Section Navigation
National Competitive Grants Program
Breadcrumb Navigation
Australian Laureate Fellowships scheme: An overview
- Who are Australian Laureate Fellows?
- Selection Criteria
- What are the objectives of Australian Laureate Fellowships?
- Funding for Australian Laureate Fellowships
- Types of research
- Assessment of proposals
Who are Australian Laureate Fellows?
Australian Laureate Fellows will be researchers of international repute who will play a leadership and mentoring role in building Australia's international competitive research capacity. The ARC particularly encourages proposals from women, early- to mid-career researchers, and from researchers currently working overseas
Selection Criteria
Administering Organisations and Australian Laureate Fellowship candidates should refer to the Funding Rules for selection criteria and information on the selection process.
In summary, the selection criteria for Fellowships are:
- Investigator 40%
- Project/Program of research activity 40%
- Mentoring/Capacity Building 20%
What are the objectives of Australian Laureate Fellowships?
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.
Funding for Australian Laureate Fellowships
The Australian Laureate Fellowships scheme supports and encourages researchers of international repute to conduct research of significant national economic, environmental, cultural and social benefit.
Australian Laureate Fellows commencing in 2009 will receive a salary supplement from the ARC of around A$100,000 (plus 28 per cent on-costs) with a standard tenure of five years. The Administering Organisation will appoint the Laureate Fellow and provide a salary equivalent to a professor (Level E) or equivalent salary.
In addition to a salary supplement and salary-related (on-cost) support, the ARC may provide Australian Laureate Fellows with Project Funding of up to $300,000 per annum and additional funding to appoint up to two postdoctoral research associates and up to two postgraduate researchers.
Types of research
The Australian Laureate Fellowships scheme support excellent research by world-class researchers, including:
- pure basic research which is experimental and theoretical work undertaken to acquire new knowledge without looking for long-term benefits other than the advancement of knowledge;
- strategic basic research which is experimental and theoretical work undertaken to acquire new knowledge directed into specified broad areas that are expected to lead to useful discoveries. Such research provides the broad base of knowledge necessary to solve recognised practical problems; and
- applied research which is original work undertaken primarily to acquire new knowledge with a specific application in view. Such research is undertaken either to determine possible uses for the findings of basic research or to determine new ways of achieving some specific and predetermined objectives.
Assessment of proposals
Assessment of proposals is undertaken by the ARC's Australian Laureate Fellowships Selection Advisory Committee (SAC). The SAC is informed by assessments provided by readers with relevant expertise (including members of the ARC College of Experts, Australian readers and International readers). The Committee's recommendations are submitted to the ARC's CEO and, subject to her/his views, to the Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research for decision.
In assessing proposals for Australian Laureate Fellowships, the Committee considers, in particular, the proposed investigator and project/program of research activity.
Assessment of the degree to which a proposed project would contribute to the Government's National Research Priority areas and Priority Goals informs the assessment process.
For more information, visit Discovery Australian Laureate Fellowships.
3/10/08
