AgriFutures Australia is currently seeking expressions of interest from research organisations and industry participants to be involved in a five-year program of research in the Australian coffee industry.
This Expression of Interest closes 12 noon (AEDT) Friday, 7 February 2025.
Background
The AgriFutures Emerging Industries Program helps grow the value and diversity of Australia’s rural economy by driving the growth or development of emerging, high potential rural industries. This is done through research that explores opportunities for growth and through skills development for industry leaders. Our goal is to sustainably grow developing rural industries and help them reach new markets.
The Australian coffee industry has been identified as an industry with high growth potential. AgriFutures Australia is looking to invest in a large collaborative five-year program of research in Australian coffee.
Service requirements
AgriFutures Australia is currently seeking expressions of interest from interested Managing Research Organisations (MROs), research organisations, and industry participants to be involved in the five-year program of research in the Australian coffee industry. This program of research will be made up of multiple research projects and require a strong consortium-based approach, which is co-designed with industry and research providers.
Research organisations requirements
- Interest in the Australian coffee industry.
- Relevant skills and experience in coffee or similar crops.
- Willingness to collaborate with others, with examples of past collaborations.
- Ability to deliver projects on time.
- Willingness to provide cash and/or in-kind contributions.
Managing research organisations requirements
- Effective management of large research programs, including multiple service providers and sub-contracts.
- Ability to consolidate milestone reports from various researchers into a cohesive overall report.
- Oversight of all trials and management of Material Transfer Agreements.
- Logistical management of multiple locations.
- Efficient communication with funding bodies.
- Willingness to provide cash and in-kind contributions.
Industry participants requirements
- Industry participants refer to those involved, or want to be involved, in the Australian coffee supply chain. It is anticipated that industry participants may include producers, distributors, exporters, and other industry stakeholders
- Industry participants will be required to identify what contribution they would bring to the program in their EOI response. For example, a producer could be willing to provide their land for a trial site.
Timeline
Date |
Activity |
Friday, 6 December 2024 |
Invitation issue |
Tuesday, 24 December 2024 |
End of period for questions or requests for information |
Friday, 7 February 2025 |
Closing time for invitees’ response |
Friday, 21 February 2025 |
Intended completion date of evaluation of invitees’ responses |
Friday, 28 February 2025 |
Intended date of notification of outcome for management research organisation, research organisation, and industry participants |
Week commencing 17 March 2025 |
Intended date for face-to-face workshop |
Monday, 28 April 2025 |
Intended date for Full Research Proposals to be submitted in AgriFutures project management system (K2) |
Tuesday, 1 July 2025 |
Intended date to begin program of research (execution of contract between AgriFutures Australia and the Managing Research Organisation) |
Sunday, 30 June 2030 |
Intended end date of coffee industry program of research |
Submissions
Applicants are required to complete the application form via the online SmartyGrants application system. Please ensure you complete the application relevant to you:
* If you wish to be considered for the Managing Research Organisation role, please ensure you nominate this on the application form, and populate the section under ‘Additional section for managing research organisations.’
Terms of reference
AgriFutures Australia uses standard form contracts and agreements for projects and research procured by AgriFutures Australia. These contracts and agreements set out the terms on which AgriFutures Australia will engage successful applicants to carry out the project.
Applicants must be familiar with the contracts and agreements before submitting a response and are advised to seek legal advice beforehand.
These contracts and agreements have been developed to reflect AgriFutures Australia’s statutory and other procurement responsibilities.
If you require any amendments to the standard agreement, please complete the statement of non-compliance for each of the relevant clause. AgriFutures will then assess those requests.
Applicants will be taken to have agreed to all clauses in the Research Agreement that are not referred to in a statement of non-compliance. The extent of any non-compliance will be a factor in AgriFutures Australia’s evaluation of the application.
If you require further information regarding these contracts and agreements, please, contact AgriFutures legal support via email
Contact
If you have any questions about the EOI process or requirements in the management services, please contact:
FAQS
Can one organisation submit EOI for Research Organisation (RO) and Management Research Organisation (MRO) at the same time?
There is a section at the end of the RO form that provides the opportunity to be considered for the MRO position. Unsuccessful MRO applicants are invited to participate as RO’s. Successful MRO’s are also expected to lead one or more Themes.
Can multinational companies that are part of the value chain but have no production facilities in Australia participate in the program?
Their participation should be structured to support the growth and development of the Australian Grown Coffee Industry and align with the priorities of the Program of Research to qualify as an Industry Participant.
