Guidelines

    Program Overview

    The Research Infrastructure Co-investment Fund (RICF) seeks to co-invest with universities, research facilities and industry to support existing or establish new Queensland research facilities of national significance.

    The objectives of these investments are to support Queensland to:

    • maintain and grow its leading-edge science and innovation capabilities
    • optimise its world-class research infrastructure to support a thriving innovation ecosystem in Queensland that drives ideas through to commercialisation, adoption and diffusion.

    Investment is targeted but not limited to projects within the priority focus areas outlined in the Queensland new-industry development strategy, with the addition of biomedical, natural capital markets and biodiversity.

    The outcomes of the program are to:

    • Outcome 1: Increase partnerships between universities, research facilities and industry partners, enhancing Queensland science and innovation research capabilities
    • Outcome 2: Increase the collaborative acquisition and sharing of equipment and staff for major research facilities to provide efficiency gains in the provision of research services
    • Outcome 3: Increase leverage of Australian Government and other sources of funding.

    For the purposes of this program, research infrastructure in Queensland is defined as:

    Significant assets, facilities and services located and delivered in Queensland to support leading-edge research and innovation. The research infrastructure is accessible to publicly and privately funded users in Queensland, across Australia and internationally.

    Available funding

    Funding is available to support infrastructure, plant and equipment, and staffing costs under two categories for projects with a duration of up to three years with a matched contribution of 3:1 from the applicant and partner(s) organisations.

    Category 1: New infrastructure – planned capabilities - includes the acquisition of equipment and staffing for the creation of new research facilities in Queensland with funding available from $500,000 (minimum) to $5,000,000 (maximum) excluding GST.

    Category 2: Existing infrastructure – existing capabilities - Includes the acquisition of equipment and staffing for existing research facilities with funding available from $500,000 (minimum) to $3,000,000 (maximum) excluding GST.

    Note: If you are successful, the proposed project must commence within six months of being advised of funding approval.

    Eligibility

    Applicant

    To be eligible to apply for this program, the applicant must, at the time of application:

    • be registered for GST and have an Australian Business Number
    • be an organisation that conducts or will conduct research in Queensland including, but not limited to:
      • universities
      • research institutes (e.g. statutory authorities)
      • limited companies (applicant must partner with an existing university/research institute).
    • Be an organisation that has 3:1 partner cash and in-kind contributions for the project and intends to spend project related funds in Queensland.

    Note: Applicant organisations cannot submit more than one application in a round of RICF for the same project.

    Projects

    Projects supported by this program are required to meet the following criteria:

    • Have an identified project that seeks to address Queensland science and innovation research issues. Applications that address one or more of the priority investment areas will be highly regarded.
    • Demonstrate significant leverage (matched or greater) of Australian Government, industry, university sector funds for the proposed project.

    Priority investment areas

    The Queensland Government invites applications for co-investment aligned with the Queensland new-industry development strategy (PDF, 5.8MB) and additional priority research areas.

    • Renewable energy manufacturing and infrastructure development
    • Critical mineral processing, manufacturing and product development
    • Battery industry development
    • Circular economy including resource recovery and recycling
    • Bioeconomy including biofuels and sustainable aviation fuel
    • Green Hydrogen
    • Biomedical
    • Natural Capital Markets
    • Biodiversity

    Eligible project costs

    RICF funding must be used for project specific activities and fall within the following eligible cost categories:

    • salaries costs for technical staff employed by the applicant for the purposes of the proposed project including for translation activities that provide economic, social and environmental benefits in Queensland
    • purchasing or leasing costs of instrumentation or plant equipment that will be located in Queensland for the purposes of the proposed project
    • costs to obtain non-instrument-based capability such as fee-for-service researchers and/or technical staff for the purposes of the proposed project.

    Only eligible expenditure incurred on or after the project commencement date (specified in the executed Grant Agreement) can be claimed by the successful applicant organisation.

    It is expected that all RICF grant funding will be expended in Queensland. By exception, the department will consider expenditure outside Queensland if it is essential to ensure successful delivery of the project, and clear benefits will accrue to Queensland.

    Payment of grants will be made based on agreed periodic project milestones. A final milestone payment will be made upon the provision of documentary evidence that all project requirements have been satisfied, including evidence that total project expenditure has been incurred and project contributions have been made by all relevant parties, and may include the requirement of an audited financial report.

    Costs not eligible to be paid from RICF funding include:

    • supporting project administrative activities that are not directly applicable to the operation of the proposed RICF project. Specifically, these activities include costs such as enterprise information technology, human resources, accounting, legal overheads, depreciation or other routine expenses for universities or publicly funded research agencies. More specifically, any general ‘administrative charge’ (however calculated) not supported by evidence of services being provided, or the like is excluded
    • indirect costs of researchers using research infrastructure, namely researcher travel and accommodation expenses
    • specific, identifiable costs already supported by the Queensland and/or Australian Governments
    • defence projects and clinical trials.

