Research Funding

Research Funding Dr Campbell Thomson Research Services

Overview • Context • Competitive Grant Funding - Constructing a research budget - Infrastructure and full costing - Cost versus price • Block Grant funding - RIBG, SRE, JRE, RTS - ERA and transparent costing - EIA

Context Government investment into research 2010-2011

Context (cont.) • Government investment into higher education research is about 41% • Dual funding system: • Competitive schemes: $1.6 billion (ARC + NHMRC) • Block funding schemes: $1.7 billion • Competitive grants encourage researchers to compete on quality and impact; Block funding provides a research base to allow institutions to make strategic choices

Competitive Grant Funding 2009 • ARC competitive funding $550 million • NHMRC competitive funding $625 million • Other competitive programs $400 million (including CRCs) $1,575 million

Constructing a research budget • Forms the basis on which your project is funded • A well constructed budget should include all direct costs of your project • A well justified budget should increase your chances of having these direct costs funded • 2005 ARC Discovery Project round UWA’s average grant size increased from $248,000 to $360,000

Project costing template

Project costing template (cont.)

Other DIRECT project costs • Equipment • Maintenance and travel • Overseas per diem and accommodation (ATO) • Relocation and appointment expenses (HR) • Animal agistment costs • Occupational health and safety costs • External audit costs

INDIRECT project costs • Laboratory/office space • Existing research support/administrative support • Libraries • Power and lighting • Computer services and telecommunications • Building maintenance/cleaning

How to calculate indirect costs • Percentage of direct costs • Apply a multiplier against all professional salaries - High cost school/centre – 127% - Medium cost school/centre – 114% - Low cost school/centre – 100%

Infrastructure • Infrastructure = indirect costs • When to apply infrastructure charge: On all research grants, contracts, tenders and consultancies with the exception of: - Australian Competitive Grants - Bona fide donations - Scholarship stipends • Full infrastructure should be applied if IP or publishing rights are not fully retained

How to calculate infrastructure • Percentage of direct costs – 35% or 15%. Current University policy • Apply a salary multiplier against all professional salaries - 127%, 114%, 100% • Contracts and tenders must be fully costed to comply with competitive neutrality policy NOTE: All contracts and tenders must be submitted through the Research Grants Office and must be signed by an authorised signatory

What happens to infrastructure recoveries • 68% to the school/centre • 32% to central services - 35% to Universities Facilities (ACU/CMM etc.) - 35% to Academic Services (Research Services/Legal Services/Financial Services etc.) - 30% to the Library

Fully costed budget using % of direct costs

Fully costed budget using salary multiplier

indirect (in-kind + Facilities & Admin) direct Cost to Res. Org.(Full Economic Cost) direct overhead Price to Client $ Cost versus price • Price: Amount charged or paid by the research sponsor • Cost: The sum of all costs, direct and indirect, associated with a research project

Acronyms, acronyms, acronyms… “The DEST HERDC reports HEPs ACGs and other research income, excluding ARC LIEF and SII grants, which are ineligible for RIBG, IGS or RTS on the basis that they already fund infrastructure”

Metrics (HERDC) • Research income categories: • Category 1 income: ACG e.g. ARC, NHMRC • Category 2 income: Public Sector • Category 3 income: Industry • Category 4 income: CRCs • Publication categories: • A1: Book • B1: Book chapter • C1: Refereed journal article • E1: Refereed conference article

DIISR block funding flows 2009 • Research Infrastructure Block Grant (RIBG) $220 M - % share ofmost recent two years Category 1 Income • Research Training Scheme (RTS) $615 M - % share of HDR student completions (50%), % share of Category 1,2,3,4 income (40%), and % share A1,B1,C1 and E1 publications (10%) • Institutional Grants Scheme (IGS) $325 M - % share of Category 1,2,3,4 income (60%), % share of HDR student load (30%), and % share A1,B1,C1 and E1 publications (10%)

DIISRTE block funding flows 2012 • Research Infrastructure Block Grant (RIBG) $224 M • Research Training Scheme (RTS) $632 M • Joint Research Engagement (JRE) $345 M • % share of Category 2,3,4 income • Sustainable Research Excellence (SRE) $165 M • % share of Category 1 income moderated by quality and indirect cost drivers • Ramping up to $335 M by 2013/2014 • NCRIS/EIF funding - $60 million?

Sustainable Research Excellence (SRE) • 2009/10 budget reform to boost Australia’s competitiveness by: - Increasing the number of research groups performing at world-class levels - Addressing the shortfall in funding of indirect costs of Australian Competitive Grants (ACGs) - Return of 50 cents in the dollar of ACG income

SRE block funding • 20% baseline on % share of ACG income • 13% for universities who sign up for Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA) and transparent costing (TC) – based on % share of first $2.5M ACG (threshold 1) • 67% for universities signed up for ERA and TC – based on % share of ACG above $2.5M moderated by quality (ERA) and costs (TC) (threshold 2)

SRE moderated by quality • Excellence in Research Australia (ERA) initiative • Publications over a 6 year window by Field of Research (FOR) • Discipline specific outputs peer reviewed • Esteem factors • Results published at FOR level on 5 point scale 1 is well below world class 5 is well above world class • Ei moderator

SRE moderated by costs • Transparent costing (TC) based on reported indirect costs and the effort of staff directed towards ACG research (staff survey) • UWA reported 50% of time spent on research and 26% of time spent on ACG research activity • Total indirect costs at UWA = $276.8M; ACG indirect costs 26% of $276.8M = $72.0M; ACG indirect costs/ACG income = $72.0M/$84.1M = 85.6 cents in the dollar • TC moderator

SRE threshold 2 funding • Two pools: Share of ACG income x TC moderator = Share of TC pool (40%) Share of ACG income x Ei moderator = Share of Ei pool (60%) • Ei is share of research outputs in FORs rated 3,4 or 5 as a proportion of total research outputs • TC is a multiplier between 1 and 1.2

Will ERA be used for anything else? • Research training (RTS)? • Competitive research funding? • MyUniversity web site? • Student choice • Staff choice • Collaborator choice

What about research impact? • Is ERA only half the story? • ATN/Go8 Trial

ATN/Go8 Trial • Excellence in Impact for Australia (EIA) • ERA included applied measures but no capacity to capture end-user benefits of research • Primary purpose to identify and demonstrate the contribution that high quality research has made to the economic, social, cultural & environmental benefit of society • Can these benefits be recognised, portrayed and assessed?

Why do the EIA now? • Demonstrate to Government that we can measure research impact • Demonstrate to business and community that universities do high quality research of relevance • Need to show strong link between research impact and high quality research • Perception that universities focus on ‘Blue sky’ research • Perception that ‘factory floor’ research can deliver better outcomes

EIA at a glance • Four SEO codes: • Sector A: Defence • Sector B: Economic Development • Sector C: Society • Sector D: Environment • Up to 5 case studies for each SEO, with a minimum of 2 case studies in at least 3 SEOs • Reference period for impact is last 5 years resulting from research up 15 years preceding this

EIA at a glance • Impact case study template • Self contained to make reasonable assessment of claimed ‘reach’ and ‘significance’ of impact • Scoring index (5 point scale) A = Outstanding impacts in terms of reach and significance E = Research impact of limited reach or significance

What can the EIA deliver? • Market high quality university research with relevance • A sound methodology to measure research impact • Another mechanism to allocate research block funding – JRE?

QUESTIONS ?

Research Funding