ARC Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DECRA)

ARC Discovery Early Career Researcher Award

Funds three-year fellowships for early-career researchers across all disciplines except medical research with salary and project support.

⚠ This may reflect a past cycle — verify the current call on the funder's site.

The Discovery Early Career Researcher Award 2027 (DE27) is the current DECRA round under the Australian Research Council's Discovery Program, providing focused fellowship support to outstanding early-career researchers in both teaching-and-research and research-only academic positions. Each DECRA is a three-year fellowship in which the ARC pays the researcher's salary and on-costs directly, in addition to awarding up to AUD 50,000 per year in project funding for related research expenses. The scheme aims to advance promising early-career researchers, foster national and international collaboration, and generate new knowledge with economic, commercial, environmental, social, or cultural benefit for Australia. Medical research is excluded from scope, as that is funded by NHMRC.

Allowable project expenditure includes postdoctoral research associates and research assistants, technicians, infrastructure access, field research, expert third-party services, equipment and consumables, publication and dissemination, specialised software, up to AUD 50,000 in total travel over the three-year project, web hosting, and essential carer costs. For DE27, the submission window ran 28 January to 11 March 2026. The rejoinder window is 25 May to 5 June 2026; the Selection Advisory Committee meets 20–31 July 2026; and the funding announcement is expected between 10 December 2026 and 9 March 2027. All deadlines close at 5:00 pm Canberra time.

Applications must be submitted through a university Research Office using the ARC Research Management System—individual researchers cannot apply directly. Candidates must fall within the DECRA early-career eligibility window as defined in the DE27 Grant Guidelines (available on GrantConnect as Forecast Opportunity DProgF2025 and current opportunity GO8166). A strong application combines a high-quality, novel research proposal with clear evidence of emerging leadership capacity. The ARC's salary contribution makes DECRAs particularly attractive for universities seeking to recruit and retain research talent, and for early-career researchers who need dedicated time to establish an independent research program.