Funding to foster creative and inquiry-based learning in young people (Grants from $20,000 to $100,000)

Deadline: May 9, 2022

The application is open for Funding to foster creative and inquiry-based learning in young people. The Maker Projects – Community STEM Engagement grants 2022 aims to foster creativity and inquiry‑based learning and support the development of STEM skills in students and youth under 18 years of age in design, engineering, and programming, through hands-on learning.

The objectives of the grant opportunity are to:

Deliver maker projects where students and youth under 18 years of age can develop and apply their STEM knowledge through experimentation, tinkering, and hands-on learning by engaging with a range of technologies
Encourage practical skills, creativity, and entrepreneurial thinking by delivering hands-on STEM-related events and activities.
Inspire students to pursue STEM disciplines in their study and work
Ensure that maker projects are accessible to as many young people as possible, including those in regional, rural, and disadvantaged areas
Make a positive and ongoing impact on youth under 18 years of age, particularly those from historically underrepresented groups, including girls, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, youth living in regional, rural, and remote locations, people with disability, and people from educationally disadvantaged backgrounds.

Eligibility

Organizations that deliver maker projects to students and youth under 18 years. A particular focus is on under-represented groups, including girls, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, youth living in regional, rural, and remote locations, people with disability, and people from educationally disadvantaged backgrounds.

You can apply if you:

Are an eligible entity
Have an eligible project
Have eligible expenditure.

You can apply if you have an Australian business number (ABN) and are one of the following entities:

A company incorporated in Australia
An Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Corporation registered under the Corporations (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) Act 2006 (Cth)
An incorporated association
An incorporated not for profit organization
A publicly-funded research organization (PFRO) as defined in section 14 of the grant opportunity guidelines
A government or non-government vocational education and training (VET) provider as defined in section 14 of the grant opportunity guidelines.

You can’t apply if you are:

An organization or your project partner is an organization, including on the National Redress Scheme’s list of Institutions that have not joined or signified their intent to join the Scheme– external site
An employer of 100 or more employees that have not complied– external site with the Workplace Gender Equality Act (2012)
An individual
A trust (however, an incorporated trustee may apply on behalf of a trust)
An unincorporated association
Primary or secondary schools (however, schools may benefit from activities)
A Commonwealth, state, territory, or local government body (including government business enterprises)
A non-corporate Commonwealth entity
Parents and Citizens, Parents and Friends groups, and equivalent bodies
Any other organization not included in section 4.1 of the grant opportunity guidelines.

Partner with other organizations

They can only accept applications where you deliver the project through a collaborative partnership (refer to section 14 of the grant opportunity guidelines):

The partnership must be established before the submission of your application
The partnership must include at least one partner organization during the life of the project
You can partner with organizations such as libraries, private companies, schools, and not-for-profit bodies to deliver collaborative projects (internal organization partnerships are not eligible)
The partnering organisation/s must be an active participant in the delivery of the project and not just beneficiaries of the proposed activities.

Within your collaborative partnership, you must decide who the lead organization will be as the main driver of the project.

The lead organization must fill out the application form and can only submit one application per grant round.

If they give your group the grant, the lead organization:

Signs the grant agreement
Is responsible for making sure your group follows the rules in the grant agreement

An organization may be a project partner for multiple applications.

For further information on joint applications, refer to section 7.2 in the grant opportunity guidelines.

Your project must:

Be located in Australia
Be aimed at delivering STEM-related activities and events to meet the objectives and outcomes outlined in section 2.1 of the grant opportunity guidelines
Be for the benefit of youth under 18 years of age
Include scientific, technological, engineering or mathematics experts, inventors, innovators, or entrepreneurs to work with participants to gain practical knowledge and skills in design, technology, innovation, and entrepreneurship
Include either new activities or an expansion to the applicant’s existing business as usual activities
Be collaborative in nature and include at least one partner organization during the life of the project as per section 4.2 of the grant opportunity guidelines
Have at least $25,000 in eligible expenditure
Include eligible activities such as those described in section 5.1 of the grant opportunity guidelines.
You can apply for a grant between $20,000 and $100,000.
Eligible and ineligible expenditure is outlined in appendices A and B of the grant opportunity guidelines.

Benefits

Grants from $20,000 to $100,000.
The opportunity provides grants up to $100,000. It aims to foster creativity and inquiry-based learning to support the development of STEM skills in students and youth in design, engineering and programming through hands-on learning.

The intended outcomes of the grant opportunity are for students and youth under 18 years to gain:

Practical knowledge and skills in scientific experimentation, design, technology, innovation and entrepreneurship
Increased access to STEM-related events and activities
Positive and ongoing development of STEM skills through inquiry-based learning and participation in STEM events.