UQ Office of Sponsored Research

1. UQ Office of Sponsored Research Lisa Bolton, Manager, Sponsored Research, Health and Biomedical Initiatives Shannon Tumataroa, Research Administration Officer (Public Health, CHRC, and Biomedical Sciences)

2. UQ Office of Sponsored Research – Overview

3. UQ Office of Sponsored Research - Structure • The Office of Sponsored Research provides UQ researchers with professional support in pursuing, applying for and administering research funding, inclusive of all sources, but with a focus on competitive schemes. • Structure: • Senior Staff (Managers, Sponsored Research) • Involvement and expertise across all areas of research administration/management • Responsible for specific prestigious/nice/strategic schemes and operational matters • Research Administration Officers (RAOs) • Expertise in research grants and administration • Work as a team, with discrete individual Faculty/Institute or specialist portfolios • Administration Officers (Grants) • Expertise in UQ internal schemes, and UniQuest • Offer valuable support within teams

4. OSR – Pre-Award Services • OSR disseminates information on: • funding opportunities • research awards/prizes, and • conducts workshops and information sessions on major funding schemes and grant writing skills • At the pre-award (proposal) stage OSR • liaises with researchers and Faculty support staff for eligibility and scheme queries, • undertakes centralised review, • endorses proposals, and • provides administrative support to funding applications/proposals/awards • on behalf of UQ, in accordance with applicable policies and regulations • OSR also manages and administers UQ’s internal research grant schemes

5. OSR – Post-Award Services • The OSR provides advice on post-award administration of research grants/contracts • Assessing key funding agreements from a grants management perspective, alongside RPM/Legal review • Grant Establishment for UQ researchers – including issuing Grant Record Letters (GRLs) and re-records when necessary • Forwarding ethics approvals to funding bodies • Submitting variation requests to funding bodies • Coordinating progress and final reporting to funding bodies • Providing advice on the conditions of funding and other research admin matters.

6. OSR – Value Add • Greater awareness of funding opportunities • Improved quality of applications enhancing chances of success • Higher submission/eligibility rates • Strategic advice for grant positioning • Strong relationship with granting agencies • Improve quality of contracts (administrative) • Greater data recording for HERDC and UQ researchers • Smoother sailing for Chief Investigators

7. Tips for Applying for Competitive Grant Schemes • Beforehand: • Seek all available information (guidelines, FAQs, instructions to applicants) • Review the grantor website, get to know their mission statement, and make contact if appropriate • Check eligibility requirements e.g. citizenship, years post-PhD, funding limits • Find out in advance how the application should be submitted (e.g. online portal, via email, post) • Check the closing date and application process (EOI? Full application?) - Check UQ R&I’s internal deadline • Check whether a letter of support and/or HOI or Institutional sign-off is required – don’t leave these until the last minute! • Writing the application: • Consider who’s reviewing the proposal, it may be a non-expert group (e.g. consumers, board members) • Follow any specific formatting criteria (PDF or word doc, font sizes, margins, titles etc.) • After submitting: • If unsuccessful, seek feedback if it is available

8. Applying for Salary/Fellowship Funding • General tips: • Focus on candidate Track Record, including: • Awards and prizes • Editorial positions • Mentorship and supervision (HDR students) • Publications (quality over quantity) • Research output via traditional and non-traditional outlets • Major Fellowship Schemes: • NHMRC Investigator Grant • ARC Discovery Early Career Research Grant • Advance Queensland Industry Research Fellowship • Various foundations e.g. Rebecca L Cooper Medical Research Foundation; Sylvia and Charles Viertel Charitable Foundation; Lions Medical Research Foundation Fellowship; National Heart Foundation - Postdoctoral and Future Leader Fellowships; Fight MND Early- and Mid-career Fellowships

9. Applying for Project Funding • General tips: • Focus on project quality and innovation, including: • Methodological design (e.g. aims, hypotheses, outcomes) • Feasibility (e.g. timeline, budget, experience) • Quality of investigator team/collaboration • Demonstration of wider benefit and impact • Helps build independence and research profile • Provides project management experience • Major Project Funding Schemes: • NHMRC Ideas Grant • ARC Discovery Project • Industry and collaborative research grants • Various foundations: see our grants database at http://www.uq.edu.au/research/funding-database/

