Army Research Scheme

The 2023 Army Research Scheme will open soon on AusTender.

Army’s research areas of interest are wide ranging and include social, cultural and organisational topics. The broad scope of Army’s interests is outlined in the Army Futures Research Framework.

Army Research Scheme outputs are primarily stand-alone occasional papers (up to 20,000 words), although shorter and longer papers will be considered where value-for-money is established. Army will facilitate publication of research in the Australian Army Journal or the AARC’s Occasional Paper Series in the first instance. A range of other options to disseminate research includes Army’s Land Power Forum, AARC’s Seminar Series, and presentation at external Conferences.

Defence requires any research, such as through the Army Research Scheme, to undertake ethics approval, which will require, at a minimum, submission to the Defence People Research - Low Risk Ethics Panel (DPN access required).  For engagement considered high risk, submission to Department’s Defence and Veterans' Affairs Human Research Ethics Committee (DDVA HREC) may be needed.

This research must be applicable to Army and must clearly address one of the following questions, offering original content and/or practical recommendations:

Questions

Mobilisation

Question 1: What considerations must the Australian Army consider in the event of rapid mobilisation and expansion, including the role of the Reserve workforce and Army’s intersection with industry?

Littoral manoeuvre:

Question 2: How can land forces, as part of the Integrated Force, be best employed for littoral operations in the Indo-Pacific?

Train, Advise & Assist:

Question 3: What opportunities and liabilities might a structured train, advise and assist capability bring for the generation and sustainment of land power?

Power and Energy:

Question 4: What risks do advances in global alternative Power and Energy solutions pose for Defence?

Quantum:

Question 5: What are the most promising applications of Quantum Technologies in the field of Quantum Sensing, computing and communications?

Autonomy and Counter-autonomy:

Question 6: How can Army (and the ADF) scale the adoption of Remote and Autonomous Systems (RAS)? What challenges might there be to implementation and how could they be overcome?

Land Power & Strategy:

Question 7: How can the joint land force contribute to operations less than war in an age of constant competition?

Defence Strategic Review:

Question 8: What opportunities exist for the utilisation of land power within the ‘National Defence’ concept as espoused by the 2023 Defence Strategic Review?

Question 9: What are the logistics and/or workforce ramifications to Army of increased operations across an enhanced network of northern Australian bases?

Question 10: Discuss the implications on the combined arms fighting system with renewed emphasis on long-range fires.

General enquiries can be sent using the Army Research contact form.

Frequently asked questions

Is there an upper limit for funding under the Army Research Scheme?

The Research Scheme can offer up to $80,000 (incl GST) in exceptional circumstances for projects of a scale and quality that are judged by the Assessment Panel to represent value-for-money for Army.

How much money has Army budgeted for the Army Research Scheme?

The funds allocated to this round of the Army Research Scheme will be advised later.

How long are research projects expected to take?

It is expected that Army will receive the contracted deliverable within 12 months of the project’s start. It is recognised that projects that require higher ethics clearance may take longer and all projects now require a minimum of Low Risk clearance.

Who owns the intellectual property (IP) created during research undertaken under the Army Research Scheme?

The contractor retains ownership of IP created during research undertaken under the Army Research Scheme. However, the researcher grants to the Commonwealth a royalty-free license for the IP’s use.

What form should deliverables take?

Generally, although not exclusively, deliverables should take the form of a short monograph and be written to an academic standard. The Commonwealth reserves the right of first publication in either the Australian Army Journal or as an Australian Army Research Paper.

What contracts were awarded in FY 2022–2023?

• OCRT, Land Power, Integrated Campaigning, and Strategic Deterrence: Understanding Army’s Contribution
• Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, Cyber Security - partnership between defence, society & private companies - lessons from Ukraine
• RMIT, Ukraine: Information Warfare - what lessons can be learned?
• Robust Policy Analysis, Exploring a range of counter-unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) capabilities for the Army
• University of South Australia, Whole Force Complexity and Sufficiency Analysis: A Capability Networks Modelling Approach
• University of South Australia, Drawing On Reserves: Enhancing Capability Through Civilian Employer-Military Relations
• University of the Sunshine Coast, Lessons Learned: Sensitive Site Exploitation in a high tech battlefield environment
• University of New South Wales, Lessons learnt from use of Drones in the Ukraine War

The value of the contracts ranged up to $80,000.