What is the Global Innovation Linkages Program?
The Global Innovation Linkages Program is an initiative to help Australian businesses and researchers collaborate with global partners.
Background
The Global Innovation Linkages Program provides funding to help Australian businesses and researchers collaborate with global partners. We support strategically focused, leading-edge research and development. It was announced as part of the National Innovation and Science Agenda in 2016 and forms part of the Global Innovation Strategy.
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.
Objectives
The objectives of the Global Innovation Linkages Round 3 grant opportunity are to:
- build linkages with global economies to enable Australia to improve research and business performance, and access international supply chains and global markets
- contribute to improving the competitiveness, productivity and sustainability of Australian and global economies in line with government priorities
- foster high quality solutions to identify end user challenges through international collaborative research partnerships between industry entities, research organisations and global partners
- encourage and facilitate SME participation in collaborative research.
Funding
The Global Innovation Linkages Round 3 grant amount can cover up to 50% of eligible project expenditure (grant percentage).
- The minimum grant amount is $500,000.
- The maximum grant amount is $1,000,000.
You and your partners are responsible for the remaining 50% of eligible project expenditure plus any ineligible expenditure for project activities conducted by Australian partners.
Global partners must support their own project activities. Grant funding cannot be used to fund activities of global partners.
Eligible Projects
Your project must be in at least 1 of our 6 priority areas. The priority areas align with the 6 Government-funded Industry Growth Centres set up to support industry. Read more on the relevant Growth Centre website:
- Advanced manufacturing
- Food and agribusiness
- Medical technologies and pharmaceuticals
- Mining equipment, technology and services
- Oil, gas and energy resources
- Cyber security
To be eligible for the Global Innovation Linkages Round 3, your project must be aimed at building genuine collaboration between at least three unrelated entities, being the Australian industry entity, Australian research organisation and global partner, who are not organisationally or otherwise closely connected except for this project.
Eligible activities must be directly related to the project and may include:
- joint industry research projects with Australian partners and global partners
- conferences, workshops, symposia related to the joint research
- exchanges and secondments of personnel between Australia and global economies for purposes related to the joint research
- new research–related information sharing and communication initiatives related to the joint research
- clinical trials
- proof of concept activities
- pre-commercialisation of research outcomes
- work with one or more Growth Centres or other similar Australian Government initiatives to develop research outcomes that meet the strategic priorities identified by industry partners.
Eligible expenditure can include:
- salaries for researchers and support staff, fellowships and student stipends, and direct salary and on-costs for Australian personnel directly employed for the project activities (on a pro-rata basis relative to their time commitment)
- contractor costs
- costs of acquiring intellectual property and technology
- staff training that directly supports the achievement of project outcomes
- international and domestic travel and associated costs
- financial auditing of project expenditure
- workshops in support of the activities, knowledge transfer and capability development
- cost of materials consumed in testing a process or prototype, including costs incurred in validation, establishing efficacy, demonstration of capability, scale-up, and development of evidence of the stability or reproducibility of processes
- other specific expenditures may be eligible as determined by the Program Delegate.
To be eligible, expenditure must:
- be incurred by you (or Australian partner) within the project period and for approved eligible activities
- be a direct cost of the project
- be incurred by you to undertake required project audit activities
- meet the eligible expenditure guidelines.
Eligible Applicants
To be eligiblefor the Global Innovation Linkages Round 3, your project must have a lead applicant and project partners.
Lead applicant
To be eligible, lead organisations must:
- have an Australian business number (ABN)
You must also be one of the following:
- an Australian incorporated entity
- a publicly funded research organisation (defined in section 14 of the grant opportunity guidelines)
- a Cooperative Research Centre
- an Australian State/Territory Government agency or body
Project partners
A project must include at least one of each of the following:
- Australian industry entity
- Australian research entity
- global partner
Timing
Applications close 07 April 2021.
