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Overview
The Research Support Program (RSP) provides block grants, on a calendar year basis, to higher education providers (HEPs) to support the systemic costs of research not supported directly through competitive and other grants, such as libraries, laboratories, consumables, computing centres and the salaries of support and technical staff.
The objectives of the RSP are to:
- provide a flexible funding stream to support the systemic costs of research by Australian HEPs, including the indirect costs of Australian competitive grant research
- support the delivery of world class research
- support collaboration between HEPs and industry and other research end-users.
Important note: payments are made to HEPs who administer research block grant schemes on behalf of the Department. Individual students or researchers need to approach their HEP for advice on support options available.
Guidelines, conditions and calculations
Australian Government funding is provided through annual block grants to eligible Australian HEPs in accordance with item 7 of the table in section 41-10 of the Higher Education Support Act 2003 (HESA).
The Other Grants Guidelines (Research) 2017 provides the legislative basis for the provision of funding to this program.
Conditions on 2021 RSP funding were streamlined to provide HEPs autonomy in directing funding to areas most needed to address the challenges presented by COVID-19. To ensure HEPs continue to have this flexibility, these arrangements are being maintained for 2023 RBG funding.
2023 RSP grant amounts to eligible HEPs is based on a formula that is reflective of their overall research performance.
A detailed guide to calculating RSP grant amounts is available.
Contact
For more information, email: RBGrants@education.gov.au with "RSP" as the subject line.