The Cooperative Research Centres (CRC) Program supports industry-led collaborations between industry, researchers and the community. It’s a proven model for linking researchers with industry to focus on research and development towards use and commercialisation.
It aims to:
- improve the competitiveness, productivity and sustainability of Australian industries, especially where Australia has a competitive strength and in line with government priorities
- foster high quality research to solve industry-identified problems through industry-led and outcome-focused collaborative research partnerships between industry entities and research organisations
- encourage and facilitate small and medium enterprise (SME) participation in collaborative research.
There are two components of the CRC Program.
- CRC Grants (CRCs) offer medium to long term (up to 10 years), large scale funding for industry-led research collaborations to address significant industry problems. Grants typically have an large number of collaborating organisations and can receive between $30M-$75M of commonwealth funding (matched by participant contributions).
- CRC Projects (CRC-P) are short-term (up to 3 years) industry-led collaborative research initiatives supported by up to $3M of commonwealth funding (matched by participant contributions).
Both CRCs and CRC-P collaborations must at least match the amount of the commonwealth grant funding through cash and/or in-kind contributions. In-kind contribution include the non-cash resources provided by a participant to conduct the activities of the CRC or the CRC-P and may be staff or non-staff resources.
CRCs and CRC-Ps will receive funding for a single, specified term to undertake the activities or project in the funding agreement.
The CRC Program supports collaborative research that aligns with Australian Government priorities and areas of focus. This includes alignment with the National Reconstruction Fund (NRF) priority areas, Science and Research Priorities, and/or specific industry sector focus areas that are identified for priority funding in CRC-P and CRC rounds from time to time.
The Industry Growth Centres are an important stakeholder and resource in the CRC Program and should be consulted during the bid development stage to ensure alignment with the relevant industry sector competitiveness plans. Industry Growth Centres also play a role in the assessment of CRCs and CRC-P proposals.
For more information, see the Cooperative Research Centres Program website.
