Business School

Guidelines and procedures for staff seeking funding support from UWA Business School for major research projects.

Purpose and summary

The purpose of this policy is to provide a consistent, transparent and equitable set of guidelines regarding research grants available to Business School staff. This policy replaces all other research grants related policies operating within the Business School prior to January 1, 2008.

Research expenditure represents a critical measure of the University's ability to carry out its mission of education, intellectual discovery, and contribution to society. Furthermore, research represents one of the most important avenues to increase its knowledge base.

From the Business School's perspective, a key objective within its Operational Priorities Plan is to enhance its research capacity and capability. Aside from the building capacity by funding specific research activities, the Research Grant Policy is designed to provide staff with valuable experience in participating in a competitive process. It is envisaged that this experience can then be applied to other external grant schemes, improving the capability of staff in securing external research funds. This will not only raise the profile of the Business School on both the national and international arena, but also work to promote a strong and vibrant research culture amongst staff. In particular, the Research Grant Policy is designed for project-specific research grants or teaching grants for the duration of one year.

Policy statement

This policy defines the guiding principles for the allocation of major research project funds or teaching grants. Up to $20,000 per grant will be awarded to proposals which are project specific, contain a detailed budget justification and are held for one year from the date of offer.

Grants are competitive and therefore it is in the best interest of the applicant to prepare a quality submission.

Applications must be not exceed the 5 page limit and must be precise.

Overall, special consideration will be given to early career researchers whereby track records will be assessed relative to opportunity. Similarly, preference will be given to applicants demonstrating convincing ways in which their future research can be supported via external sources of funds on an ongoing basis. At the margin, priority will be given to projects that do not involve conference travel as a major expense item.

Exceptional grant applications may be referred to the Dean of the Business School for the possible matching of funds from the Dean's Discretionary Fund.

Criteria for the application for funding

An application for funding will only be considered if the following criteria are met:

1. Travel funded under this scheme cannot be taken during, six months prior to commencing or six months after returning from any period of study leave which attracted a grant funded by the Business School.
2. Funds allocated for items other than research assistance will be paid against purchase orders or receipts as approved by administrative Team Managers.
3. Expense items must relate to the grantee, i.e. non-direct research expenses such as hospitality and third party expenses will not be reimbursed.
4. Research assistants funded from this scheme must be located at UWA.
5. Preference will be given to students enrolled at the UWA Business School if they are to be employed from this scheme.

Criteria for the approval of funding

The approval of funding for research grants will be subject to the following criteria:

1. Proposals must be project-specific.
2. Applications must contain a detailed budget justification in line with the budget proposal, i.e. money cannot be spent on unspecified items as is the case with online grants.
3. Grants will be held for one year from the date of the offer, with any unspent monies to be returned to the School.