Grants for projects that involve the public in scientific research

To be eligible your project must:

• be a research project in a field of science
• include either data collection or data transformation
• involve participation by members of the public in either data collection or data transformation – participation is not restricted to scientists
• include a core activity or core activities that take place in Australia
• have a maximum duration of 3 years
• include a minimum of $50,000 in eligible expenditure

You must also:

• practice open science, including sharing results publicly
• identify how you will evaluate project performance
• conform to the ethical guidelines and codes of conduct in the program guidelines·
• not place an unreasonable financial burden on citizen participants

Check the full details of eligible activities and costs in Schedule 1, Section 4 of the program guidelines.

You are not eligible to apply as a lead applicant if you are:

• a Commonwealth or state/territory agency or body that doesn’t do publicly funded research
• an individual or trust (however, corporate trustees may apply on behalf of a trust)

For more information on applicant eligibility please refer to the program guidelines.

We’ll assess your application against the eligibility criteria.

If your application is eligible, it will go to merit assessment. A departmental committee will assess your application against:

• the merit criteria
• other eligible applications in your funding round

The program delegate will make the final decision taking into account the committee’s recommendations and the availability of grant funds.

We’ll assess your application against the following 3 merit criteria:

• Merit criterion 1: The reach and impact of the project (40 points).
• Merit criterion 2: Your capacity, capability and resources to carry out the project (30 points).
• Merit criterion 3: Your need for funding (30 points).

For more information on the merit criteria please refer to Schedule 1 of the program guidelines.

If your application is successful, we’ll send you a written offer. You must enter into a grant agreement with the Commonwealth to receive the grant.If you’re unsuccessful, we’ll notify you in writing.

We’ll make an initial payment when both parties have signed the grant agreement. We’ll make subsequent payments based on your progress reports.

We’ll set aside 5% of the grant or $5000 (whichever is greater) for the final payment. We’ll pay this when you submit a satisfactory final report.

We’ll pay into your nominated bank account.