Next Generation Technologies Fund

The Next Generation Technologies Fund, valued at $1.2 billion over ten years, invests in emerging and future technologies that could deliver game-changing capabilities for Defence.

Managed by DSTG and fully funded until 2030, the fund focuses on early stage research with a view to exploring their potential application for future Defence capability.

The Next Generation Technologies Fund is more than a funding mechanism. It is a vehicle for collaboration across the innovation ecosystem. Partnering options under the Next Generation Technologies Fund allow for choice and flexibility in scale and time to delivery from longer-term, multidisciplinary research activities to more focused and rapid technology acceleration. This allows Defence to engage a range of research partners, individually or in terms, from start-ups to primes and national research organisations.

Priority areas

NGTF is focussed on the following priority areas:

• Integrated intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance
• Space capabilities
• Enhanced human performance
• Medical countermeasure products
• Multi-disciplinary material sciences
• Quantum technologies
• Trusted autonomous systems
• Cyber
• Advanced sensors
• Hypersonics
• Directed energy capabilities

Partnering mechanisms

Partnering options under the Next Generation Technologies Fund allow for choice and flexibility in scale and time to delivery from longer-term, multidisciplinary research activities to more focused and rapid technology acceleration.

This allows Defence to engage a range of research partners, individually or in terms, from start-ups to primes and national research organisations.

Examples of NGTF partnerning mechanisms include things like:

• Grand Challenges
• Defence Cooperative Research Centres
• University Research Networks
• Strategic Research Program
• Small Business Innovation Research for Defence (SBIRD)
• Defence Research Accelerator
• Technology Futures and Foresight mechanisms such as the Emerging Disruptive Technology Assessment Sympsium (EDTAS) series
• Industry Competitive Evaluation Research Agreement (ICERA)
• Australia-US Multi-disciplinary Unversity Research Initiative (AUSMURI)

Opportunities

For most funding opportunities under the Next Generation Technologies Fund, a call for proposals will be issued that describes the specific requirements that need to be addressed. Unsolicited proposals cannot be considered by the Next Generation Technologies Fund. However, you can submit an unsolicited proposal to the Defence Innovation Hub.

Opportunities are generally advertised through AusTender and promoted on the DSTG Opportunities page.

For more information, email NGTF Program.