Section Navigation
National Competitive Grants Program
Breadcrumb Navigation
Australian Laureate Fellowships
Selection Report for Funding Commencing in 2009
Overview
Objectives
Selection Process
Selection Criteria
Funding Levels and Duration
Summary of Outcomes
Attracting and Retaining Outstanding Researchers
Approved Australian Laureate Fellows: Returning Australians
Approved Australian Laureate Fellows: Foreign Nationals
Approved Australian Laureate Fellows: Resident Australians
Administering Organisation
National Research Priorities
ARC Discipline Clusters
Stage in Career
Age and Gender
Overview
The Australian Laureate Fellowships scheme reflects the Australian Research Council’s (ARC’s) commitment to support excellence in research by attracting world-class researchers and research leaders to key positions in Australia.
Objectives
The objectives of the Australian Laureate Fellowships scheme are to:
- attract and retain outstanding researchers and research leaders of international repute;
- build and strengthen world-class research capability in Australia;
- provide an excellent research training environment and exemplary mentorship to nurture early-career researchers;
- expand Australia’s knowledge base by supporting ground-breaking, internationally competitive research;
- forge strong links among researchers, industry and the international research community; and
- support research that will result in economic, environmental, social or cultural benefits for Australia.
Selection Process
The closing date for proposals was 10 December 2008 for on-line forms submitted using the ARC’s on-line grants application management system and 17 December 2008 for submission of paper copies of proposals to the ARC.
Proposals were reviewed by an ARC Selection Advisory Committee (SAC). The SAC was informed and advised by assessments provided by readers who had relevant expertise. Those readers were members of the ARC College of Experts, Australian Readers and International Readers. The SAC:
- reviewed each proposal;
- ranked each proposal relative to others on the basis of the proposal and the assessor reports; and
- prepared funding recommendations, including recommended budgets.
Selection Criteria
The selection criteria are:
- Investigator (40%);
- Project/Program of research activity (40%)
- Mentoring/Capacity Building (20%)
Funding Levels and Duration
Australian Laureate Fellowship projects are funded for five years on a full-time basis, subject to sufficient funding being available for the Australian Laureate Fellowships scheme, the provisions of the Australian Research Council Act 2001 (the ARC Act), and continued satisfactory progress of the Australian Laureate Fellowship project.
In addition to the Australian Laureate Fellowship salary supplement and salary-related (on-cost) support, the ARC may provide Australian Laureate Fellows with:
- additional funding for up to two postdoctoral research associates and up to two postgraduate researchers; and
- for Eligible Organisations listed in Appendix C1.1 of the Australian Laureate Fellowships Funding Rules for funding commencing in 2009, project funding of up to $300,000 per annum.
Of the 15 approved Australian Laureate Fellows, the average amount of approved funding is $2,775,183 over 5 years. In addition to the total Australian Laureate Fellowship salary support of $9,600,000, a total of $14,009,011 is approved for postdoctoral research associates and postgraduate researchers and a further $18,018,741 for general project funding.
While funding is awarded for Australian Laureate Fellowship proposals for five years, the ARC Act applies limits in relation to the amount and years for which the Minister may approve funding. At the time of award, funding is approved only up to and including the 2011-2012 financial year. Subsequent years and associated funding limits are added by amendment to the ARC Act, following which funding for the additional years may be made available. Accordingly, the term "indicative funding" is used throughout this report to denote the total level of funding which is proposed to be made available, once all years to which funding proposals relate have been legislated.
The following table shows indicative funds for approved Australian Laureate Fellowship proposals for commencement in 2009.
