Research support

Australia’s Economic Accelerator - Innovate

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Key dates 

  • EOIs open in RMS: 18 May 2026
  • UQ Information Session: 20 May 2026
  • Notice of Intent due to UQ Research Office: 21 May 2026
  • EOIs due to UQ Research Office: 8 June 2026 (early submissions welcome)
  • Expressions of Interest close: 29 June 2026
  • Full applications open: 27 July 2026
  • Full applications due to the UQ Research Office: 17 August 2026
  • Full applications close: 7 September 2026

Overview

Australia’s Economic Accelerator (AEA) will promote research translation and commercialisation capacity through the establishment of a new funding program to invest in priority-driven objectives aligned with the National Reconstruction Fund. The AEA is part of the Australian Government’s University Research Commercialisation Action Plan and will initially run over ten years from 2023 to 2032.

The AEA is designed to build a pipeline from discovery research through to commercialisation, ensuring Australia reaps the benefits of investment in research within the university sector.

The first round of grants will prioritise projects that align with one or more of the following focus areas:

  • critical and strategic minerals processing
  • sustainable fuels
  • agriculture and food technology
  • space
  • renewable energy
  • quantum
  • artificial intelligence (AI)
  • advanced manufacturing

About the AEA Innovate grant opportunity

Innovate provides mid-stage research commercialisation grants of up to $5 million and up to 24 months, for universities, in partnership with businesses, to build prototypes and pilot systems to establish proof-of-scale. Proof-of-scale is the point at which a prototype has been demonstrated to work, at a pre-commercial scale, in an operational environment.

UQ Information Session 

The UQ RO held an Information session for all prospective AEA applicants 20 May 2026. The slides and a recording of the session are now available on our Presentations and slides page. 

How to apply

Internal notice of intent process

Researchers intending to submit an application are required to submit a mandatory internal UQ Notice of Intent (NOI). NOIs will be collated centrally and distributed to Faculties and Institutes. 

Step 1. RMS updates and scheme reading

  • Update your full profile in RMS-Education ‘Person Profile’. If any team members are new to RMS and need a login/password, start early.
  • Familiarise yourself with the key Department of Education and UQ documentation.

Step 2. Completing the application

  • Complete the Expression of Interest in the Department of Education RMS portal by the due date above, and complete a full application in the Portal by the due date. The EOI phase is mandatory, but progression to Full Application is automatic. Please note that the Education RMS portal is a different system to the Australian Research Council RMS. 

Step 3. UQ R&I internal review and feedback

  • Ahead of internal review, ensure all online components are complete and valid, generate a whole Application PDF for your records and select 'Submit to Research Office' in RMS to submit the application.
  • To initiate review, email your completed Application Certification Form to UQ R&I at industrygrants@research.uq.edu.au 
  • Internal review by UQ R&I/feedback provided (compliance/eligibility/grantscrafting).

Step 4. Final submission

  • Final submission by UQ R&I to the Department of Education.

Readership and researcher support

Before applying, we recommend you:

Key Documents

Department of Education

Scheme Guidelines, Templates and Frequently Asked Questions are available from the Department of Education website upon scheme opening.

UQ 

The below resources are from last round. These will be updated when the new round opens and requirements are outlined by the department. 

Contact UQR&I

Scheme queries

Round coordinator
Pre-Award Industry Team