Grant applications
The following guidelines provide a description of how to submit a research grant application. Research grant applications can be submitted through:
Follow these steps to submit a research grant application through Macquarie University as the Administering Organisation
Step 1: Plan and Prepare the Application
Find funding
- The University’s Research Services website lists the major grants funding and fellowship opportunities.
- GrantConnect provides centralised publication of forecast and current Australian Government grant opportunities and grants awarded.
- NEW! Pivot-Research Professional (Pivot-RP)will help you find funding opportunities that are aligned with your discipline area/s, research interests and career stage.
- Please go to the Macquarie University Pivot-RP webpage for details about how to create your personal account and identify diverse funding opportunities using Pivot-RP.
- The Trusts and Foundations Team within the Office of the Vice-Chancellor is available to support philanthropic funding opportunities. To access the support of the Trusts and Foundations team, please visit the philanthropy grants SharePoint.
- Discipline-specific websites and email lists often advertise research funding opportunities, as do professional organisations – keep an eye on your emails.
Notify us as early as possible
To ensure we are best prepared to support your research funding applications, you must submit a Notification of Intent form.
This is a newly developed one-stop form to notify key research support teams at Macquarie of your intention to apply for competitive research grants, engage with partners or work with philanthropic funders.
You should complete this form as early as possible even if you don’t have all the information (e.g. the details of the scheme, closing date or the final details of your team or proposal). Submitting an NOI does not commit you to applying – you can withdraw or update your NOI later if necessary.
After completing the NOI form, you will be provided with updates about your funding scheme and sent valuable resources that will assist you in developing a highly competitive research grant application.
Once reviewed by the appropriate research support team the NOI will generate a Pure Application record. One form that will do two job!
You will need to enrich the Pure record with additional details but the NOI will do a lot of it for you!
Get advice
We are here to help! Contact the Grant Development Team (grant.development@mq.edu.au) if you have any questions while putting together your proposal.
Please ask as soon as a query arises so that we can provide a timely answer or clarify the query with the funding body if required.
- You need to talk to your Head of Department/School early so they know how much of your workload the proposed research may require and can help you make arrangements to balance your workload to accommodate new funding opportunities. Discussing your application at an early stage is important so that your Head of Department/School is fully aware of the implications of the project for you and your department. If you have an idea of what your project will involve, it may be beneficial to have a written abstract/outline of your research proposal to inform your discussions.
Preparation checklist
□ I have identified a funding opportunity
□ I have read the funding rules and instructions on how to apply for the funding opportunity
□ I understand what I need to do to apply for the funding
□ I have advised my Head of Department/School
□ I have completed a Notification of Intent – this is a must-do action for lead applicants
Step 2: Develop the Application
Before you begin
Does this research application include research which potentially requires any of the following?
□ Ethics advice/clearance for human research
□ Ethics advice/clearance for animal research
□ Equipment, space, building modification or any other facilities. Please contact your Faculty Research Manager
□ Information technology software, hardware or support which cannot be accommodated with current IT capabilities. See IT Services.
□ Interaction with or implications for the Defence Trade Controls Act 2012 and/or Autonomous Sanctions
Does this research application include working with a partner organisation and require any of the following? If yes, discuss with a Research Partnerships Manager:
□ Intellectual Property or Commercialisation advice
□ A draft term sheet is negotiated with a partner organisation
□ Help with a contract
Writing the application
□ Read and understand the appropriate submission guidelines and timeframes
□ Work within the submission guidelines and timeframes
□ Seek advice about how to write an application for this funding organisation from the Grant Development Team and your academic peers
□ When applying for a miscellaneous grant (not ARC, NHMRC, MRFF) you may use the budget calculator and budget justification guide.
□ Access the Successful Grants Library for examples of successful grant applications.
□ Are you interested in a PhD scholarship from Macquarie to support your proposal? The request for scholarships is part of the DVCR Co-Funding request process. Please refer to the FAQ's for further details, and the DVCR Co-Funding Form details the circumstances under which you may be eligible to include a Macquarie-funded scholarship into the project as part of the institutional contribution towards the project.
Online booking calendars to request service
After you submit your NOI you will be contacted by the team who will be supporting your application. If you have been contacted by the Grant Development Team, you will need to use the online booking calendars to request service.
Strategic review (optional)
If you wish to receive a strategic review of your application, you must book via this online booking calendar 4 weeks before the external submission deadline.
Compliance and eligibility check (mandatory)
Compliance and eligibility reviews for application are mandatory and you must book via this online booking calendar 2 weeks before the external submission deadline.
Application checklist
□ I have read and understand the appropriate submission guidelines and timeframes
□ I have submitted a Notification of Intent to apply – a must-do step for lead applicants
□ I am writing my funding application within the submission guidelines, assessment criteria and timeframes
□ I have booked in my strategic review (optional) and compliance and eligibility review (mandatory) via the online booking calendars.
□ Where relevant, I have received the advice I need to work with a partner organisation and I am liaising with my research partner(s)
□ I am ready to submit a draft of my application for internal review
Step 3: Submit the Application (from internal review to submission to funder)
Timelines and process for strategic review and the compliance and eligibility check
After you submit your NOI you will be contacted by the Team who will be supporting your application. Each team has a slightly varied process. See details below.
Grant Development Team
For the Grant Development Team our approach to supporting miscellaneous grant applications (not ARC, NHMRC or MRFF) is detailed here.