    Applications and GST

    Applicants registered for GST will not be provided with funding to account for costs directly associated with GST and are required to provide the GST exclusive amount in their budget. Recipients registered for GST can claim the GST component for any expenditure that they incur back from the Australian Tax Office (ATO).

    For advice on GST, please seek assistance from the ATO.

    Contact grantsadministration@des.qld.gov.au for further information.

    Collaborations

    Applications that involve collaborations with industry are strongly encouraged.

    State and local government agencies may collaborate in support of applications.

    Two or more eligible organisations may collaborate on a single RICF project. The applicant organisation is to take the lead on project management, budget and reporting requirements for the duration of the funding agreement activities.

    A letter of commitment will be required from the accountable officer of each collaborating organisation which provides details of the organisation’s involvement in the project.

    Cash Contribution

    The project must have combined cash funding from the applicant organisation and partners that equals or exceeds the Queensland Government funding sought.

    Cash is a combination of:

    • funding directly contributed to the project by the applicant organisation and/or the partner organisation(s)
    • “salaries as cash”. This includes the standard remuneration and on-costs of research/technical staff. The non-project time of these staff cannot be claimed.

    Assessment criteria

    Assessment Criterion 1: Impact on Queensland Scientific capability

    The application must demonstrate:

    • how the project’s alignment with a priority investment area in this Guide provides an uplift in scientific capability in Queensland as per the RICF program objectives and outcomes
    • what research infrastructure capability is to be sustained, expanded, or established with the proposed use of the co-investment funding in Queensland
    • Queensland-based employment at the facility before and after the co-investment.

    Assessment Criterion 2: Benefit to Queensland

    The application must demonstrate:

    • how the project will foster clear, quantified, outcomes and benefits for Queensland within the activity period of the project and that are aligned with one or more of the priority investment areas
    • clear pathways to impact, to ensure that benefits for Queensland can be realised (for example to support patent activity, innovation and/or job creation in Queensland-based businesses)
    • how the project will contribute to the RICF Program Objectives and Outcomes 1-3.

    Assessment Criterion 3: Co-Investment

    The application must demonstrate:

    • the amount of leverage (matched or greater) of Australian Government, industry, university sector funds for the project
    • the extent to which Queensland involvement in the project is expected to attract future investment
    • how the project will leverage the equipment and expertise of other research facilities to gain greater capabilities and efficiency gains for the proposed project.

    Tip: applications that have elements involving joint facility projects will be highly regarded.

    Assessment Criterion 4: Engagement

    The application must demonstrate:

    • the effectiveness of previous strategies for fostering active engagement of the facility with users over the most recent 12-month period (calendar or fiscal year)
    • future-oriented strategies to engage users of the facility including collaboration with existing and new industry partners and research facilities
    • for past RICF recipients, how the project will increase industry engagement on 2019/2021 RICF rounds by more than 5%.

    Assessment Criterion 5: Track Record

    The application must demonstrate:

    • professional, research, project management and industry engagement skills to undertake and complete the proposed project
    • the facility’s record in servicing Queensland users, including Queensland user numbers by sector and user satisfaction over the most recent 12-month period (calendar or fiscal year)
    • the utilisation rate of the existing infrastructure in a range of discipline areas, including evidence of increased and diverse use across classes of users
    • evidence that the facility has delivered strong industry engagement
    • evidence of outcomes achieved by users as a result of their usage of the facility (including patents developed, jobs created, money saved, new products/services/methods developed, papers published)
    • case studies of downstream impact arising from use of the facility both for current and past projects.

    Tip: projects proposing a new facility will need to refer to the track record of the applicant organisation and/or project team’s relevant experience in establishing or operating similar facilities and mechanisms to support successful science translation for economic and broader societal benefit(s).

    Assessment Criterion 6: Projected future use of the facility

    The application must demonstrate:

    • how the facility plans to maximise usage by industry, government and other Queensland research institutions, and collaboration between sectors and institutions, and how it intends to track this usage
    • demonstrate an existing or planned service framework including any user charging arrangements currently in place or proposed
    • anticipated increase in user numbers and capability to cater to growth as a result of the co-investment proposal
    • potential new research area(s)/activities that the facility could be used for.

    Selection and assessment process

    The department will undertake due diligence and eligibility checks. Eligible applications will be assessed in a competitive, merit-based process against the program’s assessment criteria by an expert panel comprised of members with scientific, research and industry backgrounds, including state government representatives. The department will coordinate the assessment of RICF applications by the expert panel.

    The expert panel will assess and rank applications according to the RICF’s selection criteria and provide advice to the department on any technical matters for its consideration.