Table 1: Indicative funds for approved Australian Laureate Fellowship proposals for funding commencing in 2009
Budget item |
2009-10 |
2010-11 |
2011-12 |
2012-13 |
2013-14 |
Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fellowship Salary supplement + on-cost support | $1,920,000 | $1,920,000 | $1,920,000 | $1,920,000 | $1,920,000 | $9,600,000 |
| ARC Postdoctoral Researchers | $2,043,366 | $2,200,548 | $2,357,730 | $2,279,139 | $2,200,548 | $11,081,331 |
| ARC Postgraduate Researchers | $496,660 | $731,920 | $731,920 | $731,920 | $235,260 | $2,927,680 |
| Project Funding | $3,695,096 | $3,608,433 | $3,626,820 | $3,609,171 | $3,479,221 | $18,018,741 |
| Total | $8,155,122 | $8,460,901 | $8,636,470 | $8,540,230 | $7,835,029 | $41,627,752 |
Summary of Outcomes
A total of 152 proposals were submitted to the ARC. Four of the submitted proposals were subsequently withdrawn by Administering Organisations and, consequently, 148 proposals were considered for funding. Of the 148 proposals considered, 15 proposals are approved for funding.
In addition, three proposals are approved as “reserves”, to be funded subject to the availability of ARC funds. The “reserve” proposals are not included in figures relating to approved proposals in the following statistics.
One hundred and thirty-three proposals were not approved for funding (including the three reserves).
The following overview summarises the characteristics of the considered and the approved Australian Laureate Fellowship candidates.
Attracting and Retaining Outstanding Researchers
Proposals were open to Eligible Organisations to nominate candidates who are outstanding researchers of international repute, resident either within Australia or overseas. The Australian Laureate Fellowships scheme encourages proposals involving Australian or non-Australian researchers.
Of the 148 proposals considered, 14 were for Australians intending to return to Australia – of these, two are approved for funding. Twenty-eight proposals were for foreign nationals – of these, one is approved for funding. One hundred and six were for resident Australians – of these, 12 are approved for funding.
The following table shows the citizenship/residency status of Australian Laureate Fellowship candidates and approved Australian Laureate Fellows.
Table 2: Citizenship/residency status
Citizenship/ residency status |
Commencing in 2009-10 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
No. of considered proposals |
% of considered proposals |
No. of approved proposals |
% of approved proposals |
|
| Returning Australians | 14 | 9.5% | 2 | 13.3% |
| Foreign Nationals | 28 | 18.9% | 1 | 6.7% |
| Resident Australians | 106 | 71.6% | 12 | 80% |
| Total | 148 | 100% | 15 | 100% |
Approved Australian Laureate Fellows: Returning Australians
There are two Australian Laureate Fellowship candidates approved for funding in this category.
Table 3: Returning Australian approved for funding - Current Organisation and Administering Organisation
Fellowship candidate |
Current Organisation |
Administering Organisation |
|---|---|---|
| Dr B Balleine | University of California, Los Angeles | The University of Sydney |
| Prof A Thomas | Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility | The University of Adelaide |
Approved Australian Laureate Fellows: Foreign Nationals
There is one Australian Laureate Fellowship candidate approved for funding in this category.
Table 4: Foreign nationals approved for funding – Citizenship, Current Organisation and Administering Organisation
Fellowship candidate |
Country of citizenship |
Current Organisation |
Administering Organisation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prof P Mumby | United Kingdom | University of Exeter | The University of Queensland |
Approved Australian Laureate Fellows: Resident Australians
There are 12 Australian Laureate Fellowship candidates approved for funding in this category.
Table 5: Resident Australians approved for funding - Current Organisation and Administering Organisation
Fellowship candidate |
Current Organisation |
Administering Organisation |
|---|---|---|
| Prof R Bryant | The University of New South Wales | The University of New South Wales |
| Prof L Head | University of Wollongong | University of Wollongong |
| Prof R Hobbs | Murdoch University | The University of Western Australia |
| Prof P Hodgson | Deakin University | Deakin University |
| Prof C Jagadish | The Australian National University | The Australian National University |
| Prof J Martin | The University of Queensland | The University of Queensland |
| Prof D Muller | The University of Sydney | The University of Sydney |
| Prof B Schmidt | The Australian National University | The Australian National University |
| Prof S Simpson | The University of Sydney | The University of Sydney |
| Prof S Sloan | The University of Newcastle | The University of Newcastle |
| Prof M Tobar | The University of Western Australia | The University of Western Australia |
| Prof G Williams | The University of New South Wales | The University of New South Wales |
Administering Organisation
It is a requirement of the Australian Laureate Fellowships Funding Rules for funding commencing in 2009 for the Administering Organisation to provide a salary of Level E professorial appointment (or equivalent) to the successful candidate, with the ARC providing the salary supplement of $A100,000 per annum plus 28 per cent on-costs.
The Administering Organisations of the fifteen proposals approved for funding are:
- Deakin University (1)
- The Australian National University (2)
- The University of Adelaide (1)
- The University of Newcastle (1)
- The University of New South Wales (2)
- The University of Queensland (2)
- The University of Sydney (3)
- The University of Western Australia (2)
- University of Wollongong (1)
National Research Priorities
All approved proposals fall under a National Research Priority, with total funding approved over five years as follows:
- An Environmentally Sustainable Australia (5): $14,620,603
- Promoting and Maintaining Good Health (2): $5,317,243
- Frontier Technologies for Building and Transforming Australian Industries (7): $18,919,015
- Safeguarding Australia (1): $2,770,891
ARC Discipline Clusters
The following table summarises the distribution of proposals within disciplines.
Table 6: Disciplines of all proposals
ARC Discipline Grouping * |
Commencing in 2009-10 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
No. of considered proposals |
% of considered proposals |
No. of approved proposals |
% of approved proposals |
|
| BSB | 35 | 23.6% | 5 | 33.3% |
| EE | 15 | 10.1% | 3 | 20% |
| HCA | 16 | 10.8% | 1 | 6.7% |
| MIC | 25 | 16.9% | 1 | 6.7% |
| PCG | 34 | 23% | 3 | 20% |
| SBE | 23 | 15.5% | 2 | 13.3% |
| Total | 148 | 100% | 15 | 100% |
*BSB = Biological Sciences and Biotechnology; EE = Engineering and Environmental Sciences; HCA = Humanities and Creative Arts; MIC = Mathematics, Information and Communication Sciences; PCG = Physics, Chemistry and Geoscience; SBE = Social, Behavioural and Economic Sciences
Stage in Career
As shown in Table 7, at the time of application, 20.9% of all Australian Laureate Fellowship candidates in this round are within 15 years of the award of their PhD. Of the approved Australian Laureate Fellows, 46.7% are within 15 years of the award of their PhD.
Table 7: Years since the award of PhD (at time of submission)
Years since award of PhD |
Commencing in 2009-10 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
No. of considered proposals |
% of considered proposals |
No. of approved proposals |
% of approved proposals |
|
| 0-15 years | 31 | 20.9% | 7 | 46.7% |
| 16-20 years | 42 | 28.4% | 2 | 13.3% |
| 21/+ years | 72 | 48.6% | 6 | 40% |
| No PhD | 3 | 2% | 0 | 0% |
| Total | 148 | 100% | 15 | 100% |
Age and Gender
As Table 8 shows, at the time of application, eight (53.3%) approved Australian Laureate Fellows are under the age of 50.
Table 8: Age distribution of candidates (at time of submission)
Age cohort |
Commencing in 2009-10 |
|||
|---|---|---|---|---|
No. of considered proposals |
% of considered proposals |
No. of approved proposals |
% of approved proposals |
|
| < 40 years | 6 | 4.1% | 2 | 13.3% |
| 40-49 years | 63 | 42.6% | 6 | 40% |
| 50-59 years | 62 | 41.9% | 7 | 46.7% |
| 60 / + years | 17 | 11.5% | 0 | 0% |
| Total | 148 | 100% | 15 | 100% |
Of the 148 Australian Laureate Fellowship candidates considered, 19 (12.8%) are female. Two of those candidates, (13.3%) were approved.
22/06/09
