The Australian Academy of Science invites Australian research organisations and businesses to apply for funding under the Regional Collaborations Programme. This funding initiative is part of the Australian Government's Global Innovation Strategy under the National Innovation and Science Agenda. The programme will fund Australian participants from eligible organisations to collaborate with regional and international science, research and innovation partners on solutions to shared regional challenges within the Asia–Pacific regions.
The programme is designed to be flexible, with no set minimum or maximum funding requirements for project applications. This approach has been adopted to help foster innovative ideas and collaborations.
Although there is no set minimum or maximum total project cost requirement, projects much include matched funding of 1:1 (cash only). For example, if an applicant seeks $25,000 of programme funding, then the project proponents would need to contribute another $25,000 (cash), bringing the total value of the project to $50,000.
The $3.2 million four-year programme will support single-year or multi-year collaborative, multi-partner projects and non-project aligned collaborative workshops.
The programme aims to support the Australian Government’s commitment to:
- assist in the removal of barriers for researchers and businesses seeking to collaborate on issues of regional and national significance
- support technical and research mobility
- build research capability, facilitating Australia’s access to global science and research networks and infrastructure.
Although there are no mandated priority areas from which to draw research topics, please consider the national Science and Research Priorities and associated practical research challenges, along with regional challenges identified through multilateral fora such as eAsia, Asia–Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the East Asia Summit.
Applicants must be either an Australian research organisation or Australian business willing to form collaborative multi-partner teams with participation from at least two other economies, with the intention of building strong international linkages within the Asia-Pacific region in science, research and innovation.
