Cooperative Research Centres (CRCs),
Grants & Investment
CIS has been prolific in raising capital for major projects. Since 2006, CIS has helped our clients secure over $1.6 billion in cash across grants, investment, and other funding sources — approximately $5.2 billion when including partners' cash and in-kind contributions. We develop compelling business cases and grant applications aligned with funders' priorities. Our major streams include the CRC Programme, MRFF schemes, government grants and direct-to-government cases, philanthropic funds, and capital investment.
CRCs & CRC-PROJECTS
The CRC Program funds large-scale, industry-led research collaborations that address major industry challenges. CIS has led or supported 19 of the 22 successful CRC bids in the past seven rounds, securing over $1 billion in grant funding and approximately $3 billion from partners’ cash and in-kind contributions. We provide strategic guidance and end-to-end bid coordination to help organisations develop competitive, high-quality CRCs and CRC-Ps applications.
MRFF
The MRFF is a $25 billion long-term investment supporting Australian health and medical research. CIS has supported projects that have secured $72 million in MRFF funding, providing strategic advice and project management across complex, competitive schemes.
Other grants
Competitive schemes including NHMRC, ARC, and ARENA, plus government and philanthropic grants. We provide comprehensive end-to-end services across these diverse funding opportunities.
SME Support & incubator
Through our National Agriculture and Food Incubator (NAFI) and extensive work with early-stage ventures, CIS helps SMEs scale sustainably by supporting them on their commercial pathway to connect with investors and research partners. We provide strategic advice, capital-raising support, pitch presentations, hands-on execution and tailored frameworks - collaboratively turning bold ideas into viable enterprises.
Why CIS?
Grant applications are highly competitive and governed by strict eligibility, governance and assessment criteria. Completing detailed budgets, cost–benefit analyses, partner engagement plans and risk mitigation strategies within tight timeframes demands specialist expertise. The complexity of aligning multi-party contributions, interpreting program guidelines and demonstrating measurable impact often challenges even the most experienced grant writers.
CIS combines sector knowledge with proven processes and a track record of success. We empower clients and their partners to navigate the complexity of CRC, MRFF and other grant programs, to secure funding that drives innovation and delivers real-world outcomes.
“CIS are leading experts in CRC bid preparation. They are easy to work with, highly flexible, fast and well-connected.”
Dr. Paul Dalby, CEO, Rozetta Institute
“CIS exceeded my expectations. They had excellent knowledge of the grant requirements, deliverables, and were particularly on top of deadlines of all numerous components of the submission. Can strongly recommend them.”
Professor Alta Schutte, University of New South Wales
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Draft and finalise key components of funding applications.
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Conduct diligent project management to ensure tasks are on track and project team members have clear instructions on what’s needed.
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Establish project governance and management plans and implement regular communication points.
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Guide bid positioning and tailor applications for optimal competitiveness.
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Ensure teams develop their grant in accordance with best practice.
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Prepare impactful slide decks and coach presenters for powerful presentations to CRC funding assessment panels.
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Workshop questions and answers with the team to ensure confidence and consistency.
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Prepare marketing collateral and provide training for partner engagement.
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Guide partners with application requirements and provide management with summary reports and a term sheet for smooth establishment.
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Develop logic models and quantify economic and social benefits, meeting the form and function of grant requirements.
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CIS has been prolific in raising capital for major projects. Since 2006, CIS has helped our clients secure over $1.6 billion in cash across grants, investment, and other funding sources — approximately $5.2 billion when including partners' cash and in-kind contributions. This makes us the dominant provider to clients leading innovative projects in Australia. We support them with strategic advice, project design, partner engagement, governance, and investment. Funds have been secured for large infrastructure projects, venture capital, research grants, and industry research funding.
Funded CRCs
CRC Round 26
Total Project Value: $239,973,414
The CMCI CRC will drive industry-led innovation to accelerate the development and commercialisation of next-generation critical metals refining technologies, establishing a sustainable, sovereign downstream processing capability to deliver green refined metals for key sectors and secure resilient supply chains for Australia.
Client: Swinburne University of Technology
CRC Round 25
Total Project Value: $127,332,297
The Care Economy CRC will bring together researchers, technologists, and care providers to co-develop, implement, and commercialise new technologies, data solutions, and care models, addressing workforce retention, flexibility, and digital skills gaps to improve the competitiveness, productivity, and sustainability of Australia's care industries.
Client: La Trobe University
Total Project Value: $267,255,269
The Additive Manufacturing CRC will unite Australia's research community and industry to establish a world-class 3D printing ecosystem across the entire value chain, accelerating innovation, sustainable material use, and production certification while bolstering productivity, resource conservation, and a skilled workforce.
