Research Grant 
Application Procedures

All research grant applications must be submitted through the Research Office and endorsed by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research & Innovation) or his nominee.  The Research Office is responsible for checking applications, making the requisite copies and submitting the applications to the granting body.  In cases where direct electronic submission by the applicant is required, applicants should ensure that the Research Office has checked the application and it has been endorsed appropriately before submitting the electronic version.  A hard copy of the final version must be lodged with the Research Office. 

Applicants requiring assistance with an application should make every effort to submit a draft application at least one week prior to the Research Office internal deadline. 

Deadlines 

Internal closing dates are set to allow time for checking, revision and processing of applications and to ensure that the granting body receives them by the due date.  (While applications are generally sent by courier this does not guarantee overnight delivery to capital cities other than Brisbane.) 

The Research Office internal closing dates for final complete applications for specific schemes are listed on the web. 
For schemes not listed the following principles apply: 

• For major granting body schemes e.g. ARC and NHMRC the internal deadline is generally 4 weeks prior to the external deadline.  Dates will be advertised on the web.

• For other Australian granting bodies final complete applications must be received by the Research Office one week prior to the submission date of the funding scheme, unless otherwise advised; 

• For overseas granting bodies final complete applications must be received by the Research Office two weeks prior to the submission date of the funding scheme, unless otherwise advised. 

The Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research & Innovation) or the Director Research Services may approve the submission of a late application if it is considered that there are genuine extenuating circumstances. 

Applications 

All applications must be lodged as complete applications including signature pages and accompanied by an Application Cover Sheet (ACS).

Applications that are incomplete as at the internal closing date, or after any extension approved by the Research Office to allow for completion, will not be submitted. 

Budgets should be properly costed and include administrative overheads where appropriate. Projects that involve the establishment or refurbishment of facilities or the purchase and installation of equipment should be discussed with Facilities Management Office to ensure that all costs are correctly identified.

Applications including cash and in-kind contributions must have formal confirmation from the relevant Heads of School, Executive Deans or other appropriate authority that the contributions will be provided.  The formal approval is deemed to be provided as certified on the ACS.

In the event that an external body is providing a contribution, the ACS should be accompanied by an appropriately signed letter of support on the organisation's letterhead, that details the cash and/or inkind support as well as the purpose(s) of the contribution.

Applicants are responsible for ensuring that all details in the application are true and correct and must provide certification to this effect on submission of the application. 

In the event that the investigator certification is omitted or is incorrect then the Schools involved in the application are responsible for guaranteeing any contributions or the University may refuse to accept the grant if it is successful. 

The Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research & Innovation) has the discretion to reject applications which are not considered to be of suitable standard or that do not meet a scheme’s criteria. 

Supervisors and/or Heads of School are responsible for checking and ensuring the quality of postgraduate research students’ applications. 

Non-compliance with procedures 

The Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research & Innovation) has the discretion to reject grants that have not been submitted through the proper channels if the applicant has a history of non-compliance or the application has included unauthorised commitments.