UNSW has once again received the most funding of any university in Linkage grants from the Australian Research Council - winning $9.3 million in the latest round.

The funding, to commence in July, covers 27 projects across seven faculties. The grants are supported with $21.2 million in cash and in-kind support from industry and partner organisations.

Professor Jeffrey Braithwaite from the Faculty of Medicine won UNSW's largest single grant, worth $1.5 million, for research into how accreditation and standard setting contribute to organisational performance in health facilities, and their impact on quality of care.

A major project led by Associate Professor Eileen Baldry from the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, looks at the over-representation of Indigenous people with mental health disorders and cognitive disabilities in Australian criminal justice systems. The four-year project has been awarded $384,000.

A team from the Faculty of Engineering will receive $270,000 over three years to examine rock bolt failure in underground coal mines, with results aimed at protecting miners from injury and death.

Professor Mike Archer and Dr Suzanne Hand from the Faculty of Science have been awarded $220,000 to use emerging technologies to unravel relationships between prehistoric climate changes and environmental impact in northern Australia.

Overall Engineering received UNSW's largest share of Linkage Grant funding with 10 successful grants totalling $2.6 million. Medicine and Science are close behind with $2.5 million and $2.4 million respectively.

Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) Professor Les Field congratulated UNSW researchers on their grant success.

"This is a great result. UNSW is the best performing institution in the country both in terms of total funding and the number of grants awarded," Professor Field said.

"This follows our exceptional results in the first round of 2010 Linkage grants, bringing our total to $20.9 million. This level of success clearly demonstrates UNSW's strong engagement with industry."

The ARC's Linkage Projects scheme enables Australian institutions to undertake innovative and cutting-edge research projects in collaboration with industry and other partners. Federal Innovation Minister Senator Kim Carr has announced a total of $66.7 million for 218 projects across 32 institutions in the latest funding round. Project summaries are available on the ARC website.

Media contact: Denise Knight, UNSW Media Office, 02 9385 8920