Do the industry partners need to nominate a collaboration with preferred RO or MRO in the application process? If so, how are the preferences going to be managed?
You can nominate a collaboration in the Expression of Interest (EOI) process, however there is no requirement to do so. Preferences will be managed as themes, priorities, and research activities are mapped out during Program of Research development. This process is designed by the working group, i.e., the successful research and industry applicants, through a face-to-face workshop and follow-up online workshops/meetings.
Does MRO or RO need to provide Project Plan or Project outline for assessment in the EOI stage?
This is an Expression of Interest (EOI) to participate in the development of a Program of Research utilising a collaborative, consortium-based approach through a series of face to face and online workshops and meetings. The MRO and RO should only provide the required documentation as per the EOI.
Process - If we submit a single MRO application can we be asked to work with other MRO in the RO capacity? Does this occur automatically via selection process or do we need to express interest to be an RO.
Unsuccessful MRO applicants are invited to participate as Research Organisations.
Does RO/MRO need to nominate its industry collaborators in the EOI phase, or these will be selected by AgriFutures Australia?
The Research Organisations and Industry participants who submit EOIs will form the working group, or consortium. The RO/MRO can nominate the themes and activities they want to join, with each theme having a lead research organisation (which might be the MRO).
What is the envisioned size of the budget for the five-year research program?
The final budget will be presented to the working group during the face-to-face workshop. The allocation across themes, projects, and activities will be determined through collaborative discussion and consensus. The estimated total budget is $2.5 million over five years.
What is the expectation on the cash or in-kind co-contributions from the ROs or industry partners? Does the contribution need to be specified in the EOI stage or can be further discussed based on the co-designed research program size and scale?
As per the EOI, potential MRO’s and Research Organisations will be required to show the following in their application: ability and willingness to provide cash and/or in-kind contributions to the program.
Is it possible to leverage the AgriFutures Australia funding to attract additional non-dilutive funding?
We encourage cash and/or in-kind contributions from RO’s and Industry stakeholders.
Are CAPEX expenses and overheads eligible for MRO and/or RO? Are there any specific expense exclusions to consider?
AgriFutures remit only allows us to fund direct costs. Below are some definitions for clarity:
Direct costs: expenditure which would not be incurred unless the project took place (e.g. Salary, salary on-costs only [superannuation, leave, etc.], lab supplies, travel).
Indirect costs: expenditure which would be in place whether the project took place or not (e.g. Rent for breeding trial, office space, lab space, library fees, computer log-on costs).
In-kind: these are goods or services as opposed to cash, or transactions that do not involve cash nor are they measured in monetary terms. For example:
A) An academic that is employed on an ongoing basis at a university and is paid a salary and planned to work on an AgriFutures project at 0.2FTE, can put this forward as in-kind.
B) If a research provider were going to create a position and pay 0.5FTE, while asking AgriFutures for the other 0.5 FTE, they can consider 0.5 FTE as a cash contribution.
What percentage of the total budget can be allocated to administration expenses? Is there a standard daily management fee for an invitation like this (for the MRO)? Is this decided by the working group during development workshops?
The funds are designed to invest in RD&E to drive industry growth. The MRO management fee should typically be no more than 10% of the total budget. The MRO should indicate their management fee as part of the EOI. Defining administration fees as those expenses incurred through typical R&D activities including report writing, data collation and analysis etc should be costed as part of budgeted salary requirements of a research organisation.
I am interested in participating in a research project associated with Coffee Program, should I submit an EOI as a research organisation? And do we put in an EOI on behalf of the farms we envisage including in the trial or will they need to put in an EOI themselves, linking to our project EOI?
An application should be submitted as a RO if you wish to participate as a research provider. Any farm will need to submit their own EOI, if they wish to participate as an industry stakeholder. There is no guarantee of a project, or that a particular collaboration will occur as this is dependent upon the decisions made during the face-to-face workshop and subsequent online workshops/meetings, but preferred partnerships can be stated in the EOI.
Will more than one research organisation be involved in the PoR? Can multiple researchers from the same institution apply?
For each PoR there is a single MRO that manages the entire Program of Research and is directly contracted with AgriFutures. The Theme Lead organisations will be contracted by the MRO. Multiple research providers from the same institution can apply. This is important where research providers represent different areas of expertise or focus areas. Where two research providers with similar expertise apply from the same institute, these will be assessed based on merit, and depending upon workshop numbers (we aim for 30 maximum), only one may be accepted.