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The Maker Projects: Community STEM Engagement grants aim 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 through the delivery of 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 sustainable impact on youth under 18 years of age, particularly those from historically under-represented groups, including girls, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, and youth living in regional, rural and remote regions.

To be eligible you must:

• have an Australian Business Number (ABN)

and be one of the following entities:

• a company, incorporated in Australia
• an incorporated association
• an incorporated not for profit organisation
• a publicly funded research organisation (PFRO) as defined in section 14 of the grant opportunity guidelines.

To be eligible your project must be collaborative in nature and include at least one partner organisation during the life of the project (see section 7.2 of the grant opportunity guidelines). You can partner with organisations such as libraries, private companies, schools, and not-for-profit bodies to deliver collaborative projects.

We recognise some organisations may not be able to nominate a project partner at the time of application. Where you cannot nominate a project partner in your application, you must commit to engaging a project partner in the application form, and provide evidence of a formal partnership as part of your first milestone report.

We cannot waive the eligibility criteria under any circumstances.

You are not eligible to apply if you are:

• an individual
• partnership
• unincorporated association
• any organisation not included in section 4.1 of the grant opportunity guidelines
• trust (however, an incorporated trustee may apply on behalf of a trust)
• primary or secondary schools (however schools may benefit from activities)
• a Commonwealth, State, Territory or local government body (including government business enterprises) that does not undertake publicly funded research
• a non-corporate Commonwealth entity
• Parents and Citizens, Parents and Friends groups and equivalent bodies.

For further eligibility requirements please refer to the grant opportunity guidelines.

To apply go to: www.business.gov.au/mpcse

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