Funding for Australian and Indian collaborative research projects
Australia-India Strategic Research Fund – Collaborative Research Projects – Round 14
What do you get?
Grants of between $500,000 and $1,000,000. The grant will be up to 100% of eligible project expenditure.
Who is this for?
An Australian organisation conducting a research project with an Indian partner in a priority area. You must have an Indian partner who is applying for the corresponding grant in India.
Overview
The AISRF provides grants for collaborative research projects with Indian partners. For Round 14 of the AISRF, your project must involve research in focused priority area and must be mutually beneficial for Australia and India.
- the minimum grant amount is $500,000
- the maximum grant amount is $1,000,000
- you must complete your project by 01 January 2025.
The lead organisation can submit a maximum of two applications but only one application per priority area.
Round 14 Priority Areas
Your project must be in a priority area, the priority areas for Round 14 of AISRF are:
Indo-Australian Science & Technology Fund (administered by DST in India)
- Quantum technologies
- Earth observation remote sensing
- Groundwater resources management
- Downstream processing, recycling and tailings reclamation of critical minerals.
Indo-Australian Biotechnology Fund (administered by DBT in India)
- COVID-19 long-term health impacts
- Infection prevention and control
- Digital health and telemedicine
- Biomaterials (including bioplastics).
Eligibility
What are the eligibility criteria?
To be eligible you must have an Australian business number (ABN) and be one of the following entities:
- a company, incorporated in Australia
- a publicly funded research organisation (PFRO) as defined in section 14 of the grant opportunity guidelines
- an incorporated not for profit organisation
- a Cooperative Research Centre (CRC)
- an incorporated trustee on behalf of a trust
- an Australian State/Territory Government agency or body
- an other Australian incorporated entity.
Joint applications involving more than one Australian partner are acceptable and industry involvement (including businesses) is encouraged where appropriate, provided the lead applicant is the main driver of the project and eligible to apply. For more on joint applications, see section 7.2 of the grant opportunity guidelines.
We can only accept applications that have a primary Indian partner who has submitted, or is in the process of submitting, a corresponding application to India’s DST or DBT and that include all mandatory attachments.
We cannot waive the eligibility criteria in any circumstances.
Applying
How do you apply?
The Australia-India Strategic Research Fund – Collaborative Research Projects – Round 14 is closed to applications.
We first assess your application against the eligibility criteria. If eligible, we will then assess it against the assessment criteria. Only eligible applications will proceed to the assessment stage.
Eligible applications are referred to an independent committee of experts (the committee). Experts are selected in each priority area through a rigorous analysis of academic qualifications, conflicts of interest, availability and taking into consideration gender and diversity.
The committee and the department may also seek additional advice from independent technical experts and other government agencies where appropriate.
The committee will assess your application against the assessment criteria and compare it to other eligible applications in a funding round before recommending which projects to fund. The committee recommends which projects to refer for consideration by Australian and Indian government officials.
The committee will consider your application on its merits, based on:
- how well it addresses the criteria
- if competitive, how it compares to other applications
- whether it provides value with relevant money.
The Program Delegate will make the final decision.
Australian and Indian government deliberations
Each government assesses applications independently in accordance with its own processes and decides which projects to refer for joint consideration.
Drawing on recommendations from the committee and its Indian counterparts, the Australian and Indian governments then determine which of the recommended projects to support taking into account the outcomes of each country’s assessment processes.
Projects are typically funded by the Australian and Indian Governments. The Australian or Indian Government may consider unilaterally funding a project in very rare circumstances, subject to availability of funds and agreement by both governments. Similarly, should either government decide to rescind or terminate its grant after the project has commenced, the other government may continue with its own grant at its discretion.
You must address all assessment criteria in your application. We will assess your application based on the weighting given to each merit criterion.
- Assessment criterion 1 - How your project will advance research in priority areas (40 points)
- Assessment criterion 2 - Your capacity, capability and resources to deliver the project (30 points)
- Assessment criterion 3 - Benefits for both Australia and India (30 points)
If your application is successful, you will receive a written offer. If you are unsuccessful, we will notify you in writing and give you the chance to discuss the outcome with us.
Successful applicants must enter into a grant agreement with the Commonwealth. The grant agreement will specify the reporting requirements, payment schedule and milestones necessary to receive payments.
Payments will be made by direct credit into a nominated bank account.
When preparing your application, you must consider timeframes and constraints that may impact the delivery, participation in workshops and other activities due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Projects must be designed to ensure participants’ safety and health.
Applicants must provide details of intellectual property (IP) arrangements in their applications. This includes both the use of IP in the project and the proposed ownership rights to IP generated by the project as well as strategies for protecting Australia’s interests.
Learn more about undertaking international collaboration on the Industry.gov.au website.
Find out how to register IP rights in other countries and information on how to protect your Intellectual Property overseas.
IP Australia has a series of webinars to help you manage your IP overseas.
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Grant recipients
Funding for Australian and Indian collaborative research projects