ANU College of Engineering and Computer Science

ANU College of Engineering and Computer Science

ANU College of Engineering and Computer Science Setting the Scene Professor David Hill Federation Fellow, RSISE

ANU College of Engineering and Computer Science Current Grants Situation & Grants Schemes Professor David Hill Federation Fellow, RSISE

ANU College of Engineering and Computer Science Outline • Research support • Grant schemes • Why apply? • College data • Observations

ANU College of Engineering and Computer Science CECS Research Support • Research Committee • Chair 2007, pending • Alistair Rendell, Assoc Dean (Research) FEIT • +Dept reps, Dir, Assoc Dir, etc • Administration • Michelle Searle (College EO) • Eva Lerable (Grants Officer) • Heather McEwen (Marketing Manager) • Ben Patricks (Finance Manager) • +HDR

ANU College of Engineering and Computer Science http://cecs.anu.edu.au/support/grants • Grants • Latest News • ARC Discovery Project Documentation 2008 (posted 22 November 2006) • Important Dates for 2008 Discovery Projects (posted 21 November 2006) • Workshops and Forums (posted 21 November 2006) • The Business Office at the ANU College of Engineering & Computer Science is developing a robust grant administration process to support research and administrative staff throughout the life of the grant, from idea through to completion. • This support includes: • provision of successful grant applications to early career researchers for guidance in preparing new applications; • creating opportunities for early career researchers to liaise with experienced researchers for advice and assistance in preparing grant applications; • assistance with the preparation of budgets; • encouraging expert and lay review of grant applications; • submission of ARC grants to the Research Office by the prescribed deadline, provided that the grant is submitted to the Business Office within local deadlines. • Follow the links below to guide your application. • If you intend to apply for a grant in 2007, please complete the Online notification to the CECS Business Office. After doing this, we strongly advise you to make an appointment with the Grants Officer to discuss your application. • Online notification • By the time of your preliminary meeting with the Grants Officer you should have familiarised yourself with the funding agency guidelines, and you should have given some thought to the grant budget. The Business Office has prepared sample budget templates for ARC grants (below) to assist you. • Applying For Grants - Where to start • Finding Sources of Funding • Before you Apply • Application Process • Information about ARC Grants • ARC Sample Budget Templates • Acceptance of Successful Grants • Frequently Asked Questions • The College encourages early career and experienced researchers to liaise with each other in preparing grant applications. A list of successful grants, linked to investigators, is below. • Successful grants (tba) • Grants and Finance Officer • grants.officer@cecs.anu.edu.au

ANU College of Engineering and Computer Science Grant Schemes • ARC • Discovery • Linkage • SRI • Centres and Networks • ACGR • (incl ARC, NICTA, CSIRO etc) • General Research Income

ANU College of Engineering and Computer Science Why Apply? • Enables research • University rankings • Department budget • Personal advancement

ANU College of Engineering and Computer Science Comparisons within Go8 (Source “Bibliometric Analyses” http://info.anu.edu.au/OVC/University_Research_Committee/

ANU College of Engineering and Computer Science Research Quantum • DEST schemes • Research Infrastructure Block Grant (RIBG) • Institutional Grants Scheme (IGS) • Research Training Scheme (RTS) • Based on success in ACGR, General categories, HDR figures (enrolled, completions) University down to Units (after slices) get income.

ANU College of Engineering and Computer Science Example • Grant: Part of CoE MASCOS (2 CIs) • Amount: $442,000 • Upfront cash: Centre $44,200 (10%) • CECS $57,800 • RQ: • Total: $156,698 to CECS • “Profit” about $100,000! • (Centre slices 30%, profit $22,956)

ANU College of Engineering and Computer Science College Data (Source: CECS Business Office)

ANU College of Engineering and Computer Science Summary 2002-07

ANU College of Engineering and Computer Science Current Situation • 43 active grants • 21 DP • 8 Linkage • 9 Other • 3 consultancy • 1 FF, 1 CoE • 33 (out of 77) staff have grants listed, 43%

ANU College of Engineering and Computer Science Observations • Number of grants, e.g. 64 ARC total in six years • Number of Linkage very low • % of staff with grants close to ANU average (45%), but expect higher in technology areas • Not ramping up as expect after entry to ARC, e.g. IE DP has 2007- 2002: 4, 1, 1, 2, 7, 0

ANU College of Engineering and Computer Science Conclusions • Why √ • What • How

ANU College of Engineering and Computer Science Grants Management Team Michelle Searle College Executive Officer

ANU College of Engineering and Computer Science Key People Eva Lerable, Grants and Finance Officer Ben Patricks, Finance Manager, Budgets To reiterate …. we are here to help you … Michelle Searle, College Executive Officer, Overview Heather McEwen, Marketing Manager, Review

ANU College of Engineering and Computer Science Use the Website … give us feedback For information about College grant application procedures http://cecs.anu.edu.au/support/grants

ANU College of Engineering and Computer Science Understanding the ARC Assessment Process Professor Matt James ARC Professorial Fellow, FEIT

ANU College of Engineering and Computer Science ARC programs discussed today • DP - Discovery Projects- For basic research involving one or more researchers- Includes fellowships APD, ARF/QEII, APF, and PhD support • LP - Linkage Projects- For applied research involving an industry partner- Includes fellowships and PhD support

