Grants and Support Funding

DSI supports innovation in support of defence and national security and the development of the IS&T workforce in a number of ways.

Major topic calls typically happen once or twice a year and invite proposals in response to a defined problem set.  These projects may also require collaboration with universities and/or industry located in nominated Australian states and territories.

In addition to major topic calls, DSI maintains a discretionary fund for grants to support the development of an innovative and competitive defence and national security ecosystem.  DSI will accept unsolicited proposals for this funding stream

With an emphasis on activities that will help develop new and improved products and processes for industry and build the workforce of the future, for the discretionary fund, DSI is particularly interested in proposals addressing the areas of:

• Autonomy – undersea autonomy; aerial autonomy; test and evaluation; certification and assurance; AI algorithms; human-agent teaming
• Information Advantage – trust and influence; cybersecurity; battlefield sensing; data fusion
• Quantum Sensing – resilient position, navigation and timing
• Advanced Materials and Manufacturing – high temperature materials; functional materials; additive manufacturing; modelling and simulation
• Power and Energy – next-generation battery technology
• Human Performance and Health – AI-assisted diagnostics; decision support for patient management and medical logistics.

The types of activities DSI is interested in supporting includes

• seed funding for collaborations between university and industry partners
• postgraduate degree top-ups for students, especially those working on projects with an industry partner
• internships for postgraduate students with industry
• prototype development, testing and validation

Major topic and small focused calls for proposals are advertised on the DSI website and via the DSI newsletter and social media accounts. 

Researchers seeking funding for activities outside of the advertised calls are to complete the Expression of Interest.