Research Grant Application Procedures

Submission

All external research grant and tender applications must be submitted through Research Services in Townsville or Cairns.

Research Services are responsible for checking applications, making the requisite copies and submitting the applications to the granting body.

In cases where direct electronic submission by the applicant is required, applicants should ensure that Research Services have checked the application and that it has been endorsed appropriately before submitting the electronic version.

A hard copy of the final version of the application must be lodged with Research Services.

Applicants requiring assistance with an application must submit their application at least one week prior to the Research Services internal deadline for Australian-based funders or two weeks for overseas-based.

Deadlines

Internal closing dates are set to allow time for checking, revision and processing of applications and to ensure that the granting body receives them by the due date.

While most funding bodies allow electronic submission, many also require hard copies of the application. While applications are usually sent by courier, this does not guarantee overnight delivery to capital cities other than Brisbane, therefore hard copy applications must be sent two days before the funding body closing date.

Research Services internal closing dates are:

• For major granting body schemes like the ARC and NHMRC the internal deadline is generally 4 weeks prior to the external deadline.

• For other Australian granting bodies, final complete applications must be received by Research Services one week prior to the submission date of the funding scheme, unless otherwise advised.

• For overseas granting bodies final complete applications must be received by Research Services two weeks prior to the submission date of the funding scheme, unless otherwise advised.

Research Services may not be able to conduct eligibility checks or review applications for eligibility for those applications submitted after the internal closing date.

The Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Associate Deans of Research or Director, Research Services may approve the submission of a late application if it is considered that there are genuine extenuating circumstances.

Applications

All applications must be lodged as complete applications including signature pages

Budgets should be properly costed as per Financial and Business Services policy (FMPM620 Policy) and include administrative overheads where appropriate.

Projects that involve the establishment or refurbishment of facilities or the purchase and installation of equipment should be discussed with the Estate Office to ensure that all costs are correctly identified.

Applications including cash and in-kind contributions must have formal confirmation (by email is acceptable) from the relevant Deans of College, Deputy Vice-Chancellors or other appropriate authority that the contributions will be provided before an application is submitted to the funding body.

In the event that an external body is providing a contribution, an appropriately signed letter of support on the organisation's letterhead that details the cash and/or in-kind support as well as the purpose of the contribution must be included with the application.

Applicants are responsible for ensuring that all details in the application are true and correct. In the event that the investigator has omitted or is incorrect in the contributions attributed to the project, then the Colleges involved in the application are responsible for guaranteeing any contributions or the University may refuse to accept the grant if it is successful.

The Senor Deputy Vice-Chancellor has the discretion to reject applications which are not considered to be of suitable standard or that do not meet a scheme’s criteria.

Supervisors and/or Deans of Colleges are responsible for checking and ensuring the quality of postgraduate research students’ applications.

Non-compliance with procedures

The Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor has the discretion to reject grants that have not been submitted through the proper channels if the applicant has a history of non-compliance or the application has included unauthorised commitments.