must be relevant to and involved with the project.
2.                 An Other Organisation cannot be included on the National Redress Scheme’s website on the list of ‘Institutions that have not joined or signified their intent to join the Scheme’ (www.nationalredress.gov.au).

Who is eligible to be a named participant?

1.                 Roles that named participants may be nominated for under the Linkage Projects scheme are:

1.                 A project cannot commence until all named participants meet the eligibility criteria in these grant guidelines for the selected role they are to perform.
2.                 As at the grant commencement date or, if successful, at any time during the project activity period, named participants:

1.                 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 (2023 version).
2.                 An application will not be considered where We have made a decision to exclude grant applications involving a particular named participant for a period of time, whether or not they otherwise meet the eligibility requirements.

Chief Investigators

1.                 CIs must meet at least one of the following criteria as at the grant commencement date and, if successful, for the project activity period:

1.                 CIs must reside in Australia for more than 50% of the project activity period. Any significant absences including fieldwork or study leave directly related to the project must have approval from You and must not total more than half the project activity period. In extraordinary circumstances, changes must be approved via a Variation.
2.                 CIs must not undertake an HDR during the project activity period.
3.                 The first-named CI will be the Project Leader. The Project Leader must have a demonstrated capacity to manage the project.

Partner Investigators

1.                 A PI who is representing a Partner Organisation on an application is required to have a role within that Partner Organisation.

What are the limits on the number of applications and projects per CI?

1.                 A named participant can be concurrently funded through the Linkage Program for a maximum of 4 Linkage Program projects as a CI or Director. For the purpose of counting project limits, Linkage Program projects:

1.                 At the date of submission of applications we will count the number of:

1.                 If a role or Project must be withdrawn or relinquished to meet the limits under Section 4.25, We must approve the Variation before the application is submitted.

1.                      What the grant money can be used for

What grant funds can be used for

1.                     The Linkage Program supports research activities that meet the definition of ‘research’, as defined in the Glossary.
2.                     You can only spend the grant on eligible expenditure items that directly support the project and in accordance with any additional special conditions in the grant agreement.
3.                     Eligible expenditure items may include:

1.                 expenditure on field research essential to the project, including technical and logistical support, travel expenses (including accommodation, meals and incidental costs); and
2.               reasonable essential costs to allow a participant who is a carer, or who personally requires care or assistance, to undertake travel essential to the project.

What grant funds cannot be used for

1.                     You cannot request or use grant funds for:

1.                 bench fees or similar laboratory access fees;

1.               access to a basic library collection;
2.             access to film or music editing facilities;
3.             work accommodation (for example, laboratory and office space, suitably equipped and furnished);
4.               basic computer facilities such as desktop computers, portable computer devices, printers, word processing, and other standard software; and
5.             standard reference materials or funds for abstracting services;

1.                      The assessment criteria

1.                     You must address all assessment criteria in Your application. We will assess your application based on the weighting given to each criterion. The Linkage Projects assessment criteria are:

               significance and innovativeness of the research in the context of previous research in the area;

               robustness and appropriateness of the conceptual framework, design, methods and analyses;

               the adequacy and appropriateness of the budget, including cash and in-kind contributions pledged by the participating organisations, and value for money considerations.

If the project involves Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander research, additional criteria include:

               the project’s level of collaboration, engagement, relationship building and benefit sharing with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, and First Nations Organisations and Communities;

               the project’s strategy and mechanisms for Indigenous research capacity building within the project;

               the project’s level of internal leadership of Indigenous research;

               The project’s adherence to the Australian Indigenous Data Sovereignty Principles (2018); and

               the project’s understanding of, and proposed strategies to adhere to, the AIATSIS Code of Ethics for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Research (2020) and NHMRC’s guidelines on Ethical conduct in research with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and communities (2018).

               demonstration of the mutual benefit for participating organisations now and into the future;

               evidence of how the research will advance/address Partner Organisation(s)’s core strategy;

               potential contribution to Australian Government priority areas;

               potential economic, commercial, environmental, social and/or cultural benefits for Australia; and

               appropriateness of strategies for adoption, commercialisation, promotion, and/or dissemination of research outcomes, including IP management arrangements.

               quality of the named participant(s)’ skills and experience, relative to opportunity, including evidence of potential to engage in collaborative research;

               experience in research training, mentoring and supervision;

               capability and capacity of the team to undertake and manage the project; and

               evidence of previous history of successful collaboration between the named participant(s) and this or other Partner Organisation(s).

               extent and nature of commitment to the project, including provision of research environment, facilities and personnel (where relevant), relative to the scale of the project and the capacity of the participating organisations;

               extent and appropriateness of proposed governance, structures and processes to support the project;

               capacity and intent of Partner Organisations to use the outcomes of the research; and

               potential of partnership to lead to long-term collaborations.

