Supporting the growth of R&D

The Australian Research Council (ARC) is a Commonwealth entity and advises the Australian Government on research matters, administers the National Competitive Grants Program, a significant component of Australia's investment in research and development, and has responsibility for Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA).

The ARC's purpose is to grow knowledge and innovation for the benefit of the Australian community through funding the highest quality research, assessing the quality, engagement and impact of research and providing advice on research matters.

In seeking to achieve its purpose, the ARC supports the highest-quality fundamental and applied research and research training through national competition across all disciplines. Clinical and other medical research is primarily supported by the National Health and Medical Research Council. In addition, the ARC brokers partnerships between researchers and industry, government, community organisations and the international community. The outcomes of ARC-funded research deliver cultural, economic, social and environmental benefits to all Australians.

Established as an independent body under the Australian Research Council Act 2001 the ARC reports to an Australian Government Minister, currently the Minister for Education and Training.

The ARC fosters excellence, partnerships and the highest ethical standards in research and research training in all fields of science, social sciences and the humanities.

The ARC is the primary source of advice to the Government on investment in the national research effort. The ARC:

supports the highest quality research and research training through national competition in all fields of science, social sciences and the humanities brokers partnerships between researchers and industry, government, community organisations and the international community.

ARC funding programs come under the umbrella of the National Competitive Grants Program. Through the NCGP–a significant component of Australia's investment in research and development–we deliver, on average, around $800 million per year to the most dynamic researchers in Australia. Our grants are competitively awarded to individuals, research teams and large scale centres through two broad arms under the NCGP: the ARC Discovery Program, with a primary focus on supporting individuals and small teams; and the Linkage Program, which creates links outside universities, with industry and other partners, and stimulates research impact. ARC Research Centres, within the Linkage Program, build research scale and focus and strengthen major research partnerships and networks.

Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA) assesses research quality within Australia's higher education institutions and will give government, industry, business and the wider community assurance of the excellence of research conducted. It will also provide a national stocktake, by research discipline areas, of research strength against international benchmarks.