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PROCEDURES
Applications lodged with Retina Australia shall be in the form of a direct application – Download application form here.
Applications shall be made electronically to admin1@retinaaustralia.com.au.
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PROCESSING OF APPLICATIONS
Applications will be peer-assessed and ranked by Retina Australia’s Grants Advisory Committee. Those rankings and associated reports will be considered by the Retina Australia Board in determining the allocation of grants from available funds.
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TIMETABLE FOR RETINA AUSTRALIA RESEARCH GRANTS
- April:
- The Company Secretary of Retina Australia forwards invitations to apply to potentially interested individuals and institutions by mid-April.
- June:
- Applications to Retina Australia close on 30 June in each year.
- July:
- The Company Secretary of Retina Australia forwards all applications to the Chair of the Grants Advisory Committee for consideration.
- October:
- The Chair of the Grants Advisory Committee forwards the Committee’s recommendations to the Company Secretary of Retina Australia for distribution to Board members by the first day of October.
- Retina Australia Board meets to determine the annual awarding of research grants.
- November:
- The Company Secretary of Retina Australia writes to all applicants to advise them of the outcomes of their applications.
- Following an offer of grant, each successful applicant must lodge with the Company Secretary a signed letter of acceptance of both the offer and the conditions of grant before any grant monies will be paid by Retina Australia.
Grants will generally be paid in quarterly instalments, on the fifteenth day of January, April, July and October of the year of the grant, following receipt of the signed documents. In the February of the year following the grant: Grantees will be sent a form relating to the acquittal of funds along with a request for a lay report of the completed research project suitable for publication by Retina Australia. Both documents should be sent to the Company Secretary by 31 March. (refer Clauses 5.4 to 5.6).
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POLICY
- Retina Australia policy regarding research funding is that its available funds will be directed to scientific/medical research relevant to the causes, treatment, prevention or cure of inherited retinal diseases, and, to the extent that available funds permit, of age-related macular degeneration. Research into diabetic retinopathy will not be funded as it is expected that funds for such research will be available from organisations concerned with diabetes. Research into behavioural and welfare aspects of retinal disease will not be funded.
- Retina Australia may fund research which is basic, or applied, and may support research through supplementing NH&MRC or HRC of NZ funding.
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Retina Australia grants are strictly for one year only.
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A Retina Australia grant will not normally exceed $60,000 in any one year.
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The Retina Australia Board may decide to allocate partial funds up to $60,000, if advice from the Grants Advisory Committee indicates that the allocation of partial funds would be a suitable outcome.
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Retina Australia will not provide funding support to more than one research project with the same chief investigator in any one year.
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Funded researchers who fail to comply with the conditions of the grant may be ineligible for future funding.
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CONDITIONS OF GRANT
The following conditions apply to all recipients of a Retina Australia research grant:
- 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.
- 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 provide a report on the year’s work comprising one to two pages of text in non-technical terms, which can be published by Retina Australia in their newsletter, uploaded to the Retina Australia website, or by any other medium. These are required to be sent to the Company Secretary by 31 March in the year following the grant.
- Grantees must comply with the ethical standards of their institution and all relevant legislation and accepted codes of practice for animal and human experimentation.
- 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 at, at least one meeting of their local Retina Australia member group during the year of their grant, or the year following completion of their research grant, upon invitation.
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NOTES
- Retina Australia funding decisions are final. Correspondence regarding the funding outcome for unfunded grants will not be entered into.
- Retina Australia encourages grantees to use Retina Australia’s funded work as a basis for applying to major research agencies for grants for their work related to inherited retinal diseases or age-related macular degeneration.
- Retina Australia encourages grantees to attend international meetings, such as Retina International Congresses, Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) meetings, and the International Congress for Eye Research, to present their findings, although Retina Australia does not provide funding for this purpose.
