Do you want to improve your research communication skills? Do you want access to the premier conference on career development? Do you want help in getting ahead in engaging publishing? Then April at Flinders has something for you.

Upcoming researcher professional development opportunities aim to fortify and build skills around research engagement, recognising and communicating research impact and thriving in an academic environment. Flinders' Researchers can register to attend these opportunities via ienrol.

Research communications for engagement and impact - by researchers, for researchers across the disciplines (10 April) is an action learning workshop led by Dr Andrew Stapleton and will equip each participant with a tool kit and the skills to write for multidisciplinary audiences.

“The Conversation” in conversation (18 April) will feature Sarah Keenihan, Editor for The Conversation and a multidisciplinary discussion panel of Flinders researchers who have contributed articles and commentary. This interactive forum will highlight how The Conversation works and “what they do”, and the panel is open to Q&A about their experiences. There will be a focus on their approach to contributing and publishing their work, and the benefits and impact that flowed from it.

Science Pathways 2018 – the Australian Academy of Sciences EMCR Forum Conference (23, 24 April) will see Flinders transform into a remote conference site for Australia’s premier conference focused on career development, bringing together early- and mid-career researchers (EMCRs) and scientific leaders from academia, industry and government. Science Pathways will provide researchers from all disciplines with the skills necessary for thriving in an academic environment. Participants will build on existing knowledge and learn new skills essential for future success. In addition, this event will provide an opportunity to meet like-minded EMCRs and network amongst peers.

The Researcher Professional Development Team invites Flinders researchers to the first in a series of skills training and development workshops: Research Communications for engagement and impact – by researchers, for researchers across the disciplines.

This action-learning workshop, led by Dr Andrew Stapleton, Professional Research Communicator and host and producer for Australia’s Science Channel, will equip each participant with the skills to write for multidisciplinary audiences. Using a robust best-practice tool-kit, this workshop will provide researchers with the opportunity to produce a lede and structured outline for an article that will communicate the impact of their research, and during this process, get real-time feedback and advice from an industry professional. This workshop aims to improve researchers’ awareness of research impact and celebrate it through great writing.

Researchers at all career stages who are keen to build skills to effectively communicate their research impact are invited to register. Please keep an eye on Inspiring Research and ienrol over the coming days for the confirmed details and to register for this workshop that is scheduled for 10 April, 1:30 – 4:30 pm, Bedford Park Campus. Please note that places are limited.

The Researcher Professional Development team is led by Dr Marina Delpin and is part of the Flinders’ Research Development and Support Division. The team coordinates training and development that builds key skills that are core to the research process, and doing research, at Flinders. Working closely with the Vitae Researcher Development Framework and research leaders, further skills training and development activities are being developed and rolled out, with the aim to impart the knowledge, key traits and attributes of effective, highly successful researchers. Please contact Marina if you have any queries about the opportunities coordinated by this team, including their flagship programs that build researcher capacity and capabilities – the Researcher Mentoring Scheme for ECRs and Building Research Leaders Program for MCRs.

A Policy Redesign Project is currently underway to simplify and streamline Flinders’ policy set to be more principles-based and less prescriptive and procedural in nature. As part of this process and following consultation, the Research Institutes and Centres Policy has been revised to adopt the principles-based format of the new policy framework, and to make key changes to the establishment and continuation of Research Institutes and Centres.

Professor Robert Saint, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) thanks staff for their input to the development of the Research Institutes and Centres Policy and Procedures. These documents are now available on the policy website at: Policy and Procedures.

Please forward this information to relevant staff in your area.

Key changes from the existing policy to the revised policy and procedures are as follows:

In addition, each policy outlines the relationship to research themes and research sections.

As part of International Women's Day, 8 March 2018, the STEM Women:Branching Out at Flinders are aiming to break the record for the White Coat Challenge. All scientists, students are support staff are requested to wear their white lab coat in support of women scientists on the Plaza at 12 PM, 8 March 2018.

