Funding for short-term, industry-led research collaborations

The CRC Program supports industry-led collaborations between industry, researchers and the community. It’s a proven way to link researchers with industry. The focus is on research and development that will have commercial uses.

The program aims to:

• improve the competitiveness, productivity and sustainability of Australian industries, especially where Australia is competitive and in government priority areas
• use high quality research to solve industry-identified problems
• encourage and help SMEs to take part in collaborative research.

CRC-P Round 16

• Round opened: 24 April 2024.
• Round closes: 5 June 2024 5:00PM AEST.
• Outcomes announced: Late 2024.
• Funding commencing: Late 2024.

Round 17 is expected to open in late 2024.

You’re not eligible to apply as the lead applicant if you’re:

• not an SME
• an individual, sole trader, partnership, unincorporated association or trust
• a research organisation or an entity whose primary purpose is to undertake research
• a Commonwealth, state, territory or local government agency or body (including government business enterprises)
• an entity where most of your funding is from government sources, for example grant programs
• an administrative or support service to a CRC-P.

Changes to Round 16 guidelines are minor and don’t change the scope or policy intent of the program. Key changes are:

• The lead applicant to be a SME at lodgement of application (less than 200 employees).
• Removed the requirement for the collaboration to find a replacement SME during the project, where the lead SME partner increases in size and can no longer be considered an SME.
• Consolidated groups for tax purposes included in the definition of SME.
• Minor update to wording to clarify how confidential information will be managed.
• Minor update to definitions in Glossary to improve clarity.
• Inclusion of an additional consideration by the Committee to include the geographical distribution of projects.
• Minor update to wording to clarify “cash-staff” in Appendix A.
• Minor update to add wording on clinical trials to clarify eligible expenditure items in Appendix B.
• Minor update to wording to clarify labour and contract expenditure in Appendix B.

Allow adequate time

It's advisable you don't leave completion and submission of the application until the last minute. Submission of your application by the due time is your responsibility and late applications won't be accepted.

Mandatory information

The portal will alert you to mandatory fields which haven't been completed and in some cases will alert you if the information you provide is invalid or unacceptable. It's essential you carefully check the accuracy of your application as your application may not proceed to assessment if it's not correctly completed.

Web browsers

Some browsers provide a better user experience than others when using the application portal. Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox on Windows or Safari and Google Chrome on Mac will provide the best user interface as they support on-screen text box sizing.

Portal partners

You may invite other parties to assist with completing the online application, such as the other project partners. This is done through the application portal using the ‘Participants’ button on the ‘Application Summary’ page, accessed from the ‘My Applications’ screen. Once added, other parties can see all elements of the application except the ‘Applicant Financials’ screen.

Saving your application

It's important to save your application regularly during the application process to prevent loss of information and valuable time. Ensure you save your application information within screens whilst entering information and again before continuing to a new screen.

Use the ‘Save’ button rather than the ‘Save and continue’ button to save incomplete information within screens. For example, when completing the partner details page you may not have all partner information on hand. Selecting ‘Save’ will allow you to return to that screen and complete the details later. If you use the ‘Save and continue’ button you'll receive a message displaying the errors to be corrected and may be required to re-enter unsaved information.

Text formatting

Text entry fields do not retain text formatting. All formatting is lost when formatted text is copied from a word processing program into text fields, including italics, dot points and images. We suggest, if you have written your application responses in an external document, paste the text for each field into Notepad/TextEdit and then copy the text and paste into the portal. This will make sure there is no additional formatting attached to the words which can cause the application to become corrupted.

Character limits

Don't rely on the character count - it's a guide only.

Strict character limits apply to most text entry fields. Character limits are displayed in the information pop-out bubble for each question. If you copy text from a word processing program, the character count may differ to the portal calculation (for example, the portal counts paragraph returns as a character).

It's important to save and continue on each page to validate the information entered and make sure the character limits have not been exceeded.

