Cooperative Research Centres Projects (CRC-P) Round 15 is open to all industry sectors, however, this round focuses on circular economy. Funding of up to $3 million is available for industry-led research collaborations of up to 3 years.

The CRC-P Circular Economy Round

The government is PARTICULARLY seeking applications that address or support areas including, but not limited to:

• reduction or elimination of waste, e.g., designing out waste and chemicals of concern
• materials efficiency, e.g., designing for durability, repairability, reusability and retention of materials and their value
• resource recovery, e.g., recycling, reprocessing, remanufacturing and logistics
• phasing out unnecessary and problematic plastics and packaging
• whole-of-lifecycle product design and manufacturing

Deadlines and Timings

Applications are open and will close on 14 September 2023 5:00PM AEST. Funding will be available from January 2024.

Succeeding rounds timelines are as follows:

• Round 16: opens February 2024
• Round 17: opens July 2024

We will update this page accordingly more information on future rounds becomes available.

Overview and Grant Amount

The CRC-P Round 15 will support projects with a focus on circular economy principles, as well as the National Reconstruction Fund priority areas. The program aims to:

• improve the competitiveness, productivity and sustainability of Australian industries, especially where Australia is competitive and in government priority areas
• 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 is no specific amount of funding allocated to each CRC-P round, however past rounds have averaged $30 million to $40 million in total. The minimum grant amount is $100,000 and the maximum grant amount is $3 million.

The grant amount will be up to 50% of total eligible project expenditure with maximum project period of 3 years.

Eligibility and Criteria

To be eligible as a lead applicant you must:

• have an Australian business number (ABN)
• be incorporated in Australia and a trading corporation
• Your trading activities must be either (i) enough to be called a trading corporation; (ii) a major, not minor, part of your overall activity
• Project partners must include (i) 2 Australian industry organisations, including at least 1 SME; (ii) 1 Australian research organisation

Ineligible applicants:

• an individual
• a sole trader
• a partnership
• a research organisation or an entity whose primary purpose is to undertake research
• an unincorporated association
• a trust (however, an incorporated trustee may apply on behalf of a trust)
• a Commonwealth, State, Territory or local government body (including government business enterprises)
• an entity where the majority of your funding is from government sources, for example grant programs
• an entity whose primary purpose is administrative or to provide support services to a CRC-P

Eligible Activities

To be eligible, your project must:

• have at least $200,000 in total eligible project value
• be a short term, industry-identified and industry-led collaborative research project to develop a product, service or process that will solve problems for industry and deliver tangible outcomes
• benefit SMEs and increase their capacity to grow and adapt in changing markets
• include eligible activities

Your activities must include at least one of the following:

• new research
• proof of concept activities
• pre-commercialisation of research outcomes
• industry-focused education and training activities, such as internships and secondments
• between industry entities and research organisations
• conferences, workshops, symposia related to the joint research
• information sharing and communication initiatives related to the joint research

Expenditures must be a direct cost of the project and should be incurred by you for required project audit activities. You must incur the project expenditure between the agreement start and end date for it to be eligible unless stated otherwise.

Applicants are encouraged to use Victorian service providers to assist with their project where possible. For more information, interested parties are encouraged to thoroughly read the program guidelines and other key documents set by the funding grant. Submissions must be lodged through the program online portal.

Expert Assistance

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