1.                      How to apply

Application process

1.                     Instructions To Applicants will be issued on the opening of the grant opportunity and applicants must follow the processes described in those Instructions.
2.                     Your application must be completed in RMS.
3.                     You cannot change Your application after the closing date and time, unless invited to by the ARC.
4.                     We reserve the right to seek evidence to support the certification of applications at any point.
5.                     Questions during the application period should be directed to the Administering Organisation’s Research Office. Answers to Frequently Asked Questions will be posted on GrantConnect.
6.                     An application may be submitted more than once for the same grant opportunity, if the previously submitted application has been announced as unsuccessful.
7.                     If You wish to withdraw Your application, You must inform Us in writing.

National Interest Test Statement

1.                     Applicants must provide a National Interest Test statement: a brief response that articulates the benefits of the proposed research in plain English in general terms beyond the period of the grant.

Timing of the grant opportunities

1.                     Linkage Projects grant applications are accepted on a continuous basis.
2.                 You must submit Your application to Us between the grant opportunity opening and closing date and time specified on GrantConnect.

1.                      The grant selection process

Eligibility and assessment

1.                     All applications will be considered through a competitive peer process, based on:

1.                     Applications will undergo peer review assessment and recommendations will be made to the ARC Accountable Authority from a Selection Advisory Committee.
2.                     You are responsible for ensuring that your application is complete and accurate. Giving false or misleading information is a serious offence under the Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth). We will investigate any incomplete, inaccurate, false or misleading information and may recommend to the Accountability Authority that Your application not be considered further.
   1.        For the avoidance of doubt, this includes failure to disclose any conflict of interest of any named participant, including but not limited to matters described in clauses 3.1 and 3.3 of the ARC Conflict of Interest and Confidentiality Policy (2025) on the ARC website.
3.                     We may seek advice on security or other matters from Commonwealth agencies at any time during the process and may seek information from third party sources. We may seek information from You about activities and protections in line with that advice and other information.
4.                     During the assessment, We may request additional information, which does not change the nature of Your application.

Who will approve grants

1.                     The ARC Accountable Authority will decide which grants to fund, after considering the advice from peer review, and alignment with Australian Government priorities. The ARC Accountable Authority’s decision is final in all matters.
2.                     The outcome of all applications will be published in RMS.
3.                     The Minister may at any time decide that, for reasons relevant to the security, defence or international relations of Australia, the ARC Accountable Authority should not approve a grant. The ARC Accountable Authority must comply with the Minister’s decision.

Requests not to assess process

1.                     You may name up to three persons whom You do not wish to assess an application by submitting a ‘Request Not to Assess’ form in RMS as detailed on GrantConnect and on the ARC website. This form must be received by Us two weeks prior to the grant opportunity closing date.
2.                 Only one request containing the names of up to three individual assessors may be submitted per application.
3.                 If a request includes the name of a current ARC College of Experts member, as listed on the ARC website or in RMS at the time of submitting the ‘Request Not to Assess’ form, the request must be accompanied by comprehensive evidence justifying the request for the ARC College of Experts member or members named. If We consider the evidence is not sufficient for the named ARC College of Experts member or members, We will reject part, or all of the request.
4.                 We have discretion about whether We accept or refuse a ‘Request Not to Assess’. We will not notify You of the outcome.

Rejoinder process

1.                 You will be given the opportunity to respond to assessors’ written comments through a rejoinder. Names of assessors will not be provided. Further information on the rejoinder process is available on the ARC website.

1.                      Successful grant applications

Advice and Announcement

1.                     If your grant application is successful, We:

1.                     We will publicise and report offers and grants awarded, including the following information about the project:

1.                     You should ensure information contained in the project title, summary descriptions and National Interest Test statement will not compromise Your requirements for confidentiality (such as protection of Intellectual Property).
2.                     We may publish a project description, including title and summary, which differs from that provided in the application.

Grant Agreements

1.                     You must enter into a grant agreement with Us to receive a grant.
2.                     We use the ARC Linkage Program Linkage Projects grant agreement which contains standard terms and conditions. A sample grant agreement is available on GrantConnect. Any special conditions will be identified in the grant offer.
3.                     You will have 30 calendar days from the date of offer to execute the grant agreement.
4.                     We must execute a grant agreement with You before We can make payment. We are not responsible for any of Your project expenditure until a grant agreement is executed. You must not start any activities until all third-party agreements are executed.

How we pay the grant

1.                     Payments will be made as set out in the grant agreement. Grant funding will typically be paid monthly through Our payment system to You.
2.                 The grant offer will specify the approved grant amount. We will not pay more than the approved grant amount under any circumstances. If you incur extra costs, You must meet them.
3.                 Grant funding may be subject to indexation.
4.                 All amounts referred to in these grant guidelines are exclusive of the Goods and Services Tax (GST), unless expressly stated otherwise.
5.                 Any grant awarded will be subject to sufficient funds being available for the project, the provisions of the ARC Act and the continued satisfactory progress of the project.

