Support program for ARC DECRA and FT:

ROPE#1 presenting your career journey

Identifier first line

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GaRDeN WebinarAugust 2020

Housekeeping – Zoom webinar• Please mute your mike

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• There will be time for questions at the end of the presentations

• The session is being recorded2

Welcome

Session overview

Neil Owens, PhDSenior Research Development Coordinator, FBE

Prof Tom Wilkening (PhD, MIT)ARC Future Fellow (2018), ARC DECRA (2013)

Dr Kevin Staub (PhD, U. Zurich)Senior Lecturer, ARC DECRA (2017)

Jonathan O’DonnellSenior Research Initiative Coordinator, Science

Running sheet

Time Who Topic2:05‐10 5 Neil Welcome to the session

2:10‐2:20 10 Neil Overview ‐What is a ROPE? 

2:20‐2:35 15 Neil;Tom, Kevin

How it is used? ‐ The Assessor’s perspective Specialist comments from assessors Kevin Staub (ARC DECRA) & Tom Wilkening (ARC FT)

2:35‐2:45 5+5

Kevin, Tom

Career disruptions

2:45‐3:00 15 What you wish you’d been told before I started the applicationKevin Staub, ARC DECRA, DECRA assessorTom Wilkening, current ARC Future Fellow, FT assessor

3:00‐3:20 20 Questions Audience Q&A

3:20‐3:25 5 Neil + Jonathan O’Donnell

What next?ROPE #2 – publications Shut up and write – Jonathan to describe 

DECRA Future Fellow 1 Future Fellow 2 Future Fellow 3

Academic levels Any Level A or B Level C Level D or E

5

Reminder: What’s the difference?

DECRA Future Fellows 1 – 3 

Years post PhD… 0 – 5 years 5 – 15 years

… plus career interruptions Time away from research, and taking care of children

Number of attempts 2 3

Number of fellowships 200 100

Length 3 years 4 years

ARC funding Salary + $50,000 per annum Salary + $60,000 per annum

Establishment grant Speak to your Faculty Research Office.

DECRA Future Fellow 1 Future Fellow 2 Future Fellow 3

(Capability) Investigator capability

35% 50% 50% 50%

Research Opportunity and Performance Evidence (ROPE).

High quality research outputs. Outstanding research outputs.

Build collabs … across research organisations, industry and other disciplines.

Research training, mentoring & supervision. Excellence in…

National research standing.

National and emerging international research standing.

International research standing.

Leadership capability. Leadership capabilities. Initiating and managing large research projects.

6

ARC Scoring Matrix

DECRA Future Fellowship 1 – 3 

Project quality and innovation: 25% 25%

Benefit:  15% 15%

Feasibility & Strat Alignment 10% 10%

What is a ROPE?Research Opportunity and Performance (ROPE)• The best evidence for future success is past success(es)• This is the means by which your track record is captured in the application 

Contains• essential sections to outline your competitive case for the fellowship 

• Why you should fund me and why now?• important eligibility sections • essential sections to outline your competitive case for the fellowship 

• Why you should fund me and why now?

This takes a while and requires a good deal of effort • Start with Profile section of RMS (now)

Academic interruptions are significant disruptions to opportunities for research, due to both employment and personal reasons. They may include:

• Time spent employed in other sectors • Relocation of a participant and her/his research laboratory or other similar circumstances • Pregnancy• Major illness/injury• Carer responsibilities• For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander participants, community obligations including ‘sorry business’.

•

And in practical terms…?101: ROPE anatomy (in RMS) Section Summary How to TimeF1‐2, F5, F9 Personal Details, Qualifications Populated from Profile section of RMS Short, less if RMS is up to date

F3 Fields of Research Need to be entered into RMS (application) Short

F4 Expertise Text Complete this in Profile section of RMS Revise

F6 Research Load (non‐ARC Grants and Research)

Upload template Short

F7 Currently held ARC Projects  Auto‐populated 

F8 Candidate's time commitment (%) Short

F10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15

Eligibility matters, including appointments

For example: • DECRA – time exemption• FT – PhD?

Start early ‐may take a some days to get this sorted

F16 – DECRA(F19 – FT)

ROPE ‐ Academic Interruptions Need to be entered into RMS (application) Start early ‐may take a some days to get this sorted

F17 – DECRA(F20 – FT)

ROPE 5 page upload. Details of the Future Fellowship candidate’s academic career and opportunities for research, evidence of research impact and contributions to the field, including those most relevant to this application

This is the biggie!A day to write – then lots of reviews. 5+ days

F18 ROPE – Research Output Context The context for your field May take days

F19 ROPE – Top 10 research outputs Select pubs from profile Short*

Your 5-page ROPE

This is the most important part of the ROPE section • Details of your academic career and opportunities for research, evidence of research impact and contributions to the field, including those most relevant to this Proposal 

From the ARC Instructions to Applicants:Upload a PDF of no more than five A4 pages and in the format described in Appendix B of these instructions. The PDF must provide the following information that is relevant to your circumstances and opportunities in the order set out below: AMOUNT OF TIME AS AN ACTIVE RESEARCHER RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES RESEARCH ACHIEVEMENTS AND CONTRIBUTIONS

Your 5-page ROPEAMOUNT OF TIME AS AN ACTIVE RESEARCHER

Provide: • The number of years since the Future Fellowship candidate graduated with their

highest educational qualification• A total FTE figure for periods of unemployment, part-time employment or

interruptions for childbirth, carers’ responsibilities, misadventure, or debilitating illness during that period.