10. International Schemes • General tips: • Submit a pre-proposal application to the US DoD or NIH (short app and you will receive feedback) • Start building an NIH Biosketchnow and try collaborate on US-led applications • If there is an Australian foundation (e.g. Cystic Fibrosis Foundation) it will usually have an international counterpart that may also offer funding • International grants may have different terminology to be aware of e.g. fringe benefits vs on-costs • Look for international travel and collaborative exchange funding • UQ has charity equivalency status in the US via our US Office • Major international funding bodies: • US NIH (National Institute of Health) • US DoD (Department of Defence) • Various other international foundations and organisations: e.g. Simons Foundation; The Michael J. Fox Foundation; Cystic Fibrosis Foundation (US); EMBO; Human Frontier Science Program; Chan Zuckerberg Initiative

11. UQ Internal Research Grant Schemes • UQ Early Career Researcher Grant Scheme • The scheme funds, on a competitive basis, high quality research projects of modest financial cost from early career researchers, and is intended as a means of generating external research support – Round opens late August/early September • UQ Foundation Research Excellence Awards • This is not a grant, but an award by which the University recognises demonstrated excellence and promise of future success in research, and the leadership potential of individual young researchers in their respective fields – Round opens late March • UQ Amplify • Not a grant or a fellowship, but a post-fellowship undertaking to provide a conditional fixed-term contract at the conclusion of identified external fellowships

12. Other options… • Contract Research: • Directly negotiated with a partner, rather than competitively applied for • Builds stronger relationships and proposals to Research Councils and industry schemes • Research Partnership Managers will assist in the development of your contract research project • Awards/Prizes: • Contributes to research profile • The OSR has dedicated specialists who communicate information about awards and prizes, including nomination and submission tips • Other NHMRC Schemes: • Targeted Calls for Research (TCRs) – note: can use Online Submission Pathway to lodge TCR topic at any time and this is reviewed bi-annually (next review will be 4 October 2019)

13. UQ Office of Sponsored Research Resources • UQ Office of Sponsored Research website • UQ Grants Library: Library of successful grants that can be requested online • UQ Finding Funding grants database • UQ Research Bulletin: Fortnightly newsletter • UQR&I Mailer: Subscribers will be advised of deadlines, changes, important notices and rulings • UQ Costing and Pricing tool

14. Other Resources • UQ Library • Liaison Librarian who can assist one-on-one with publication metrics • Grant-writing metrics: Research impact and metrics LibGuide • Staff Development • Research Training e.g. Metrics for Grant Writing and Promotion (run regularly), Essential Knowledge for Research Management • External resources: • SPIN Grants Database • Research Professional Database • GrantSearch Australia

15. Contacts – Health and Biomedical Initiatives team • Julia Finnane • +61 7 336 57493 • HABS: HABSgrants@research.uq.edu.au • Hanna Reinebrant • +61 7 336 52007 • UQCCR: medicinegrants2@research.uq.edu.au • IMB: IMBgrants@research.uq.edu.au • Shannon Tumataroa • +61 7 334 66217 • Medicine 2 (Public Health, CHRC, and Biomedical Sciences): • medicinegrants2@research.uq.edu.au • QBI: QBIgrants@research.uq.edu.au • Melissa Brinums • +61 7 334 64560 • CAI: CAIgrants@research.uq.edu.au • MRI-UQ: MRI-UQgrants@research.uq.edu.au • Diamantina Institute: DIgrants@research.uq.edu.au • Rehan Villani • +61 7 344 31452 • Medicine 1 (Clinical Schools, CHSR, OME): medicinegrants1@research.uq.edu.au • Naomi Epstein and Cindy Wu • +61 7 334 64413 and+61 7 334 69017 • Administration Officers (Health and Biomedical Initiatives team): • hbmadmin@research.uq.edu.au

16. Contacts – Other specialist portfolios • International Grants: Dr Simon Cashion and Taina Lloyd at internationalgrants@research.uq.edu.au(x67005) • NHMRC Fellowships: Veronica Brancatini at NHMRCpeoplesupport@research.uq.edu.au (x54582) • ARC Fellowships: Dr Liang Zhao at ARCfellowships@research.uq.edu.au (x67554) • Research Fellowships (other): Dr John Gunders at fellowshipgrants@research.uq.edu.au (x64557) • Qld Government Project Funding: Dr Meaghan Douglas at qldgovtschemes@research.uq.edu.au (x60671) • Industry Grants: Dr Melanie Oey at industrygrants@research.uq.edu.au (x60675) • UQ Internal Schemes: Deb Brian at internalschemes@research.uq.edu.au (x53489) • UQ Office of Sponsored Research (see full list of contacts online)