For Researchers

Applying for Funding

CRDC provides ongoing opportunities for researchers and research organisations to apply for funding for research into CRDC’s priority areas.

CRDC's procurement process involves a review of each of the strategic priorities under the CRDC Strategic RD&E Plan, and annual discipline and research priority forums involving CRDC, Cotton Australia, cotton growers, CottonInfo and researchers to identify research needs and gaps.

CRDC releases Expression of Interest (EOI) guidelines in response to these strategic priorities on a rolling schedule, inviting researchers to submit Full Research Proposals in response to those of interest. Each EOI: 

• Identifies the issue to be addressed
• Provides a brief overview of the project (the idea here is not to be prescriptive, but to allow the researcher to bring their ideas to the project and enable innovation)
• Defines the outcomes to be achieved
• States any outputs to be delivered
• Outlines selection criteria to be met for the successful awarding of the project.

The EOIs may also provide guidance as to how much CRDC is prepared to invest in a particular area to achieve that outcome.

Once the EOI documents are prepared, researchers are invited to develop a Full Research Proposal (FRP) in response. Once submitted, these proposals are evaluated by the Cotton Australia panels and CRDC’s Innovation Brokers, and recommendations made to the CRDC Board.

The CRDC Board will determine the successful projects, and preliminary advice will be provided to successful researchers ahead of formal advice/contracting.

Expressions of Interest (EOI) guidelines

When available, the Expressions of Interest (EOI) guidelines appear on this page.

Opportunities to apply for research funding will be advertised via this website, with researchers notified via our monthly 'CRDC under the microscope' e-newsletter. To subscribe, click here (be sure to select 'researcher' to receive the researcher-specific e-news). 

How to apply

To apply for CRDC research funding, researchers must follow the application process below.

In September 2022, CRDC transitioned to a new grant management system – Fluxx (crdc.fluxx.io). If you wish to submit a Full Research Proposal (FRP) in response to a CRDC EOI, you will need to utilise the Fluxx system.

If you are a currently-supported CRDC researcher or administrator, you will already be in the Fluxx system.

Please note: to complete an FRP within Fluxx, your organisation and administrator will also need to be registered in the system. All users connected to your organisation in Fluxx will appear in the dropdown options. If they do not appear in the list, please contact them to register for Fluxx.

To Register

1. To register to as a Fluxx user, visit crdc.fluxx.io and select ‘Grantee User Registration’.
2. Review the terms, conditions and privacy policy and if you accept tick ‘agree’.
3. Complete the registration form and ‘submit request’.

To access the Expressions of Interest (EOIs)

1. Once you have logged into Fluxx, on the left hand side you will find a navigation panel.
2. Under ‘Expressions of Interest’, you will find the EOIs open for funding applications.
3. On the EOI you are interested in, select ‘Apply for Funding’. This will open up the application form for you to complete.

To submit a Full Research Proposal (FRP)

Here is a word version of the fields that are required to be completed in Fluxx.

Please note: Word document application forms will no longer be accepted by CRDC. The provided form is to help you draft the text for pasting into Fluxx only.

Where there are system limitations that prevent the ability to include graphs, pictures or background documents, attachments can be uploaded with your application. Please note you must abide by character limits where applicable. Attachments cannot be used as workarounds for the text fields in Fluxx.

To complete a Budget

Completing the budget is a two-step process:

1. Please complete the Excel spreadsheet. The spreadsheet is available here or from within the EOI form.
2. Copy the summary information from the Excel into Fluxx and upload the document.

Please ensure you select ‘save and continue’ as you progress, as the system does not auto-save.

If you have any queries, please contact the CRDC Project Administration team via 02 6792 4088 or research@crdc.com.au.

Additional partnership opportunities

Additional partnership and commercialisation opportunities are published here when they arise.