Strategic review (optional)
If you wish to receive a strategic review of your application, you must book via this online booking calendar 4 weeks before the external submission deadline.
By the date and time you select, upload a complete draft of your application in Pure and submit to Faculty Checking. The Grant Development Team will complete a strategic review of your application and provide feedback via Pure (for external applicants this will be via email) within 10 business days.
Compliance and eligibility check (mandatory)
Compliance and eligibility reviews for applications are mandatory and you must book via this online booking calendar 2 weeks before the external submission deadline.
By the date and time you select, upload a full penultimate draft in Pure and submit to “send to internal approval” stage. The Grant Development Team will complete a compliance and eligibility check and provide feedback via Pure within 3 business days.
Trusts and Foundations Team
Strategic review (optional)
If you wish to receive a strategic review of your application, upload a complete draft of your application in Pure and submit to “send to internal approval” stage 4 weeks from the external submission deadline. The Trusts and Foundation Team will complete a strategic review of your application and provide feedback via Pure.
Compliance and eligibility check (mandatory)
Compliance and eligibility reviews for application are mandatory and you must upload a penultimate draft of your application in Pure and submit to “send to internal approval” stage 2 weeks from the external submission deadline. The Trusts and Foundation Team will complete a compliance and eligibility check of your application and provide feedback via Pure.
Requesting co-funding
External funding schemes often require a commitment of funds, known as 'co-funding', from the University to support the proposal and demonstrate the University’s commitment to the proposal. in addition to the funds requested through the scheme. Lead applicant should first approach their Department and/or Faculty when seeking co-funding, as the Faculty and/or Department are required to make a contribution to the co-funding request. Requests for co-funding will only be considered for proposals to schemes that stipulate a requirement for institutional cash co-investment*.
The amount of co-funding depends on the amount of external funds that will come to Macquarie. Macquarie is committed to supporting researchers across all disciplines and, in terms of approving the allocation of cash and/or HDR scholarships as co-funding, we carefully consider the requirements of the external funding body. Where cash co-funding is a documented requirement, we can consider co-funding applications. Where it is not a requirement, the lead applicant will need to discuss their options with the relevant Grant Development Manager prior to requesting DVCR Co-Funding.
When you have support of your Department and Faculty, requests for co-funding are via ServiceNow, with the exception of ARC and NHMRC/MRFF applications which are managed via a different process which is available via the relevant internal funding opportunity website.
* For the ARC and NHMRC/MRFF there is a standardised approach to co-funding and they do not go through ServiceNow. Information on the process is located on the scheme specific webpages, which can be found via the funding and fellowship opportunities .
Lodge your application within the Pure Research Management System to obtain approvals
Before you submit your grant application you must receive approval from your Head of Department/School (HoD/HoS) and Deputy Dean of Research and Innovation (DDRI) via Pure.
If you submitted an NOI the Pure record has been started for you. Update the record as directed by the research support team and send to ‘internal approval’ in the workflow.
The lead investigator must take responsibility for following up with your HoD/HoS and DDRI to ensure that your submission is approved.
Applications that do not have a Pure record and/or do not have all the appropriate approvals in Pure (HoD/HoS and DDRI) will not be submitted to the external funding body, under any circumstance.
Incorporate feedback and finalise grant application
Incorporate the strategic and/or compliance and eligibility feedback into your grant application and make any other final changes. Then email the final version of all documents to grant.development@mq.edu.au, two days before the external deadline*.
* For ARC, NHMRC, MRFF, DoD and NIH schemes, the final application should be submitted at least three days prior to the deadline. Note that, instead of emailing the proposal, you should re-submit to Research Services via the funding agency portal RMS, Sapphire, portal business.gov.au and grants.gov.
Submission of grant application
The Grant Development Team or Trust and Foundations Team will conduct a final check of the grant application and submit it to the funder. If there is any reason it cannot be submitted, we will contact you directly.
In cases where the funding organisation's submission process is via an online system where the proposal needs to be submitted online directly by the applicant, e.g. Smartygrants, the Grant Development Team or Trust and Foundations Team will advise when the applicant can go ahead and submit the proposal.
If submission needs to be done by the applicant, the applicant must email a final copy of the grant application, confirmation of submission and any other future correspondence to grant.development@mq.edu.au.
Submission checklist
□ I have submitted my application into the Pure Research Management System to formally obtained approvals from my Head of Department/School and Deputy Dean of Research and Innovation
□ If the funding body expects institutional co-investment as a requirement of applying, I have submitted a Macquarie co-funding application and it has been formally approved
□ My application has been submitted with all appropriate documents reviewed and approvals obtained
Follow these steps to submit a research grant application through an institution other than Macquarie University
Step 1: Develop the application
Please take advantage of the advice in the above steps in developing your grant application.
Step 2: Required letters of support and/or co-funding
If the funding agency requires a letter of support or has explicit instruction requiring contributing organisations to make a cash contribution contact the Grant Development Team (grant.development@mq.edu.au) as soon as possible to discuss the process.
Step 3: Lodge your application through Pure to obtain approvals
Attach the penultimate draft and submit through the Pure Research Management System at least two weeks prior to the external submission deadline. If required, follow up with your Head of Department/School and Deputy Dean or Research and Innovation to get them to approve. It is the responsibility of the applicant to ensure that all approvals for the application are obtained in Pure by the deadline.
Step 4: Provide copy of final proposal
Once the proposal has been submitted, please email grant.development@mq.edu.au with a full copy of the submitted proposal including any attachments.