"Some will involve application development, and some pure research," he said. "It's also for organizations interested in hooking into the APAC grid and getting access to cycles around the country. Over the summer break we had students looking at grid computing projects."

The center which is funded by a consortium of WA educational institutions and the state government, has budgeted for the grants.

"The maximum investment is A$100,000 in cash and A$100,000 in staff time and resources," Midgley said. "The money could be used to employ someone and the other half to access supercomputer and storage equipment. That will depend on the project."

Projects will start in July and be completed within a year. Applications close Friday, May 5, 2006. More information at http://www.ivec.org/pages/tiki-index.php?page=contact.