    Applicant organisations may be contacted during the assessment process to clarify information provided in the application and/or to request additional information to enable the appropriate consideration of the application.

    The assessment process may take into account the need to balance the Queensland Government’s research investment to support a diversity of capability across scientific disciplines, geographic regions and research groups.

    The department will make a recommendation to the Director-General on the successful applicant organisations and the level of funding, taking into account the advice of the expert panel, available budget and program purpose. The Director-General will decide successful applications.

    For successful applicants, the department will provide administrative services by:

    • entering into a Grant Agreement with successful applicant organisations
    • making milestone-based grant payments
    • monitoring grant recipients’ use of funds.

    Grant recipients will be required to provide the department information on how the project is meeting the required deliverables and how the funding is utilised (further details of this are explained below and will be outlined in the RICF Grant Agreement).

    All applicant organisations will be informed of the outcome of the decision on their applications, whether they are or are not successful. Applicants can appeal decisions relating to their application.

    Submitting an application

    Applications for the RICF 2023 round closed on 11 December 2023. The application consisted of:

    • A completed online application form through SmartyGrants
    • Support documentation from co-investing organisation(s) e.g. Australian Government, clearly outlining:
      • its commitment to and reasons for supporting the project
      • the likely benefits to be gained by participating in the project
      • the annual cash contributions they will make to the project.
    • Support letter/s from collaborating organisations.

    The applicant organisation must read any Grant Agreement template made available on the department's ‘Science funding and grants’ website for the RICF 2023 round and be satisfied it can comply with its terms and conditions. The terms and conditions of the Agreement are non-negotiable.

    Conditions of the funding Agreement will include that recipients undertake:

    • continuous case studies of downstream impact arising from use of the facility both for the project proposed as well as past RICF investments
    • a yearly questionnaire that is sent to all users on usages of the facility, outcomes achieved as a result of their usage of the facility (patents developed, jobs created, money saved, products/services/methods developed, papers published).

    Applicant organisations should clearly identify in their application (including attachments) any information that the applicant organisation requests be treated as confidential.

    Successful applicant organisations will receive a letter requiring the applicant organisation to sign and return a Grant Agreement which will be countersigned by the department and a copy returned to the applicant organisation for their records. The Project (which is based off the application for RICF funding) will be approved by the department in the execution of the Grant Agreement.

    Key dates

    The timetable for the selection process is as follows:

    • December 2023: Applications closed.
    • March 2024:  It is anticipated that applicant organisations will be informed of the outcome.

    Funding agreement

    The Queensland Government RICF payments will be released to the applicant organisation to administer the grant funding. Funding from the RICF will take the form of milestone-based cash contributions as detailed in a Grant Agreement between the applicant organisation and the department on behalf of the State of Queensland. The grant monies must only be used on eligible activities (as defined in the Grant Agreement and these Guidelines).

    The department must be advised in writing within 30 days of any changes that are likely to impact on the project, including changes that may impact on eligibility, research milestones, project funding or reporting.

    It is required that funded facilities will be able to regularly provide detailed reporting on Queensland usage, as this is fundamental to understanding the impact of the proposed co-investment.

    The applicant organisation must provide a financial statement to the department annually containing details of:

    • Queensland Government funding received and expended
    • their cash contributions to the project
    • the cash contributions of all partners towards the project.

    If the applicant organisation allocates funding to collaborating organisations, the applicant organisation must request that the collaborating organisation also provide an income and expenditure statement relating to the Queensland Government funding which has been allocated to them. This must be included in the annual financial reporting.

    Promotion of supported projects

    Applicant organisations should actively promote the funded research project; provide broad project information if required; and attend media/promotion events if requested. The applicant organisation must acknowledge Queensland Government funding in all relevant published material, media releases and public statements.

    Privacy

    The Queensland Government collects and collates information from the application form for the purpose of assessment as well as program monitoring and evaluation. Only authorised departmental officers and approved grant assessors and evaluators will have access to this information under the Financial Accountability Act 2009.

    Applicants should note that broad details of successful proposals, agreed outcomes, progress and the level of funding awarded may be published by the Queensland Government.

    Some information may be used to promote funded projects.

    The applicant organisation information will not be disclosed to any other third party without their consent, unless required by law or for the purposes of the Information Privacy Act 2009.

    For audit purposes, the Queensland Government is required to retain the applications and other supplied support material. Applicants wishing to access this information should contact the department in the first instance.

    The provisions of the Right to Information Act 2009 apply to documents in the possession of the Queensland Government.

    Further information

    Contact: RICF Coordinator

    Email: grantsadministration@des.qld.gov.au

    General Enquiries: (07) 3330 6360

    Applications for the RICF 2023 round closed on 11 December 2023.

    View further information about the 2023 round: