Research Infrastructure
The objective of the SIEF Research Infrastructure (RI) Program is to support the creation or enhancement of nationally significant research infrastructure facilities or equipment. The Program comprises two elements:
- Major Research Infrastructure Program
- Medium Equipment Program
Major Research Infrastructure (RI)
The Major Research Infrastructure Program facilitate the creation or development of nationally significant for the conduct of research, including investment in national scale scientific equipment and special purpose facilities for the conduct of scientific research. (Further information can be found in the SIEF Research Infrastructure Guidelines). All funds allocated to this Program have now been committed. The funded Major Research Infrastructure activities are:
- ARCF: Advanced Resource Characterisation Facility
- BMTF: Biomedical Materials Translational Facility
- NAESP: National Agricultural & Environmental Sciences Precinct
Medium Equipment Program (MEP)
The SIEF Medium Equipment Program (MEP) is designed to address a gap in funding for equipment in the medium range ($750k-$4m). This Program aims to enhance capability and capacity, and encourage collaboration.
The objectives of the program are to:
- Facilitate leading-edge innovation in Australia in areas of greatest strategic impact, based on scientific research;
- Grow both capability and capacity of the equipment stock available to researchers.
ROUND 7
MEP round 7 will open 29 November for applications in the Priority Area of Agriculture and Food Sciences. Round closes 6 December 2024.
Guidelines and Application form.
SIEF MEP7 Guidelines and Assessment Criteria
| Eligibility Criteria | Definition |
| Lead applicant must be CSIRO | The Lead Applicant will use the grant for the purposes of capital expenditure |
| Proposed assets must be capital equipment or facilities purchased or constructed by an external supplier and located at a CSIRO site | The asset must be owned by CSIRO and located on an approved CSIRO site. |
| Equipment must be for ‘scientific Research’ |
Funding will only be available for assets which facilitates activities that fall under the definition of ‘Research’ (refer Frascati Manual). Includes all monies outlined in the Funding Agreement (including any co-investment). |
| Application must be endorsed by the designated delegate of CSIRO. The application must also be endorsed by Collaborating Organisations (if any). |
The designated CSIRO delegate for matters relating to SIEF is the Chief Operating Officer. CSIRO will undertake a rigorous internal review process prior to endorsement by the designated CSIRO delegate. Endorsement by any Collaborating Organisation must be by a delegate with an appropriate level of authority to commit any co-investment outlined should the Application be successful. |
| Application must sit under one of the Priority Areas for MEP 7 |
SIEF requests must fall within the Priority Area:
|
| Assessment Criteria | Further Details |
|
Alignment with: a. SIEF Primary Purpose and justification for SIEF support b. Alignment with the purpose outlined in the Gift |
Why publicly funded support? National benefit? Translation of scientific research into impact requiring effective and state-of-the-art facilities. |
| Demonstration of high benefit and impact | Degree of projected positive impact on enhancing capacity and capability. Capacity to enable ground-breaking or cutting-edge new science. |
| Demonstration of effective use of resources |
Extent to which the proposed asset complements existing facilities within and across:
ie added capacity/capability rather than straight duplication |
| Collaboration |
Level of collaboration the equipment will engender Availability of the equipment for use by others in the research system (subject to appropriate safety and other operational requirements). |
|
Finances Co-investment |
SIEF requests are expected to be between $750,000 to $5,000,000. (In exceptional circumstances bids greater than $5,000,000 will be considered). Purchase, construction, and commissioning to be completed within 24 months of Funding Agreement execution. Unless otherwise agreed in advance with SIEF. The request outlined in the application will be the maximum SIEF will provide, however, Applicants are encouraged to negotiate best price should they be successful. If a better price is negotiated then the Applicants are permitted to come back and SIEF may consider additional items to extend the equipment requested. Only in exceptional circumstances will requests be considered for supplementary funding by SIEF. |
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SIEF MEP Projects
SIEF Medium Equipment Program Round 1 projects are now completed.
| Project title | Location | Collaborators | Total investment |
| Geoscience Drill Core Laboratory | Kensington, WA | CSIRO, The University of Western Australia, Curtin University | $2,000,000 |
| Acoustic Liquid Handler (Liquid Handler) | Black Mountain, ACT | CSIRO, Australian National university | $520,000 |
| Boorowa Digital Agriculture Research Facility | Boorowa, NSW | CSIRO | $1,600,000 |
| Triaxus Towed Sensor (Triaxus) | Hobart,TAS | CSIRO | $700,000 |
| Agile Flow Chemistry Production System for Chemical Manufacture (FlowWorks) | Clayton, VIC | CSIRO | $1,740,000 |
SIEF Medium Equipment Program Round 2 Projects are now completed.
Read the executive summary of the outcomes of the program.
| Project title | Location | Collaborators & Co-Funders | Total investment |
| Argo Floats | Hobart, TAS | CSIRO, Department of Defence, Bureau of Meteorology, Integrated Marine Observing System, ACEC Research Centre | $4,233,000 |
| MNF Heavy Ocean Towing System (HOTS) | RV Investigator, TAS | CSIRO | $1,500,000 |
| Pilot-scale cGMP Protein Facility | Clayton, VIC | CSIRO, Telix Pharmaceuticals, Sementis, Monash University, GE Healthcare | $2,200,000 |
| High Resolution Noble Gas Mass Spectrometer (NGMS) | Waite, SA | CSIRO | $1,100,000 |
| 4D Micro-CT Upgrade | Kensington, WA | CSIRO, The University of Western Australia, Curtin University | $900,000 |
| Virtual Laboratory for Cybersecurity Research | Clayton North, VIC | CSIRO | $1,000,000 |
| CubeSat Platform Satellite | Marsfield, NSW | CSIRO | $1,130,000 |
| Food Ingredient Process Innovation Platform | Werribee, VIC | CSIRO | $1,500,000 |
SIEF Medium Equipment Program Round 3 Projects are now underway
| Project title | Location | Collaborators & Co-Funders | Total investment |
|
Molecular Phenotype for Machine Learning |
St Lucia, QLD |
CSIRO |
$1,600,000 |
|
Self-contained fabrication system |
Pullenvale, QLD |
CSIRO |
$990,000 |
|
Transmission Electron Microscope |
Clayton, VIC |
CSIRO |
$4,000,000 |
|
Field emission gun electron probe micro |
Clayton, VIC |
CSIRO, Monash, RMIT |
$2,700,000 |
|
Gaslab isotope radio mass spectrometer |
Aspendale, VIC |
CSIRO |
$1,600,000 |
SIEF Medium Equipment Program Round 4 Projects are now underway
| Project title | Location | Collaborators & Co-Funders | Total investment |
|
Precision Fermentation System |
Werribee, VIC |
CSIRO |
$2,000,000 |
| High Fidelity Long Read Sequencing System | Canberra, ACT | CSIRO, QUT, ANU, University of Sydney, Macquarie University, ACT Health/ANU, University of Canberra, JCU | $1,400,000 |
| XPS-MCM | Clayton, VIC | CSIRO | $2,690,000 |
| TRItium Facility via INgrowth of 3He (TRIFIN) | Waite, SA | CSIRO | $1,850,000 |
SIEF Medium Equipment Program Round 5 Projects are now underway
| Project title | Location | Collaborators & Co-Funders | Total investment |
| Digital Technologies to Enhance Capabilities in National Vaccine and Therapeutics Laboratory | Clayton, VIC | CSIRO | $3,500,000 |
| Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometry Facility | Waite, SA | CSIRO | $1,100,000 |
| Aquaculture Precision Genome Engineering Facility | Battery Point, TAS | CSIRO | $2,000,000 |
SIEF Medium Equipment Program Round 6 Project is now underway
| Project title | Location | Collaborators & Co-Funders | Total investment |
| Modular Animal Husbandry (Quail) Facility | ACDP, VIC | CSIRO | $2,300,000 |