Contact the Grant Development Team
- Research Services
- T: +61 (2) 9850 9466
- E: grant.development@mq.edu.au
Frequently asked questions about applying for grants
See our FAQs and answersWhy, when and how to use the Pure Research Management System
Learn about PureWorkshops and online resources about funding applications
Access supportThe following guidelines provide a description of how to submit a research grant application.
Research grant applications can be submitted through:
To ensure we are best prepared to support your research funding applications, you must submit a Notification of Intent form.
This is a newly developed one-stop form to notify key research support teams at Macquarie of your intention to apply for competitive research grants, engage with partners or work with philanthropic funders.
You should complete this form as early as possible even if you don’t have all the information (e.g. the details of the scheme, closing date or the final details of your team or proposal). Submitting an NOI does not commit you to applying – you can withdraw or update your NOI later if necessary.
After completing the NOI form, you will be provided with updates about your funding scheme and sent valuable resources that will assist you in developing a highly competitive research grant application.
Once reviewed by the appropriate research support team the NOI will generate a Pure Application record. One form that will do two job!
You will need to enrich the Pure record with additional details but the NOI will do a lot of it for you!
We are here to help! Contact the Grant Development Team (grant.development@mq.edu.au) if you have any questions while putting together your proposal.
Please ask as soon as a query arises so that we can provide a timely answer or clarify the query with the funding body if required.
Research activities must comply with Australian export control and sanctions law. If you are unfamiliar with how your research interacts with Commonwealth compliance requirements then you are recommended to seek advice from the National Security and Defence team at defencetradecontrols@mq.edu.au. Macquarie University can indefinitely pause your research if export controls or sanctions compliance breaches are identified and significant criminal penalties may apply to you personally. Additional information is available from the Defence Trade Controls sharepoint page. Macquarie's export controls self-assessment tool is available here.
Does this research application include research which potentially requires any of the following?
Does this research application include working with a partner organisation and require any of the following? If yes, discuss with a Research Partnerships Manager:
After you submit your NOI you will be contacted by the team who will be supporting your application. If you have been contacted by the Grant Development Team, you will need to use the online booking calendars to request service.
Strategic review (optional)
If you wish to receive a strategic review of your application, you must book via this online booking calendar 4 weeks before the external submission deadline.
Compliance and eligibility check (mandatory)
Compliance and eligibility reviews for application are mandatory and you must book via this online booking calendar 2 weeks before the external submission deadline.
After you submit your NOI you will be contacted by the Team who will be supporting your application. Each team has a slightly varied process. See details below.
For the Grant Development Team our approach to supporting miscellaneous grant applications (not ARC, NHMRC or MRFF) is detailed here.
Strategic review (optional)
If you wish to receive a strategic review of your application, you must book via this online booking calendar 4 weeks before the external submission deadline.
By the date and time you select, upload a complete draft of your application in Pure and submit to Faculty Checking. The Grant Development Team will complete a strategic review of your application and provide feedback via Pure (for external applicants this will be via email) within 10 business days.
Compliance and eligibility check (mandatory)
Compliance and eligibility reviews for applications are mandatory and you must book via this online booking calendar 2 weeks before the external submission deadline.
By the date and time you select, upload a full penultimate draft in Pure and submit to “send to internal approval” stage. The Grant Development Team will complete a compliance and eligibility check and provide feedback via Pure within 3 business days.
Strategic review (optional)
If you wish to receive a strategic review of your application, upload a complete draft of your application in Pure and submit to “send to internal approval” stage 4 weeks from the external submission deadline. The Trusts and Foundation Team will complete a strategic review of your application and provide feedback via Pure.
Compliance and eligibility check (mandatory)
Compliance and eligibility reviews for application are mandatory and you must upload a penultimate draft of your application in Pure and submit to “send to internal approval” stage 2 weeks from the external submission deadline. The Trusts and Foundation Team will complete a compliance and eligibility check of your application and provide feedback via Pure.
External funding schemes often require a commitment of funds, known as 'co-funding', from the University to support the proposal and demonstrate the University’s commitment to the proposal. in addition to the funds requested through the scheme. Lead applicant should first approach their Department and/or Faculty when seeking co-funding, as the Faculty and/or Department are required to make a contribution to the co-funding request. Requests for co-funding will only be considered for proposals to schemes that stipulate a requirement for institutional cash co-investment*.
The amount of co-funding depends on the amount of external funds that will come to Macquarie. Macquarie is committed to supporting researchers across all disciplines and, in terms of approving the allocation of cash and/or HDR scholarships as co-funding, we carefully consider the requirements of the external funding body. Where cash co-funding is a documented requirement, we can consider co-funding applications. Where it is not a requirement, the lead applicant will need to discuss their options with the relevant Grant Development Manager prior to requesting DVCR Co-Funding.
When you have support of your Department and Faculty, requests for co-funding are via ServiceNow, with the exception of ARC and NHMRC/MRFF applications which are managed via a different process which is available via the relevant internal funding opportunity website.
* For the ARC and NHMRC/MRFF there is a standardised approach to co-funding and they do not go through ServiceNow. Information on the process is located on the scheme specific webpages, which can be found via the funding and fellowship opportunities .
Before you submit your grant application you must receive approval from your Head of Department/School (HoD/HoS) and Deputy Dean of Research and Innovation (DDRI) via Pure.
If you submitted an NOI the Pure record has been started for you. Update the record as directed by the research support team and send to ‘internal approval’ in the workflow.
The lead investigator must take responsibility for following up with your HoD/HoS and DDRI to ensure that your submission is approved.
Applications that do not have a Pure record and/or do not have all the appropriate approvals in Pure (HoD/HoS and DDRI) will not be submitted to the external funding body, under any circumstance.
Incorporate the strategic and/or compliance and eligibility feedback into your grant application and make any other final changes. Then email the final version of all documents to grant.development@mq.edu.au, two days before the external deadline*.
* For ARC, NHMRC, MRFF, DoD and NIH schemes, the final application should be submitted at least three days prior to the deadline. Note that, instead of emailing the proposal, you should re-submit to Research Services via the funding agency portal RMS, Sapphire, portal business.gov.au and grants.gov.
The Grant Development Team or Trust and Foundations Team will conduct a final check of the grant application and submit it to the funder. If there is any reason it cannot be submitted, we will contact you directly.
In cases where the funding organisation's submission process is via an online system where the proposal needs to be submitted online directly by the applicant, e.g. Smartygrants, the Grant Development Team or Trust and Foundations Team will advise when the applicant can go ahead and submit the proposal.
If submission needs to be done by the applicant, the applicant must email a final copy of the grant application, confirmation of submission and any other future correspondence to grant.development@mq.edu.au.
Please take advantage of the advice in the above steps in developing your grant application.
If the funding agency requires a letter of support or has explicit instruction requiring contributing organisations to make a cash contribution contact the Grant Development Team (grant.development@mq.edu.au) as soon as possible to discuss the process.
Attach the penultimate draft and submit through the Pure Research Management System at least two weeks prior to the external submission deadline. If required, follow up with your Head of Department/School and Deputy Dean or Research and Innovation to get them to approve. It is the responsibility of the applicant to ensure that all approvals for the application are obtained in Pure by the deadline.
Once the proposal has been submitted, please email grant.development@mq.edu.au with a full copy of the submitted proposal including any attachments.