ANU College of Engineering and Computer Science ARC Discipline Groups • 5 discipline groups, each managed by an Executive Director (ED)- Biological sciences and biotechnology- Physics, Chemistry and Geoscience- Engineering and environmental science- Mathematics, Information and Communication Sciences- Social, behavioural and economic sciences

ANU College of Engineering and Computer Science Review Process • Two major decision meetings per year • LP - considered twice per year April and August • DP - considered once per year August • Decisions are made by discipline panels consisting of members of the College of Experts • Proposals are assigned to a discipline panel

ANU College of Engineering and Computer Science Review Process (Cont’d) • Proposals are assessed by- two panel members (College of Experts)scores- a number of OZreadersscores and comments- a number of INTreadersscores and comments • Scores are combined to give an overall rank

ANU College of Engineering and Computer Science Review Process (Cont’d) • Decisions are based on the rank • Rankings are discussed at the meetings, and can change depending on rejoinders and reviewer comments • Success depends on rank and amount of funding available

ANU College of Engineering and Computer Science Proposal writing • Your proposal should provide a readable and compelling case for high quality research on a project of importance • Fellowship applicants should demonstrate a track record that is at a high standard and merits such distinction • That’s it!

ANU College of Engineering and Computer Science Assessors will want to know: • Who you are? • What you are going to do? • Why you are proposing to do it? • How you are going to do it? You need to present this information quickly and clearly.

ANU College of Engineering and Computer Science Grant Title High Bitrate QPSK-TCP/IP for WAV, JPG and HDTV Transmission Improving Internet Performance for Multimedia Services

ANU College of Engineering and Computer Science Grant Summary This important and innovative project investigates high bitrate TCP/IP, AM, FM, QPSK and IM/LOST modulations and protocols for WAV, AAC, MP3, JPG and HDTV transmission.... The purpose of this project is to develop methods for improving internet performance in response to increasing demands for multimedia services. Current internet technology will not be able to cope with rapidly developing consumer entertainment and business services because... Performance improvements will be achieved by....

ANU College of Engineering and Computer Science Track record Dr Flintstone was born in 3042 BC ... and got his PhD from Prehistoric University majoring in stone-timber mechanisms. He then got a post-doc and worked on a new type of round stone-timber mechanism... Dr Flintstone has published 1,234 very important articles ...with citation index of 0.0000234927 Dr Flintstone is best know for his invention of the wheel. This invention revolutionised transport because... Dr Flintstone has received numerous awards including .... and has published a number of influential articles ....

ANU College of Engineering and Computer Science Proposal text how? who? what? why? • Be clear and concise • Keep your readers (i.e. assessors) in mind • Provide all the information that is requested • Back up assertions with evidence • Main points should come quickly and clearly, with more detailed material later on • Less is more - make your proposal readable, not crammed

ANU College of Engineering and Computer Science Best wishes!

ANU College of Engineering and Computer Science Selling Your Research Professor Bob Williamson Computer Sciences Laboratory, RSISE & NICTA

ANU College of Engineering and Computer Science What would I know? Not much… but … • ARC MICS EAC member for 2 years • Wrote the research vision for the NICTA bid • Scientific Director of NICTA • 9 ARC Discovery grants • (out of 10 applications)

ANU College of Engineering and Computer Science Selling and Strategising • Before you try and sell your work, first make sure it makes sense • Be as rigorous about this as every other part of your research • My experience is that this is one of the main ways to fail • There are structured ways to help…

ANU College of Engineering and Computer Science Heilmeier Criteria Quality of proposed researchand its potential impact • What are you trying to accomplish? • What is the end use problem you are trying to solve? • [Does not have to be “applied”] • How is it done now, and with what limitations? • Need to assess both academic and commercial solutions • What is truly new in your approach which will remove current limitations and improve performance? How much will performance improve? • Do you really need to do research to solve this problem? • Who else is doing similar things and why have the proponents a chance to be world leading?

ANU College of Engineering and Computer Science Heilmeier Criteria (con’td) • If successful, what difference will it make? • Who will care? • What are the mid-term, final exams or full scale applications required to prove your hypothesis? When will they be done?

ANU College of Engineering and Computer Science Writing the proposal • Line up your partners and start the conversation • Start early (really) • Read the guidelines, then read them again • Revise often • Polish, then polish then polish. • Read it out loud (really!) • Edit every section, paragraph sentence and word • Get someone else to read it critically (swap)

ANU College of Engineering and Computer Science Writing the proposal (con’td) • Write a really good introduction or summary • This sets the tone and can get people off-side real fast • Grab the readers attention! • By the end of the introduction the reader should know • What the problem is • Why it matters • And have some idea what you are going to do about it • Make it easy for the assessors to be really enthusiastic about it – make it a pleasure to read

ANU College of Engineering and Computer Science Context Setting • Put a lot of effort into the title • You want to come across as totally in command without being arrogant • This is tricky • Critical review without slagging off • Be concrete – “sweeping generalities are the kiss of death” • Breadth of context – narrowness is a sin

ANU College of Engineering and Computer Science Have a plan • Actually have a feasible concrete plan of what you will do • Not a fishing expedition • Don’t be over-ambitious • By all means set a grand context, but don’t say you will save the world or revolutionise your field • Application has to be credible and realistic

ANU College of Engineering and Computer Science