Priority grant

Before applying, you will need the following:

• details of your proposed research project, for example 
  • description
  • rationale
  • aims/objectives
  • anticipated outputs/outcomes
  • research impact and engagement
  • budget
  • timeline
• your responses to the assessment criteria
• letters of support and evidence.

The aim of the Screen Fund is to build the evidence base of screen use effects in NSW schools to inform future policy development and practice by funding research that:

• through research, develops useful interventions or tools to assist education settings
• proposes a worthwhile contribution to the screen use evidence through novel research
• foregrounds student voice.

Eligibility criteria 

• Applications must address one of the identified Statements of Opportunity and demonstrate how the funding will benefit NSW public education contexts.

The Statements of Opportunity are:

1. We require research that investigates the effects of screen use for learning in schools and at home on students’ learning and behaviour outcomes.
2. We require research that investigates the effects on students of problematic and addictive screen use outside of school hours.
    

• Applications are open to projects led/owned by Australian public universities, selected research institutions and non-government organisations.
• Research projects must have ethics approval or be likely to receive ethics approval from an NHMRC-registered human research ethics committee.
• The lead researcher must apply through NSW State Education Research and Partnerships (SERAP) or submit evidence of SERAP approval with their application. The department will not fund proposed research if a SERAP application is not approved.
• As part of their SERAP application, we may ask researchers to complete a Research Protocol/Data Analysis Plan and to preregister their projects with the Open Science Framework (OSF).
• We may ask researchers to submit an article detailing their project's methodology to peer review. The department will facilitate submissions through a journal special edition.

Applications will be assessed according to the following criteria.

Alignment to the Screen Fund research priorities (25%)

• Clearly defined proposal to address one or more of the Statements of Opportunity
• Demonstrated understanding of the project requirements and the extent to which the expected outcome(s) will effectively address the project scope and deliver the project objectives.

Project quality and innovation (35%)

• The extent to which the approach to the project and the proposed methodology are demonstrated to be appropriate, feasible and robust.
• The extent to which the evidence provided, including the background and references, substantiate the proposed approach.
• Demonstrated capacity of the project to make a significant contribution to the current evidence base.

Capacity to deliver (20%)

The extent to which:

• The project team demonstrates the experience, expertise and capacity to deliver the project as described.
• The project demonstrates a realistic plan (including clear milestones, timeframes and key performance indicators) for delivering the desired project outcome(s) as required and on time.
• The risk management strategy is comprehensive and appropriate across the lifetime of the project (including the development, implementation and ongoing management phases).
• The project will create resources, in the form of deliverables, for education settings.

Value for money (20%)

• The extent to which the proposed budget is appropriate, clearly justified, and transparent.
• The demonstrated potential to achieve the project outcomes in a high quality and cost-effective manner.
• Justification of the cost related to the time and effort of department staff and students, as participants or co-investigators (if involving schools or other education sites).

The application will be assessed against the criteria by a selection panel to determine whether to award funding to the applicant, and how much funding to award.

The department reserves the right, at its absolute discretion, to adopt any strategy in assessing applications received.

The department may choose to negotiate for additional project conditions or elements beyond those outlined in a submitted proposal.

The department may choose not to award funding under this program.