Research Infrastructure

Contents:

• Research Infrastructure Access
• Funding for Research Infrastructure
  • Commonwealth Funding Schemes
  • Commonwealth Initiatives
  • ANU Funding Initiatives
  • Other Sources of Funding
• ANU Register of Research Infrastructure

Research Infrastructure Access

ANU has established a Research Infrastructure Access policy to provide governing principles for staff on matters relating to access to University research infrastructure, to ensure efficient use of the University's equipment and to encourage equitable sharing of equipment.

• Research Infrastructure Access Policy
• Research Infrastructure Access Procedures

Funding for Research Infrastructure

Commonwealth Funding Schemes

Australian Research Council (ARC)

• LIEF - The Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities scheme fosters collaboration through its support of the cooperative use of national and international research facilities

Applications for funding under the Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities scheme are processed once a year. For more information see the OSR LIEF page.

National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC)

The NHMRC Infrastructure Support funding group is aiming to provide funding to support the infrastructure required t complete health and medical research in Australia. The funding types available under this funding group are:

• Enabling grants intended to assist Australian researchers to continue high quality, world-class research by providing support for specific facilities and/or activities to enhance the national health and medical research effort
• Equipment grants allocated on a pro rata basis to Administering Institutions according to their share of the total funding awarded by the NHMRC for research in that year

Commonwealth Initiatives

National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS)

Through NCRIS the Australian Government is implementing a strategic and collaborative approach to investment that are accessible to researchers and meet their long-term needs.

NCRIS funds can be used to cover operation and development of existing facilities; enhancement of existing facilities; establishment, operation and development of new facilities; and gaining access to offshore facilities.

Higher Education Endowment Fund (HEEF)

The Higher Education Endowment Fund is a perpetual investment by the Australian Government in the future of Australian universities. Its objective is to support capital expenditure and research facilities in Australian universities. This support will be provided by the dividends on the capital invested of $6 billion in the HEEF, not the capital investments.

ANU Funding Initiatives

Major Equipment Grants (MEC)

The ANU Major Equipment Committee supports the purchase of large equipment for research purposes, including equipment supporting health and medical research. Eligible proposals are assessed according to the following criteria:

• The quality and scale of the research activity to be supported by the equipment
• Alignment to the strategic plans of the College/School/Faculty/Centre, and to the strategic objectives of the University
• Evidence of cost effective use of the equipment
• Improvements to the research environment
• Level of financial commitment to the overall cost of equipment by the College/School/Faculty/Centre

Other Sources of Funding

• Australian Cancer Research Foundation
• American Diabetes Association Lions SightFirst Diabetic Retinopathy Research Program - LCIF Equipment Grant Program
• ANZ Charitable Trusts - Medical Research Technology Grant
• Australian Kidney Foundation
• Australian Lung Foundation
• Cooper (Rebecca L) Medical Research Foundation Ltd
• Ramaciotti (Clive and Vera) Foundations for Biomedical Research

ANU Register of Research Infrastructure

The ANU provides a central database of research facilities housed within and outside the University.

• The Australian Phenomics Facility
  The APF is dedicated to providing the national and international academic and commercial scientific community access to genome scale collections of mice with informative point mutations
• The ANU Electron Microscopy Unit (EMU)
  ANU EMU provides the microscopy infrastructure necessary to support frontline research in biological and materials science
• Arafura Timor Research Facility (ATRF)
  The ATRF is an unincorporated joint venture between the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) and The Australian National University (ANU) created to support the conduct of world-class scientific research into marine and coastal ecosystems of the Arafura Timor region, including living and non-living resources
• Siding Spring Observatory
  Siding Spring Observatory is Australia's premier facility of optical and infra-red astronomy
• Mass Spectrometry Facility
  The Mass Spectrometry Facility is an important element of research infrastructure for the biological and biomedical sciences. Established and maintained by RSBS, it will provide long-term support for researchers at the ANU and wider research community of the ACT region
• Molecular Biology Facility
  The Proteomics and Microarray Facility at RSBS provides equipment and resources to researchers at the ANU to support world-class research in molecular biology
• Controlled Environment Facility
  The Controlled Environment Facility houses 20 walk in rooms as well as 43 free standing growth chambers. This allows control over all aspects of the growing environment such as temperature, humidity, light and carbon dioxide. It complies with current standards of biological containment, waste management and environmental control. Fully qualified staff provide services such as watering, fertilising, pest and disease control as well as horticultural advice
• Biomolecular Spectroscopy Facility
  The Biomolecular Spectroscopy Facility houses a range of spectroscopic equipment suitable for electronic and vibrational spectroscopy of biological material. The facility is able to provide advice and assistance to researchers needing access to this type of instrumentation on the ANU campus
• Stable Isotope Mass Spectrometry Facility
  The Environmental Biology group hosts four stable isotope ratio mass spectrometers (IRMS) and an elemental analyser. There are three continuous-flow (CF) IRMS (one with dual-inlet capabilities) and a dedicated dual-inlet machine
• Physical Sciences and Engineering equipment
• Accelerators
• Earth Sciences facilities
• Chemistry facilities
• Laser Physics facilities
• Plasma Research Laboratory
• Biomolecular Resource Facility
  The aim of the Biomolecular Resource Facility is to provide researchers with access to DNA and protein technologies that would not normally be readily available to individual research groups
• Microscopy and Cytometry Resource Facility