Global Connections Fund — Bridging Grants Program

The Program is designed to support international partnerships between Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) and Researchers to grow beyond an initial level of engagement into a strong collaboration leading to the translation of research knowledge and intellectual property into market-ready products or services.

The current and final round of the Global Connections Fund – Bridging Grants will focus on partnerships between Australia and the Republic of Korea, either between Australian researchers and Korean SMEs or Australian SMEs and Korean researchers.

The Bridging Grants (BG) program is administered by the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (hereafter referred to as ATSE or the Academy) and is funded by the Australian Government Department of Industry, Science and Resources.

Priority Areas

• Projects must be in one of the four priority areas below:
  • Robotics
  • Quantum technology
  • Biotechnology
  • Renewable energy and batteries
• The project aims to increase linkages with global economies, promote researcher-industry engagement and knowledge transfer, encourage translational activities, support end user development and commercialisation outcomes.

Funding Information

• Bridging Grants are available for projects ranging from AUD 35,000 up to AUD 75,000. Grant applications for less than AUD 35,000 will not be considered eligible.
• The grant activity must be completed within 12 months of the award being accepted.

Eligible Expenditure

• Direct labour costs of Australian employees directly employed on the core elements of the project. They consider a person an employee when paid a regular salary or wage, out of which regular tax instalment deductions are made
• Up to 30 per cent labour on costs for Australian employees to cover employer paid superannuation, payroll tax, workers compensation insurance, and overheads such as office rent and the provision of computers for staff directly working on the project
• Contract expenditure covering the cost of eligible project activities that are contracted to others. All contractors must have a written contract prior to starting any project work. Invoices from contractors must contain a detailed description and breakdown of the work including hours and hourly rates
• Domestic and international travel limited to the reasonable cost of accommodation, visa, insurance and transportation required to conduct agreed project activities
• Direct support costs of research, translation and promotion of outcomes
• Salaries and travel related costs for Australian personnel including consultants

Ineligible Expenditure

• Basic research projects
• Capital expenditure for the purchase of assets such as office furniture and equipment, motor vehicles, computers, printers or photocopiers; and the construction, renovation or extension of facilities such as buildings and laboratories
• Costs involved in the purchase, upgrade or hire of software (including user licences) and ICT hardware
• Activities that would be undertaken in the normal course of business, such as website development, or the purchase, development and/or integration of standard software for core purposes (e.g. accounting, financial management), business planning, sales and promotional activities
• Retrospective activities (i.e. where expenditure is incurred prior to the award of a Bridging Grant)
• Institutional overheads and administrative charges
• Costs associated with the internal preparation of finance and audit statements
• Any activities, equipment or supplies that are already being supported through other sources
• Indirect costs of research, not listed in eligible expenses
• Costs associated with market research for products or research carried out by surveys to assess the size of the market and the price of a particular service or product
• Costs associated with marketing projects (activities aimed at creating demand for goods and services of consumers, businesses and government)
• Costs such as rental, renovations and utilities
• Fees for international students, or the Higher Education Contribution Scheme (HECS) and Higher Education Loan Programme (HELP) liabilities for students
• Insurance costs (project partners must maintain adequate insurance or similar coverage for any liability arising as a result of their participation in the programme)
• Staff recruitment and relocation costs
• Debt financing
• Salaries and travel related costs for non-Australian personnel including consultants
• Costs of Australia’s membership of international science and technology projects
• Anything else as determined by ATSE as not meeting the Bridging Grant objectives

Eligibility Criteria

• Applicants must either be an Australian Researcher, or an Australian-incorporated SME, and have a proposal supporting an international SME-Researcher partnership.
• Only the following partnership collaborations are supported:
  • Australian SMEs looking to partner with Korean Researchers.
  • Australian Researchers seeking to partner with Korean SMEs.
• They do not support Researcher-Researcher or SME-SME Partnerships.
• Applicants can only submit one Bridging Grant application, and only one application per research group or SME will be considered.
• Australian Researcher applicants:
  • The applicant must be an Australian citizen or an Australian permanent resident and living in Australia at the time of submitting the grant application.
  • If successful, Bridging Grant applicants will need to provide proof of citizenship or permanent residency if requested, as a condition of receiving funds.
  • Australian research applicants are defined as those employed by a tertiary education institution, publicly funded research organisation, not-for-profit research organisation, or cooperative research centre. Where an applicant’s institutional arrangements are such that the institution is deemed the applicant, then the applicant should ensure institutional sign off.
• Australian SME applicants:
  • SME applicants must meet the Australian Government definition of an SME, which is the term used to refer to a business which has less than 200 full time equivalent employees
  • SME applicants:
    • Must be incorporated as a Pty Ltd or Ltd entity
    • Must have an Australian Business Number (ABN)
    • Must be incorporated and registered for GST
    • Must not be set up as a trust structure
    • Must not be a sole trader
    • Must not be engaged in any litigation, arbitration, administrative proceedings, investigations, of or before any court, tribunal, commission, arbitral body or other agency in any jurisdiction in the Commonwealth of Australia (for enterprises based in Australia) or in the nominated priority economy.

For more information, visit ATSE.