For example, I was awarded my PhD (x) years ago in (year) and in that period I have experienced a total of two years (at X.X FTE) of academic interruptions.

FT - Tom

Your 5-page ROPERESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES

Provide details, relative to the fellowship candidate’s specific opportunities considerations (both negative and positive) and the effect this has had on their research. This may include: • Any additional explanation required of the Future Fellowship candidate’s response to

question F17 (DECRA) / F19 (FT).• The research opportunity the DECRA/FT candidate has had in the context of their

employment situation, including employment outside academia, any unemployment or part-time employment they may have experienced, and the research component of their employment conditions.

• A description of the DECRA/FT candidate’s role:– University based, indicate % time spent on their current role/s (e.g. teaching and research), provide

additional information (e.g. PT) to enable assessors to understand the situation.; – Industry based, indicate % time spent on their (e.g. administration, researcher in business, project

manager), provide additional information to enable assessors to understand the situation.

• The research mentoring and research facilities that have been available to the DECRA/FT candidate during their career.

• Any other aspects of the DECRA/FT candidate's career or opportunities for research that are relevant to assessment and that have not been detailed elsewhere in this application Any circumstances that may have slowed down their research and publications or affected

the time they have had to conduct and publish their research. Track record with respect to opportunity.

Your 5-page ROPE

DECRA - Kevin

Career disruptions

What are they?

Academic interruptions are significant disruptions to opportunities for research, due to both employment and personal reasons. They may include:

Time spent employed in other sectors Relocation of a participant and her/his research laboratory or other similar circumstances PregnancyMajor illness/injuryCarer responsibilitiesFor Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander participants, community obligations including ‘sorry business’.

RIC calculator for DECRAs • For PhDs prior to 1 March 2015• Talk to your faculty RO now… • To RIC 15 Oct 2020 (TBC)

• https://sites.research.unimelb.edu.au/__data/assets/excel_doc/0011/3198233/DE21_Eligibility‐Exemption‐Request‐Calculator_FINAL_v1.xlsx

How to deliver a compelling case to the assessor? 

Your 5-page ROPE

DECRA - Kevin

Your 5-page ROPE

DECRA - Tom

Future - Tom

Your 5-page ROPE

RESEARCH ACHIEVEMENTS AND CONTRIBUTIONS • Your peer esteem items – recognition of your achievements and significant contributions to the field– Prizes, honours and awards– Invited keynote and speaker addresses– Research support income– Commercial outcomes such as patents, IP licences and resulting benefits– Identifiable benefits outside of academia– Other professional activities

– Describe how the DECRA/FT candidate's research has led to a significant change or advance of knowledge in their field, and outline how their achievements will contribute to this application.

Future

DECRA

The Assessor’s perspective “Why should we invest in this person? Why now? 

Why fund the proposed research?”

• How do you assess (score) a DECRA? • How is a Future Fellowship is scored?• What is relative to opportunity?• What if we did nothing?

What Assessor’s look for“Why should we invest in this person? Why now? 

Why fund the proposed research?”

• A stellar researcher;• They are the BEST person to do THIS project at this time,– with evidence of an appropriate track record;

• A great project.

Tell your story ‐ link your track record and career narrative to the projectUse the ROPE section to provide the evidence and context to convinceassessors Also must demonstrate that the feasibility of the proposed research. 

What you wish you’d been told before you started the application…

Reflections from Kevin Staub, ARC DECRA, DECRA assessorTom Wilkening, current ARC Future Fellow, FT assessor

What you wish you’d been told before you started the application…

Unlike ARC Discovery grants, the main C1 project section of the Future Fellowship requires an extensive description of the Future Fellowship Candidate. • Give yourself extra time if adapting a rejected discovery project application.• Consider writing C1 before the ROPE so you know what to stress in the ROPE section.

Reviewers seem to have made up their mind before the ROPE section, so flag any “relative to opportunity” arguments early even if you are discussing them in detail in the ROPE section.• Finding the right balance in C1 between the candidate sections and project sections was hard.  It required the most writing.

• Reviewing grants that try to squeeze in too much content by manipulating margins and sacrificing writing quality are annoying to review.

What you wish you’d been told before you started the application…

• The repository of past winners is useful for seeing how others have approached some of the selection criteria (e.g., strategic alignment).

• The new “publication in context” section is a useful place to provide discipline related context and to discuss quantity‐quality variation across disciplines.

• Reviewers may download your papers that you claim are your best work, so make sure the working paper versions are up to date on websites.

Audience Q&A.

Helen Mackenzie, Bird Photography Australia

Every Magpie is different, but they all have a Seagull on their beak…

What next?Submit your Notice of Intent…• go.unimelb.edu.au/r9ta

ARC RMS, register as a new user• https://rms.arc.gov.au/RMS/ActionCentre/Account/RegisterUser

Grant camp sessions• Jonathan O’Donnell Senior Research Initiative Coordinator, Science

Next sessions of the Support program for ARC DECRA and FT • ROPE#2 ‐ Positioning your publications in context, 27 August 2020• Your Research Project, 7 September 2020

• Crafting a well‐justified ARC fellowship budget, 29 September 2020