Key dates 

External dates for AEA Ignite are yet to be announced. Our website will be updated as soon as we know more. 

  • Proposals open in RMS: TBD
  • UQ R&I Information Session: TBD 
  • Notice of Intent due to UQ Research Office: NOW OPEN
  • Applications due to UQ Research Office: TBD
  • Applications close: TBD
  • Assessment of proposals and approval of outcomes: TBD

Overview

Australia’s Economic Accelerator (AEA) is a new research funding program designed to shift the dial on Australian research by supporting the translation and commercialisation of world-leading research in the university sector.

The 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.

AEA will focus on university-led projects with commercial potential, and which address at least one of the national priority areas identified for the Australian Government’s National Reconstruction Fund. These comprise:

  • Value-add in Resources
  • Value-add in the agriculture, forestry and fisheries sectors
  • Transport
  • Medical science
  • Renewables and low emissions technology
  • Defence capability;
  • Enabling capabilities such as data science, AI and robotics .

About the AEA Ignite grant opportunity

IGNITE (previously Seed) supports early-stage research commercialisation through competitive grants of up to $500,000, over up to 12 months, for universities to complete laboratory testing to establish “Proofof-Concept”. This is the point at which basic research is complete, and testing has verified the concept, process, or candidate drug, at the laboratory scale.
 

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 as well as UniQuest and the Research Partnerships Office in order to provide maximum support to the UQ research community. 

Step 1. RMS updates and scheme reading

  • Update your full profile in RMS ‘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

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 when the round opens

UQ 

UQ Internal documents will be uploaded shortly after Scheme Guidelines are released