Grant Round 1 2015
Drafting your application
Dr Alison Kuiper
Institute for Teaching and Learning September 2014
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Plan for today’s workshop
› Introductions
- Are you planning to apply or thinking about it?
› Thinking about applying
- Focus on EOIs and full grants
- 2014 priorities and your idea if you have one
› Preparing your application for submission
- Process
- Requirements and support
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2015 Rounds
› Round 1
- Full Proposals and EOIs
- Closes internally 14 November 2014
- Closes 28 November 2014 with the OLT
› Round 2
- Full proposals from successful Round 1 EOIs
- and Seed grants
- Closes June 2015
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Changes for 2015
› Increased emphasis on dissemination, implementation and transferability
› Changes to full proposals
› Project impact and previously completed OLT work added to the
criteria
› All criteria to be addressed under separate headings in the application
› Funding
› $5.5 million (indicative)
› between $40,000 and $500,000 per Innovation and Development grant
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Aim of grants program
› To provide funding for academics and professional staff
› to investigate, discover, develop and implement innovations in
learning and teaching
› Grants facilitate scholarship and research into learning and
teaching, and promote systemic change in the sector
› They play an important role in providing esteem for learning
and teaching scholarship and practice
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Does your project fit an OLT priority area?
2015 priority areas
› Academic standards
› Assessing equivalence of qualifications and learning outcomes
› Assessment and promotion of student learning (on selected topics)
› Curriculum design (on selected topics)
› Employability skills
› Improving institutional pathways across higher education
› Improving access to and outcomes in higher education for Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander people
› The contemporary PhD
› Handout
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Making an application
› Follow the steps on the ITL website
› http://www.itl.usyd.edu.au/awards/oltprojects.htm
› Download and get very familiar with the OLT document and resources
› http://olt.gov.au/grants-and-projects/programs-and-applications
› find partners
› contact HoS
› contact ICOs - Alison and tba in DVCE’s office
› seek feedback
› use the checklist – new version
› submit application in plenty of time with all required docs.
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Changes for 2015
› Increased emphasis on dissemination, implementation and transferability
› Changes to full proposals
› Project impact and previously completed OLT work added to the
criteria
› All criteria to be addressed under separate headings in the application
› Funding
› $5.5 million (indicative)
› between $40,000 and $500,000 per Innovation and Development grant
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Academic Resources
http://www.itl.usyd.edu.au/awards/oltprojects.htm
› OLT help sheet
› Managing your project
› Good practice reports
› Good practice resources
› Dissemination resources
› Key features of successful applications
› Successful Grant holders
› Research Funding Toolkit
› Advice re Industry Partners
› Successful Proposals
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Academic resources
OLT and ITL resources
› Make use of both
› http://olt.gov.au/grants-and-projects/programs-andapplications
› Seek feedback from
› mentors
› faculty colleagues
› previously successful applicants for OTL grants
› other successful grant applicants
- ITL: Alison Kuiper PEI and ICO
- alison.kuiper@sydney.edu.au
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Office for Learning and Teaching (OLT)
Information Session
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› An OLT representative and OLT Secondee, Ms Tilly Hinton, will guide you
through the programme.
› We encourage anyone planning to apply for an OLT Grant, or interested in
the OLT Programmes, to attend this event.
› Please register online to attend https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/oltinfo.
› A confirmation including details of the venue will be sent to you after
registering.
› We look forward to seeing you at the Information Session!
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What makes a good application?
The OLT suggests a good application
› Demonstrates a passion for improving learning and teaching
› Is well grounded in literature
› Displays innovative strategies and approaches
› Shows a willingness to engage with emerging technologies
› Matches aims and activities to deliverables and outcomes
› Has well thought out dissemination strategies
› Shows good cross-institutional collaboration and engagement with
industry
› Considers the work of past OLT projects
› Considers the scope of the project beyond the home institution
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Criteria
A. Project rationale and sector readiness
B. Project outputs (or deliverables)
C. Project impact
D. Project team and governance
E. Project budget
F. Project evaluation
Handout
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Project rationale and sector readiness
› Clearly articulated outcomes and a clear argument
- demonstrating how the project will address one of the program
priorities
- and contribute to the enhancement of learning and teaching in
higher education
› Assessors consider
› 1
quality of application
› 2
how important the project is to the sector
15
Project outputs (or deliverables)
Project outputs (or deliverables)
› Be realistic about proposed outputs
› Sustainability of outputs – build this in
16
Project impact IMPEL model
Impact Management Planning and Evaluation Ladder
17
Project team and governance
› Roles and responsibilities of team members
- involve them in the planning
- a preliminary allocation of responsibilities among the team
members is advisable
› Demonstrate capacity of team to deliver
- including the quality and timeliness of the project leader’s
previous work
› It’s important to show the project will work.
› Allocate tasks and make sure people have the skills
18
Project budget
- Funding between $40,00- $500,000
- Those over $350,000 are for significant national projects
- Appendix 8 p41
› Project evaluation
- Evaluation strategy required
- Independent external evaluator required for projects over
$120,000
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Project evaluation
› Clearly identify the evaluation strategy
- Appropriate for scale of project
› External evaluator for projects over $120,00
20
› Timeline
› Begin 1 August 2015
› Note complexities of inter-institutional agreements and time
for ethics approvals
› Be wary of surveys; are there alternative strategies which
could be used for collecting data?
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Submission issues and compliance requirements
› ICO, DVCE’s Office, provides this support, notifies OLT of impending
applications
› Only applications that have been notified and have received university
approval will be considered by the OLT
› Evidence of support from your faculty is required before letter of support
from the University can be provided
› Partner applications also require a letter of support from the DVC(E)
› Prepare your application following the 6 steps by the internal submission
date: Friday 14 November
› The internal closing date is firm
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Making an application
› Online form (p21)
› Full proposal – 20 A4 pages (p11)
› Associated appendices (p18)
- Letter of endorsement
- Additional letters of support
- Biographies of team leader and members
- If applicable, design specifications
- Checklist (p26) Summary (p28)
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Appendices
Don’t ignore these!
1. Assessment process
2. Obligations associated with receiving a grant
3. Intellectual property
4. Key web links p.34
5. Proforma letters of support- lead and partners
6. Project impact planning
7. Information about project team and governance
8. Information about project budget, funding and payment
9. Definitions and descriptions
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Key things to note in making an application
›1
Value of the project
›2
Impact beyond the institution
›3
Methodology
›4
Technical requirements
› The value of the project is the most important factor in determining
funding.
› However an application which is professional and compliant provides
evidence that you are well organized
› and that the grant is well planned and likely to deliver on outcomes.
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