Registration for the event is at flinders.edu.au/stem-iwd and more information can be sought from stemwomen@flinders.edu.au.

Dr Kathy Ehrig, Principal Geometallurgist at BHP will be the Guest Speaker before she is a part of the In Conversation with the Women Scientists and Engineers at BHP to be held at 5:00 PM in Alere Function Centre.

Flinders is offering two opportunities for mid-career researchers (MCRs; 5 – 10 years post-PhD) – attendance at the Australian Academy of Sciences Science Pathways 2018 conference, and Science at the Shine Dome.

Science Pathways 2018 is Australia’s premier conference focused purely on career development, and brings together EMCRs and scientific leaders from academia, industry and government in Brisbane, 23 – 24 April. Science at the Shine Dome brings together the foremost and highest achieving scientists of Australia, for a three-day celebration of Australian science in Canberra, 22 – 24 May. This year’s event will feature a symposium titled Predict, Respond, Recover: science and natural disasters. Applications for both opportunities close on Friday 16 March 2018.

National EMCR Forum

The Science Pathways 2018 grant will include attendance at two full days of the conference, including a networking event with Fellows of the Academy and senior science leaders, plus accommodation, travel costs and more.

Flinders is offering the opportunity for one MCR to attend this year’s forum.

The highly interactive program focuses on how to achieve equity in STEM, how to access funding from non-traditional sources, and the key considerations for interdisciplinary research.

This conference will provide researchers with the skills necessary for thriving in an academic environment, as EMCRs will build on existing knowledge and learn new skills essential for future success in their fields. In addition, this event will provide an opportunity to meet like-minded EMCRs and network amongst peers.

Science at the Shine Dome

The Science at the Shine Dome grant will includes registration, accommodation, travel costs, attendance at the Gala Dinner and a professional development workshop of your choosing.

Flinders is offering the opportunity for one MCR to attend this year’s event.

Attendees will be inspired by hearing from newly elected Fellows and awardees about their latest research across a range of science disciplines. They will also have the opportunity to meet and exchange ideas with renowned scientists, as well as build networks with other early- and mid-career researchers.

Science at the Shine Dome is an event for researchers from all disciplines and career levels to come together and share knowledge. This includes the admission of new Fellows to the Australian Academy of Science, national awards to honour excellence at all career levels, a networking Gala Dinner with industry and political representatives, and a high-powered symposium on an issue of national importance. A major focus at Science at the Shine Dome is researcher professional development and the opportunity to engage with senior scientists.

Science at the Shine Dome attracts a national and international audience of over 400 people and boundless networking opportunities with Australian Academy Fellows, Chief Scientists, Nobel Prize winners, early and mid-career researchers, government representatives, politicians, media, science associated organisations, and the science interested general public. Online, Science at the Shine Dome reaches audiences of over 500,000 people on a range of social media and digital technology platforms to make the event truly global in every sense.

Applications for both opportunities close on Friday 23 March 2018.

If you are interested, please contact Dr Marina Delpin, Program Manager: Researcher Professional Development for further information and application forms.

The Australian Research Council (ARC) has called for nominations from Institutions for peer reviewers for Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA). The role of a peer reviewer is to assist the ERA Research Evaluation Committees (RECs) with evaluations in discipline where peer review is an indicator. The nomination date by the ARC has been extended to 29 March 2018 and Flinders researchers are strongly encouraged to nominate.

Further information about ERA is available on the ARC website. The ARC is also interested in receiving nominations for individuals from countries other than Australia.

Peer reviewers will be notified of their engagement and subsequently assigned units of evaluation according to the work requirements. The ARC will provide peer reviewers with information about the processes for accessing and reviewing their assigned material. Assigned material will be available online via a specifically designed web-based system. Peer reviewers in ERA are only active in the first stage of the evaluation process which is scheduled for June-July 2018. The total time required for peer reviewers to be available will be approximately five weeks although it is expected that the actual reviewing will only require a proportion of that time.

