Department of Industry, Innovation, Science and Research (DIISR) (scheme formerly funded by DEST)

French Australian Science and Technology Programme (FAST)

Scheme Aim and Objectives

The FAST Programme promotes and supports scientific and technological cooperation between Australian and French researchers in both public and private sectors. Support to successful Australian applicants will be provided by DIISR, and support to French beneficiaries is provided by the French Government in France.

Projects may range from short international visits or activities to more complex projects spanning up to 2 years. Projects cannot extend beyond the life of the ISL programme (June 2011). Australian firms, including small to medium enterprises, are eligible for support under the FAST Fund, but not to engage in technology transfer or diffusion activities.

All fields (excluding social sciences and humanities) will be eligible, but priority will be given to the areas of: materials, and information and communication technologies. However, applications in other areas will be considered.

Funding Amount

Under the FAST programme, the total amount of funding available per round from the Australian Government is $250,000. For successful applicants funding will be provided for international travel and living expenses up to a maximum of four international trips per project. These expenses may include:

• travel costs of up to A$2,500 per person (maximum) for international economy return airfares to France (including French territories outside Metropolitan France);
• up to A$500 for domestic travel in France; and
• living allowance (per person) up to A$200 per day, or A$2,500 per stay, whichever is the lesser amount.

Applicants must demonstrate in their application that they will contribute an amount to the project that is equal to or more than the funding sought under the FAST programme.

Matching contributions from Australian sources (excluding ISL funding) to the Australian component of any project costs may be in cash and/or in-kind. They may be the applicant's own contributions, or may be procured from other Australian sources, for example from collaborative participants, industry contributions or contributions from other Commonwealth funding sources such as the ARC. The Project Managers' (Principal Researchers') salaries may be counted as an in-kind contribution.

In-kind contributions will be required to be detailed and costed. In-kind costs must be directly related to costs of delivering the activities of the project and can include salaries of staff for the time they are involved and other costs incurred for the duration of these activities.

FAST guidelines

Online application form for Australian applicants

French applicants should refer to the EGIDE website
Further information can be found on the French Embassy  website.

Submission Requirements

Prior to submitting an application to the FAST programme, applicants must obtain agreement from their proposed French partner(s) to undertake the collaborative project activities. As per the Eligibility Criteria and Criterion H, applicants must submit supporting documentation demonstrating the leading edge research capabilities of their French partner(s). Each partner must submit an application to their respective Government (DIISR for the Australian applicants, EGIDE for the French).

See Monash Requirements for Electronic Submission of Grant Applications