Financial information

Use the CRC Project Application Financial Workbook to ensure your project finances balance. No detailed checks are made on the proposed finances in the portal and it is the applicant’s responsibility to ensure all financial information is accurate and the budget is balanced.

Project Milestones

Milestones do not need to be sequential and can be undertaken in parallel. Milestones should however cover the entire project period with a milestones starting on the first day of the project and a milestone ending on the last day. Progress against milestones is reported quarterly.

Dates and numerical values

• Date fields require a date in the format dd/mm/yyyy.
• All numerical value input fields require a value to be entered, including where there is a grey zero by default.

Confirmation

When your application is submitted, you'll see a screen confirming the submission which includes the submission time, date and a reference number. The status of your application in the portal will change from ‘draft’ to ‘submitted’.

Making changes after submission

You may view your submitted application in the portal, but you'll no longer be able to amend it. A submitted application can be set back to draft prior to the submission deadline in most circumstances. Should you wish to do this, please contact us. You then need to resubmit the application through the portal by the round closing time.

The Partner Declaration is a declaration of intent made by a partner organisation to the Commonwealth to confirm its intention to participate in the proposed CRC‑P should the application be successful.

The Partner Declaration isn't a contract between the Commonwealth and the partner organisation. The declaration doesn't create any binding legal obligation on the partner, nor does it create a binding legal relationship between the signatory and the other partner or the Commonwealth.

In signing the declaration the partner organisation affirms the truth and accuracy of the information provided. They acknowledge their obligations in the CRC-P.

A signed Partner Declaration for each partner organisation in the collaboration must be uploaded to the grant application. Failure by the applicant to do so will mean the application is incomplete and may not be considered for assessment.

Technology Readiness Levels (TRLs) track progress of the development of an innovation. Using TRL scales as a performance indicator recognises CRC-Ps often operate in pre‑commercial development phases, but still make significant progress towards a technology development and later commercial outcomes.

TRLs are applicable to most sectors, but sectors typically adapt the TRL scale to their specific needs. Examples of adapted TRL scales include:

• Manufacturing Readiness Level
• Biomedical TRLs
• Crop research TRLs.

At the application stage you're asked to provide an estimated TRL (ranging from TRL 1 to TRL 9) at the projects commencement date and the completion date. We recommend the use of a generalised TRL scale (see below), or for applicants to use an adapted TRL scale, as appropriate.

1. Basic principles observed
2. Technology concepts formulated
3. Experimental proof of concept
4. Technology validation in lab
5. Technology valid in relevant environment
6. Demonstration in relevant environment
7. Demonstration in operational environment
8. System complete and qualified
9. Successful mission operation

We’ll assess your application against the eligibility criteria first. Only eligible applications proceed to the merit assessment stage.

The independent CRC Advisory Committee will then assess your application against the assessment criteria:

• Assessment criterion 1 - Project alignment with the program objectives (25 points)
• Assessment criterion 2 - The quality of your project (25 points)
• Assessment criterion 3 - Capacity, capability and resources to deliver your project (25 points)
• Assessment criterion 4 - Impact of the grant funding on your project (25 points)

For more information on the assessment criteria please refer to the grant opportunity guidelines.

The evidence you provide to support your application should be proportional to the size and complexity of your project.

The committee will compare your application to other applications before recommending which projects to fund. Your application must score highly against each assessment criterion to be recommended for funding.

The Minister decides which grants to approve, taking into account the:

• recommendations of the committee
• availability of grant funds.

Anticipated announcements

We expect to announce the outcome of Round 16 in October-November 2024. Funding will commence late 2024.

Successful applicants

If you’re successful, we’ll email you and include any specific conditions attached to the grant offer.

Successful applicants must enter into a grant agreement with the Commonwealth. The grant agreement will include:

• the payment schedule
• agreed partner contributions and expenditure plan
• reporting requirements
• milestones you need to meet to get paid.

We’ll pay you quarterly in advance according to an agreed schedule in the grant agreement. We'll pay you directly into your nominated bank account.

Unsuccessful applicants

If you’re unsuccessful, we’ll notify you via email.