If you wish to be considered for nomination by Flinders as an ERA 2018 peer reviewer please send an expression of interest via email to research.data@flinders.edu.au by close of business Tuesday 27 March 2018 (EXTENDED DATE).

Further information on the process is available by contacting research.data@flinders.edu.au or phoning Ben Jacobs, Team Leader, Research Analytics on 8201 3866.

As researchers move institutions, perhaps change their name and affiliations can all their research outputs continue to be attributed to them and follow them around the globe? Wouldn’t be great for all outputs to be listed in one place? Open Researcher and Contributor Identification (ORCID) does this, and registration takes 30 seconds via RePortal.

"ORCID provides a persistent digital identifier that distinguishes you from every other researcher… it supports automated linkages between you and your professional activities ensuring that your work is recognized."

An ORCID id will belong to an individual researcher throughout their scholarly career and it can save time in publisher workflows and in grant submission processes by reducing redundant entry of biographical and bibliographical data in multiple systems.

Grant funding bodies including the Australian Research Council and the National Health and Medical Research Council are in the process of building integration with ORCID. You may have come across ORCID already - Elsevier, Thomson Reuters, Nature and other major publishers are integrating "ORCID ids" into the manuscript submission process, and embedding ORCID identifiers across their scientific and scholarly research ecosystem.

"ORCID’s vision is a world where all who participate in research, scholarship, and innovation are uniquely identified and connected to their contributions across disciplines, borders, and time… ORCID is part of the wider digital infrastructure needed for researchers to share information on a global scale."

ORCID is an international, interdisciplinary, open, and not-for-profit registry of unique researcher identifiers. It is a hub that connects researchers and research outputs.

"Our work is open, transparent, and non-proprietary. We are guided by the principles of privacy and researcher control, and the vision of identifier-enabled research information infrastructure."

To learn more about ORCID, there are comprehensive resources, including video tutorials, at https://orcid.org/help.

Pawel Skuza, the Flinders University Statistical Consultant, can provide training and support to staff and HDR students in a variety of areas relating to statistics.

Pawel provides statistical one-to-one consultations and assistance in areas of their research that requires the use of statistical methods. He also conducts statistically orientated workshops and helps staff and students to apply for restricted access data from Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), Department of Social Services (DSS) and Eurostat. Additionally, he provides technical support for the IBM SPSS and NVivo licences as well as looking after a stand-alone PC with Specialised Statistical Software.

University-wide access to quantitative and qualitative online research methodology training, conducted by the Center for the Advancement of Research Methods and Analysis’ (CARMA), is also currently available. Made available through the International Video Library Program, a range of more than 120 free recorded lectures are available, addressing many aspects of research. The full list of lectures is published here. Researchers can also obtain a 50% discount on CARMA short courses scheduled for April 2018, including ‘Mixed Methods and Qualitative Comparative Analysis’, ‘Introduction to Research Methods’ and ‘Intermediate Regression’.

For more information on all the above, staff and HDR students are invited to email pawel.skuza@flinders.edu.au.

A list of workshops relating to Statistics available for Flinders staff and HDR students is available here.

A flyer with detailed information on the Statistical Consultant and his services is available here - Statistical Consulting & SPSS - Flyer

Are you interested in presenting your clinical or research innovations to rural health practitioners?

Flinders University Rural Health SA are proud sponsors of the Rural Health Professional Networks which include medical, allied health, nursing, public health and administration staff from private, public and NGO sectors. They would like to hear from our Flinders metro-based colleagues who would like to engage, inform and entertain rural health professionals at one of the monthly gatherings. Face-to-face and video conference options are available for participants and presenters.

Flinders University Rural Health SA have six learning hubs in located in the Barossa Valley, Mount Gambier, Riverland, Murray Bridge, Victor Harbor and Burra. Since 2000 Flinders University have invested in infrastructure and people to build strong collaborative relationships with rural practitioners.

