Academic Milestones and Reporting

Progress Reports and Milestone reporting enable the funding body to assess whether satisfactory progress is being achieved and are often required by the funding body prior to Milestone payments being made.

Final Reports enable the funding body to assess whether the objectives of the project have been achieved and also to gather information that may be useful in internal and/or external performance measurement activities.

Progress and Final Reports are important elements in ensuring accountability and good management of public or private funding for research. The quality and timeliness of these reports is one of the key elements that can influence future funding.

Reports should be prepared by researches according to the contractual obligations with the funding body.

All reporting should be submitted to the funding agencies on or before the due date as indicated in the contract.

Both the ARC and the NHMRC have proformas for their progress and final reports which can be downloaded from their website.

In situations where there is no proforma available, summaries should be prepared. It must be consistent with the original application and/or variations previously approved by funding body.

Researchers should forward reports to their College Research Office (CRO) for review, prior to the Office of Sponsored Research (OSR) submission.

Reporting and Milestone dates and status should be updated in ARIES by the CRO .

• ARC – to lower in the page
• NHMRC – to lower in the page

ARC Academic and Milestone Reporting

Annual Progress Reports

Annual Progress Report due dates for each grant should be entered as Milestones on ARIES by the CRO as part of the grant acceptance process. Note that Progress Reports for all ARC grants are due at the ARC on the same day, currently 31 January each year (Linkage Projects in Round 2 which have been underway for less than one year do not need to submit a Progress Report).

All Progress Reports:

• Must be consistent with the original application. If any changes to the project have been made they must be reported. If the ARC has approved variations, the report must be consistent with the approved variations.
• Must not make derogatory remarks about any person or organisation (including co-investigators, the ANU, collaborating institutions or the ARC)
• Must not include any kind of financial statement
• Must list outcomes to date

Researchers must forward reports using the relevant proforma http://www.arc.gov.au/applicants/reported_requirements_progrep.htm to their CRO.  

The College Research Office (CRO) must check reports and seek researcher amendments if necessary, before sending them as a batch to the Office of Sponsored Research. The CRO should not hold up submission of batches of reports if there are reports outstanding, because that may affect the eligibility of current applicants to ARC schemes. The CRO is responsible for following up with researchers on outstanding reports and updating ARIES milestones.

The delegation for signing Progress Reports rests with the normal college delegate (usually Dean/Director). As such, Local Areas will be required to vet all progress reports to ensure the content is appropriate and meets the ARC reporting requirements. Under the current ARC Funding Rules, failure to do so can result in individuals being excluded from future funding opportunities.

Completed progress reports should be emailed to RO ARCreports in either rtf or pdf format.

The Office of Sponsored Research collates reports and submits them to the ARC via email and in hardcopy.

If the ARC advises the Office of Sponsored Research that a report is unsatisfactory, the OSR will seek more information from the researcher via their College Research Office.

NHMRC Academic Milestones Reporting

In accordance with the NHMRC Deed of Agreement, Annual Progress and Final Reports must be submitted to the NHMRC by specified due dates.

NHMRC information on Progress Reports:
http://www.nhmrc.gov.au/funding/funded/manage/policy/progreport.htm
Annual Progress Reports:
Annual Progress Reports for the following schemes are due at the NHMRC on the 31st of March of each year:

• Project Grants
• Program Grants
• JDRF Special Program Grants
• Development Grants
• Program in Medical Genomics Grant and Strategic Awards

Please note that the Office of Sponsored Research deadline is 5pm Friday 27 March 2009

• Centres of Clinical Research Excellence progress reports are due by 31 December during each year of funding, except in the final year when a Final Report should be submitted.
  

• For Enabling Grants Round 1 and 2 the progress reports are due by 9 September during each year of funding.
  

Progress Report Proforma:
All reports are to be correctly formatted using the following proforma:
http://www.nhmrc.gov.au/funding/funded/manage/policy/_files/progress_report_frm_research_funding_schemes.rtf

Researchers must forward reports using the relevant proforma to their College Research Office. The OSR certifies the reports and submits them to the NHMRC.