Client: Swinburne University of Technology
Total Project Value: $238,182,189
The Solutions for Manufacturing Advanced Regenerative Therapies (SMART) Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) will be Australia’s critical industry-focused regenerative therapy research centre, which brings together Australian and multinational biotechnology and pharmaceuticals with the nation’s preeminent scientists, engineers and clinical researchers from our world-leading universities and medical research institutes together.
*CIS supported SMART CRC in Round 24.
Client: CCRM Australia
CRC Round 24
Total Project Value: $141,888,364
The Solving Plastic Waste CRC will ensure that focused, industry-driven collaboration between the research sector, governments and the entire plastics value chain is effectively enabled over the next decade to transform the way plastic products are designed, manufactured, used, recovered, and recycled, and how microplastic soil pollution is remediated.
Client: Griffith University
Total Project Value: $300,938,628
The ZNE-Ag CRC, a nationwide, coordinated effort, will develop, de-risk and scale combinations of technologies on a network of producer sites, to reduce methane emissions from grazing cattle and sheep, and develop farm system strategies to reduce emissions from broadacre and horticulture value chains.
Client: The University of Queensland
CRC Round 23
Total Project Value: $106,547,800
The One Basin CRC is a focused collaboration developing policy, technical and financial solutions to support and reduce exposure to climate, water and environmental threats in the Murray-Darling Basin.
Client: The University of Melbourne
Total Project Value: $112,242,322
SoMAC CRC (now known as Australian Composites Manufacturing (ACM) CRC)’s vision is to transform Australia’s established composite technologies capability into Sovereign leadership, creating a world-class, highly automated, digitally-enabled, network of designers, manufacturers and service providers.
Client: The University of New South Wales
Total Project Value: $189,285,925
CRC SAAFE is committed to protecting Australia’s food and agribusiness industries, and the environments they operate in, from the growing threat of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). It will facilitate best practice AMR mitigation and management in the agribusiness, food and environmental sectors.
Client: University of South Australia
CRC Round 22
Total Project Value: $209,600,000
The MB-CRC is a major development initiative between global leaders in research and industry to generate valuable and sustainably produced marine-sourced bio-products.
Client: Flinders University
Total Project Value: $175,700,000
HILT CRC will enable our heavy industry sector to compete in the low-carbon global economy for carbon-neutral materials such as ‘green’ iron, alumina, cement and other processed minerals.
Client: University of Adelaide
CRC Round 21
Total Project Value: $90,000,000
SmartCrete CRC will provide new technologies and capabilities for the engineered design and advanced manufacturing of concrete products and tailored expertise to support companies to develop their products to the commercial production stage within Australia. SmartCrete exists to foster industry-research collaboration which drives the development of Australia’s concrete industry, enhancing sustainability, productivity and longevity of concrete infrastructure across three core research streams: engineered solutions, asset management and sustainability, environmental and disposal.
Client: Macquarie University
Total Project Value: $130,000,000
The building industry is central to our economy, contributing 13% of GDP and employing over 1.4 million Australians. Unlike other sectors, it has failed to modernise and is plagued by rising costs and stagnating productivity. Through deep collaborations and new technologies of the 4th industrial age, Building 4.0 CRC will catapult the industry into an efficient, connected and customer-centric future. This will deliver better buildings at lower cost and the human capacity to lead this future industry.
Client: Monash University
Total Project Value: $162,250,000
Future-proofing Australia energy exports through industrial scale innovation. The CRC will achieve this by revolutionising our energy export industry by reaching new levels of efficiency in all parts of the LNG value chain by using less energy, processing lower grade natural gas with more reliability and recovering more high value by products to maintain our market leading position globally.
Client: The University of Western Australia
Total Project Value: $347,500,000
High-impact research on boosting energy productivity and integrating clean, distributed energy into the grid, in order to cut bills and carbon emissions of Australian businesses and households.
Client: University of Technology Sydney
CRC Round 20
Total Project Value: $222,316,158
Creation of next generation space-technologies, make Australia more competitive in the global space economy. Supporting growth in critical industries including agriculture, transport, logistics, communications and mining, generating new high-tech jobs and strengthening national defence and security.
Client: University of South Australia
Total Project Value: $321,687,981
Development of innovative and sustainable offshore industries to increase Australian seafood and marine renewable energy production.
Client: The University of Tasmania
Total Project Value: $184,580,112
Working across food supply chain, incorporating innovations in protected cropping, advanced manufacturing, smart logistics and food science to underpin high value industries in agrifood hubs and position Australia as a leader in supply of premium, nutritionally dense food goods.
Client: Food Innovation Australia
Total Project Value: $135,885,882
Identify gaps in the battery industries value chain, support battery deployment and optimise the circular economy for battery waste recycling resulting in value creation, sustainability and global competitiveness of Australia’s battery value chain.