Please contact Dr Elena Rudnik or Jacqui Will to discuss your inclusion in the 2018 calendar of events.

Research Development and Support has partnered with the Business Improvement team to create a simplified process for research project certification. This has built on an extensive process of consultation with researchers, research leaders and research support staff. A fully digital certification detail and sign off process has been developed to replace the former paper/pdf process.

A pilot commenced Monday, 5 February with the colleges of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, Science and Engineering, and Nursing and Health Sciences. Feedback and observations from this pilot will feed into the implementation of a fully automated research management system planned for later in 2018. Researchers from outside of these colleges are to continue using the current certification form.

Key benefits of the new process include:

• Consistent and automated workflow eliminating physical signatures – no more pushing and chasing forms from one desk to another!
• Simple online, mobile friendly form gathering the right amount of information
• Visibility to track the request status 
• Information provided to the right people at the right time
• Improved reporting and governance

If you are a member of a college participating in the pilot, here’s what you need to know:

• All research project certification requests will made using the new online form found in the ‘actions’ tab of your Flinders Pro page.
• Other non-research certifications will continue to be via the current process
• This will initiate the online sign off process by your respective Dean of Research or Vice-President/Executive Dean and ensure the request initiator can view the progress of the request at any time​
• Notifications will be sent to co-applicants and their Dean (Research) & Dean (People and Resources)​

Support information is available online and via your College Research Support lead:

HASS – Narmon Tulsi  - narmon.tulsi@flinders.edu.au

NHS – Kay Govin  - kay.govin@flinders.edu.au

S&E – Kylie Sappiatzer  - cse.research@flinders.edu.au

A user guide is available here

Overall the new approval workflow is:​

We aim for the new research certification process to be a big step forward in reducing paperwork and time spent chasing approvals. As a pilot of new processes always reveals new learnings and improvements your participation is much appreciated and your feedback is welcome. Feedback is to be sent to your relevant college contact listed above. If you are not in these colleges, please contact tom.symonds@flinders.edu.au.

Research Development and Support welcomes all staff and Higher Degree Research students to 2018. HDRs are now receiving Inspiring Research, the online research communiqué that covers engagement and impact, new opportunities, including seminars, workshops and conferences. Communicating your research successes and sharing this inspiration is what Inspiring Research strives for. Our final communique for 2017 featured a recap of the excellent research from Flinders in 2017.

In this edition we continue our Flinders’ Early Career Researcher spotlight series, announce the 2018 Building Research Leaders program, and look into why the little penguins population is declining on Granite Island.

With increased focus on research impact and communication we are also bringing Scimex to your attention, a database of expert Australian researcher contacts for journalists in New Zealand and Australia. Flinders researchers are encouraged to participate in this valuable tool that links research experts to journalists and the media.

On Thursday 24 January 2018, Professor Peter Catcheside (College of Medicine and Public Health) and Dr Kirsty Hansen (DECRA recipient, College of Science and Engineering) were interviewed on their collaborative research work just after 9 am by David Bevan on ABC Radio Adelaide. You can listen to the interview here, which touches on their recent research funding success that will investigate the effects of wind farm noise on sleep quality.

"The media moves swiftly," Peter said. "I was contacted yesterday afternoon regarding this interview so I immediately contacted Flinders Office of Communication and Engagement – I always filter media requests through Tania Bawden and Karen Ashford. They are a great support and provide fantastic coaching and guidance for how a researcher can clearly communicate their message in talking with the media."

The Flinders University media team should be researchers’ first point of contact to promote their research. Please contact Tania Bawden when you receive news of research grant success or have major research findings accepted for publication. Please do not hesitate to call them – and find more media tips at the webpage here. Last year, the story of Tips from a first time interviewee - David Armstrong, provided some helpful tips and links for researchers, including to the Media Centre for Education Research Australia (MCERA).

Applications are now open for the 2018 Building Research Leaders Program - a strategy to support the development of skills, knowledge and attitudes required to become a research leader. This program is targeted at researchers who are 5+ years post-PhD and consists of six face-to-face sessions, run from March to October.

