The following conditions apply to all recipients of a Retina Australia research grant, confirmed by a signed letter of acceptance:
- Grantees must comply with the ethical standards of their institution and all relevant legislation and accepted codes of practice for animal and human experimentation. Confirmation of ethical approval for the project will be required on acceptance of the grant.
- A high resolution photo of the researcher must be provided to Retina Australia on grant acceptance, for communications purposes including placement on the Retina Australia website.
- Information provided in the grant application will be available to Retina Australia for use in its fundraising activities and stakeholder communications.
- All funds shall be used solely and exclusively for the purpose of the work proposed in the successful application during the calendar year and within the terms of the grant.
- Expenditure of funds for any other purpose requires specific prior written permission from Retina Australia.
- The award of a grant is subject to agreement that no part of funds granted by Retina Australia as a charitable entity shall be applied as an infrastructure or other university levy.
- Expenditure of more than $2,000 on non-consumable equipment items during the course of the grant will not be approved.
- A full account of grant monies expended shall be supplied to the Company Secretary of Retina Australia by 31 March in the year following the grant. This should be delivered in the form of a Financial Acquittal Report signed by the CEO, Senior Finance Manager or equivalent, of the research institution.
- The support of Retina Australia must be acknowledged in all publications and presentations of work funded wholly or in part by a Retina Australia grant.
- Grantees shall complete the Retina Australia Grants Program Acquittal Report and also provide a summary project report on the year’s work. This project report should comprise one to two pages of text in non-technical terms, which can be published by Retina Australia in its newsletters, Retina Australia website, or by any other medium. These reports are required to be sent to the Company Secretary by 31 March in the year following the grant, along with the Financial Acquittal Report.
- Retina Australia expects the early and full sharing of data between research groups receiving its funding support.
- With respect to intellectual property rights the following shall apply: (a) intellectual property produced by the researcher remains the property of the research institution. (b) should the researcher file for a patent or enter into commercial development based wholly, or in part, on research wholly or partially funded by Retina Australia, then the researcher will enter into negotiations with Retina Australia to determine what is a fair and reasonable proportion of the profits to be paid to Retina Australia in recognition of its contribution in funding the research.
- Unless excused by Retina Australia, grantees will attend Retina Australia’s National Congress, or participate in an Australia-wide Retina Australia led webinar, for the purpose of presenting a report on their research. However, Retina Australia will not provide separate funding for this purpose.
- Grantees are expected to be prepared to attend and present about their project at, at least one meeting in person during the year of their grant or the year following completion of their research grant, if so requested by Retina Australia.
- Failure to comply with any of the above grant conditions may deem a researcher ineligible for future funding.