Grant Agreement Variation

1.                 The Grant Agreement outlines the circumstances in which Variations must be submitted. Variations are subject to ARC approval and further information can be found in the Grant Agreement.

Responsibilities

Chief Investigator responsibilities

1.                 Chief Investigators must:

Partner Investigator responsibilities

1.                 Partner Investigators must:

Partner Organisation responsibilities

1.                 Partner Organisations will be required to certify their commitment to the successful completion of the project, including any financial contributions they will make and that they have appropriate governance arrangements in place.

Specific research policies and practices

1.                 All applications and ARC-funded research projects must comply with the requirements for responsible and ethical research practice specified in the Australian Code for the Responsible Conduct of Research (2018), and the codes, guidelines, practices and policies on the ARC website, including the ARC Conflict of Interest Policy (2025) and any actions that have been applied under the ARC Research Integrity Policy (2023 version).
2.                 An ethics plan must be in place before commencement of the project.
3.                 Intellectual Property arrangements should be negotiated between You, the Partner Organisations and Other Organisations as relevant. We do not claim ownership of any IP arising from the project.
4.                 All research projects must comply with the ARC Open Access Policy (2021 version) on the dissemination of findings on the ARC website.
5.                 A data management plan must be in place before the project commences, in line with the grant agreement, and ARC expectations on the ARC website.
6.                 All named participants applying for grants are strongly encouraged to have a persistent digital identifier such as Open Researcher and Contributor Identifier (ORCID) in their RMS Profile.

Monitoring and reporting

1.                 You must inform us of any changes to Your:

1.                 You must submit reports in line with the grant agreement. Reports must be submitted through RMS, unless otherwise advised by Us. Reporting may include:

1.                 We will monitor progress by assessing Your reports and may conduct site visits or request records to confirm details of Your reports if necessary. We may re-examine claims, seek further information or request an independent audit of claims and payments.
2.                 We may evaluate the project to measure how well the outcomes and objectives were achieved. We may use information from Your application and reports or may contact You after grant completion to assist evaluation.

1.                Probity

1.                 The Australian Government will make sure that the grant opportunity process is fair, according to the published guidelines, incorporates appropriate safeguards against fraud, unlawful activities and other inappropriate conduct and is consistent with the CGRPs and the ARC Act.

Appeals process

1.                 We will only consider appeals against the NCGP administrative process and not against committee decisions, assessor ratings and comments, or the assessment outcome. Appellants must identify the specific guideline/legislative instrument clause, policy or procedure which they believe has been incorrectly applied.
2.                 You must submit an appeal using the Form on the ARC website and have it authorised by the Administering Organisation’s Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) or equivalent.
3.                 The appeals process is set out on the ARC website.

Conflict of interest

1.                 You will be asked to certify as part of Your application that any perceived, potential or existing conflicts of interests have been declared to You or that, to the best of Your knowledge, there is no conflict of interest in Your application. Each named individual or organisation must make this declaration about any aspect of the application or project to You at the date of submission.
2.                 If a conflict of interest exists or arises, You must have documented processes in place to manage that Conflict for the duration of the project. Processes must comply with the Australian Code for the Responsible Conduct of Research (2018), the ARC Conflict of Interest and Confidentiality Policy (2025) and any relevant documents.
3.                 We will handle any conflicts of interest as set out in Australian Government policies and procedures. Refer to the ARC Conflict of Interest and Confidentiality Policy (2025) on the ARC website.

Privacy and protection of personal information

1.                 We treat Your personal information according to the Australian Privacy Principles and the Privacy Act 1988.
2.                 You are required, as part of Your application, to certify Your compliance with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth), including the Australian Privacy Principles and impose the same privacy obligations on any subcontractors You engage to assist with the activity. You must ask for our consent in writing before disclosing confidential information.
3.             Information about privacy and personal information is set out on the ARC website.

Confidential information

1.             The Australian Government may use and disclose confidential information about grant applicants and grant recipients to any other Australian Government business or function.
2.             We will treat the information You give Us as confidential if:

Freedom of information

1.             All documents in the possession of the Australian Government, including those about this program, are subject to the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act).
2.             The Freedom of Information process is set out on the ARC website.

Appendix A: Glossary

Acronyms

Definitions

Appendix B: Eligible Organisations

[1] Exempt Archive and Public Record Office; Exempt Charity; Exempt Herbarium; Exempt Museum and Collecting Organisation; Exempt Non-Profit Organisation; Exempt Small Business; and Exempt Start-up. See Glossary for details.