In 2018 ECRs will meet with their Dean (Research) to discuss and develop their application, which includes aims, goals and a plan to implement learnings into everyday practice. This approach is intended to encourage holistic, achievable, supported research career planning and development for each program participant.

The application form can be downloaded from the Building Research Leaders program webpage.

Please contact Marina Delpin, Program Manager: Researcher Professional Development, if you have any queries.

Building Research Leaders Program 2018 flyer

2017 has been a year of change for Flinders, but through the change there have been some excellent research achievements. One of the major changes has been from the Research Services Office to Research Development and Support and the appointment of Ms Jodieann Dawe as Director. We thank Tom Symonds for his leadership during the transition as Acting Director in 2017.

“I would like to thank everyone for their kind welcome to Flinders. I look forward to working with researchers and staff to keep building on the research profile at Flinders and drive improvement in the quality and impact of our research within Flinders and the community,” said Jodieann.

The Colvera team from CSIRO, Clinical Genomics and Flinders (Professor Graham Young) was awarded the prestigious 2017 Johnson & Johnson Eureka Prize for Innovation in Medical Research for the development of the Colvera Test for Bowel cancer. The Australian Museum Eureka Prizes are awarded annually to reward excellence in the fields of research, innovation, leadership, science communication and school science.

It was also an excellent year for science writing at Flinders with Dr Alice Gorman being awarded the Bragg UNSW Press Prize for Science Writing. This follows on from her selection as a finalist in the award in 2016. The Forensic Science researchers and students (past and present) at Flinders became ‘best in show’ at the National Institute of Forensic Science (Australia and New Zealand) Best Paper Awards. Out of the five awarded categories, Flinders won four, and received a high commendation in Best Paper in a Refereed Journal. 

Earlier in the year, Professor Adrian Linacre and Professor Paul Kirkbride were awarded $205,193 in funding from the Defence Science and Technology Group (DST) – Defence Science Partnership program, for their projectInformative genetic data from trace material collected from a range of forensically informative substrates. Recently Professor Karl Sammut and his team became the first recipient of the Fincantieri – Flinders – CETENA Maritime Innovation Challenge.

Flinders researchers were awarded nine Discovery Projects, two Discovery Early Career Researcher Awards, and a Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities (LIEF) grant in the November Australian Research Council (ARC) awards round. Flinders researchers won a total of $1.2m in funding in the Australian Research Council (ARC) Linkage Projects grant round. In the two recent NHMRC round announcements Flinders researchers were awarded $24,795,927.80 for a Centre of Research Excellence, a Targeted Call for Research - Implementation of Dementia Research into Clinical Practice and Care, twelve Project Grants, one Program Grant, one Medical Research Future Fund TRIP Fellowship and two Postgraduate Scholarships.

For our part in the National Specialist Palliative Care and Advance Care Planning Advisory Services project, Flinders has secured over $4 million - $3.6 million for CareSearch, and a further $743,061 for End of Life Essentials for Acute Hospital Clinicians project. Professor Jennifer Tieman and Ms Kim Devery and their teams’ success showcase the leadership in Palliative Care research at Flinders. We also lead the way in Drug and Alcohol research with $1.7m secured via the Australian Government Drug and Alcohol Program for NCETA. Professor Ann Roche and her team will be looking into how to reduce the prevalence and severity of drug and alcohol use in Australian communities?

Inspiring Research included a new section to spotlight the Early Career Researchers at Flinders. So far seven ECRs have been highlighted – Giselle Rampersad, Harriet Whiley, Margaret Shanafield, George Karpetis, Sam Schutlz, Ashokkumar Manoharan, and Vishnu KK Nair. Two other up and coming researchers were announced as 2017 Fresh Scientists, Laura Gell and Katherine Morel.

Professor Justine Smith was named as one of Australia’s first ‘Superstars of STEM’. The Superstars of STEM project aims to inspire girls towards a career in science by raising the profile of current world class female researchers and clinicians across Australia.

2017 was also a breakthrough year for Indigenous researchers in Archaeology at Flinders. Dr Christopher Wilson became the first Indigenous Australian to graduate with a PhD in Archaeology, and Flinders Master in Archaeology and Heritage Management student Jacinta Koolmatrie was selected as a presenter for the TEDxAdelaide 2017 showcase.

We wish all staff a happy and safe holiday break and look forward to seeing what 2018 will bring for research breakthroughs and community engagement with Flinders.

A change has started in how many Commonwealth Government funding opportunities’ documentation are made available. For example, previously documentation was available on each Commonwealth Government websites. Now they will only be made available through a single website – GrantConnect. 

GrantConnect is 'live' now at www.grants.gov.au. To access documentation you will need to create a log-in, which is done directly at www.grants.gov.au.

If you urgently need a specific grant application document only available at GrantConnect, but do not have a log-in, Research Development and Support can download the documentation for you. Please email your request to research.grants@flinders.edu.au. 

GrantConnect provides a centralised publication of forecast and current Australian Government grant opportunities and grants awarded.

A reminder that the NHMRC is currently still inviting submissions to its consultation paper on peer review in the new grant program. Submissions close 5:00 pm (AEDT) on Monday 4 December 2017. The consultation paper is now available.

If you are an early or mid-career researcher, the Australian Academy of Science's EMCR Forum is writing a submission. They have a three question survey that early or mid-career researchers can partake in to be part of the EMCR's response. The EMCR Forum survey closes 20 November 2017.

The new NHMRC grant program, which is summarised below, was announced on 25 May 2017 after extensive and targeted consultation. That consultation did not include the peer review system which supports the strategic aims of the programs.

The Australian Research Council (ARC) has opened the consultation on two Draft Engagement and Impact (EI) 2018 documents for feedback. These are the Draft EI 2018 Submission Guidelines and the Draft EI Discipline Matrix. If you wish to access word versions of the documents, they can be downloaded from the ARC website.

Flinders will be submitting an institutional response. If you wish to be included in the institutional response, please provide feedback to research.data@flinders.edu.au by COB Tuesday 14 November 2017.

Staff can also comment directly to the ARC as an individual. If you choose to do this, the responses are to be submitted to the ARC at ARC-EI@arc.gov.au using their pdf feedback template. A word version of the template can be downloaded from the ARC website. Individual responses are due at the ARC by 5:00 PM AEDT, Friday, 17 November 2017, with "EI 2018 Submission Consultation" as the subject line. If you provide an individual response, please also forward a copy of that feedback to research.data@flinders.edu.au noting in the email that this feedback has already been provided to the ARC.

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Australian Research Council (ARC), Professor Sue Thomas, has welcomed the Government’s announcement of the findings of the Engagement and Impact Assessment pilot. The Engagement and Impact (EI) Assessment was first announced in December 2015, as part of the National Innovation and Science Agenda (NISA), and the release of the EI Pilot Report marks a key milestone for this initiative. The following information has been provided by the ARC from their Engagement and Impact Assessment webpages.

The report summarises the findings from the pilot, and outlines modifications to the methodology for the Engagement and Impact Assessment 2018. The release of the Pilot Report marks the end of the pilot and the start of preparations for the first full assessment in 2018.

A selection of 10 broad discipline groups (Fields of Research) were tested in the pilot enabling a spread of disciplines across STEM and HASS to be involved with a minimum of burden. Discipline groups that were tested by the pilot included: Chemical Sciences, Medical and Health Sciences, History and Archaeology, and Philosophy and Religious Studies, Environmental Sciences, Agricultural and Veterinary Sciences, Engineering, Education, Studies in Creative Arts and Writing, Language Communication and Culture, and Indigenous research.

Flinders participated in both the engagement and impact part of the pilot. To discuss the Flinders pilot submission, please contact research.data@flinders.edu.au.

The Engagement and Impact Assessment Pilot 2017 Report is now available here.

This is a call out for expressions of interest from potential mentees and mentors to participate in the Flinders University Researcher Mentoring Scheme, February – December 2018. EOIs are due Monday 27 November 2017. This initiative is a strategy to support our researchers who are early-career and those transitioning to mid-career status, defined as one to ten years post PhD conferral. Each mentee is assisted in developing and maintaining a one-on-one mentoring partnership with a mentor, who is a senior Flinders academic and matched based on a mentee’s requirements.

The Flinders Scheme has positively impacted on ECRs’ well-being and research profile, including grant income, publications and engagement. Mentees have reported that the scheme has enhanced their ability to plan their research career, set goals, lead, manage and collaborate.

My mentor’s research area is very niche and she has built an international reputation in the area – so I have some great insights into strategy to get research noticed, build capacity, and identify strategic opportunities to take advantage of.  

I got some great mentoring on strategic networking both within and outside the university, which I had no idea about. I think the best part is having someone to talk to about whatever is going on… someone who can be objective.  

Scheme coordinator, Dr Marina Delpin, is available to discuss any questions that you may have about the mentoring scheme and can be contacted on 8201 3873 or marina.delpin@flinders.edu.au.

The eligibility criteria and application documents to participate as a mentee or mentor are available via RePortal, which can be accessed by Flinders staff via the Okta login page, or directly from Marina.

The Australian Research Council (ARC) have updated their Medical Research Policy to provide a number of clarifications to the policy to better articulate the types of research supported by the ARC. While the ARC does not normally fund laboratory-based studies, clinical studies, treatment and/or prevention of human diseases and/or the maintenance of human health, the ARC may, however, fund related research to address specific Australian Government medical and health research priorities, either solely or in concert with the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC).

The ARC worked closely with the NHMRC to produce a policy that provides greater clarity, and complement the NHMRC eligibility requirements. As a result the ARC will no longer seek further justification from institutions regarding the eligibility of applications that may be perceived to be in an area of ineligible research.

Research Development and Support will work with researchers to check their projects eligibility for ARC grants. If you have any queries, please contact Maya Roberts on maya.roberts@flinders.edu.au or extn 17698. The updated policy can be downloaded in pdf or word document from the link above.

Flinders University hosted Andrew Richardson and Paul Felici from Innovation Connections, an initiative of the Federal Department of Industry, Innovation and Science recently, to meet with key stakeholders at Flinders so that we could learn more about Innovation Connections and how we can help in expiating the contracting process associated with receiving a grant. The Innovation Connections program provides small and medium sized businesses with access to expert advice to address technology and knowledge gaps, and collaborate with the research sector in developing new ideas with commercial potential. Support includes an Innovation Connections grant of up to $50,000 in matched funding to work on collaborative projects, together with support for researcher placement, business researcher placement or graduate placement options.

The SA Innovation Facilitator, Andrew Richardson, works alongside business to find solutions to their IT needs, identify new technology, knowledge and expertise, and to provide pathways to engage and collaborate with the research sector. To be eligible for the grant the industry partner must satisfy eligibility criteria, and also be either operating in, or provide enabling technologies, inputs or services to one of the five growth sectors. The growth sectors are Advanced Manufacturing; Cyber Security; Food and Agribusiness; Medical Technologies and Pharmaceuticals; Mining Equipment, Technology and Services; and Oil, Gas and Energy Resources.

"Unlike traditional approaches this grant is non-competitive and administratively simplified with quick application to award turn-around time.  It is a great way to explore and build strong relationships with industry partners," said Carmela Sergi, Institute Manager, Medical Device Research Institute.

If you are working with an industry partner and may benefit from this grant, or if you have research capabilities and would like to be matched with industry in these sectors please contact Mary Lyons, Research Grants Officer, Research Development and Support, or Andrew Richardson directly at andrew.richardson@businessfoundations.com.au.