Skip to Specific Areas

Search ARC website

Site Navigation

Main Content

Breadcrumb Navigation

You are here:

Super Science Fellowships
Round 1 and 2
Selection Report for Funding Commencing in 2010 and 2011

Overview

The Super Science Fellowships scheme provides fellowship support for early-career researchers to ensure that the most promising young researchers continue to have opportunities to work in three areas of national significance.

The objectives of the Super Science Fellowships scheme are to:

  1. attract and retain outstanding early-career researchers;
  2. strengthen collaboration in the targeted disciplines across research institutions and organisations;
  3. support research in the disciplines of:
    1. Space science and astronomy;
    2. Marine and climate science; and
    3. Future industries research-biotechnology and nanotechnology; and
  4. strengthen Australia’s research capacity by supporting innovative, internationally competitive research.

Proposals were open to Eligible Organisations linked to: existing Super Science funding; an ARC Centre of Excellence; a strategic priority of a Publicly Funded Research Agency; a CRC within a relevant theme area.

[top]

Selection Process

The closing date for Super Science Fellowships proposals was 25 November 2009 for on-line forms submitted using the ARC on-line application management system.

The Super Science Fellowships Selection Advisory Committee at its meeting on 10-12 February 2010:

  • Assessed each proposal against the following selection criteria:
    • Project Quality (50%);
    • Administering or Administering/Host Organisation(s) Team  (30%); and
    • Administering or Administering/Host Organisation(s) Support and Commitment to the Proposal (20%).
  • Ranked each proposal relative to others on the basis of the proposal and the assessor reports; and
  • prepared funding recommendations to the ARC CEO.

[top]

Funding Levels and Duration

Fifty, three year Super Science Fellowships will be funded for $72,500 a year plus 28% on costs in 2010 and another fifty fellowships in 2011. In addition, under the Super Science Fellowships Funding Rules for funding commencing in 2010 and 2011 the Administering Organisation and/or Host Organisation(s) must provide $20,000 for each of the three years for each fellowship, to support the project.

[top]

Summary of Outcomes

Fifty-four proposals were submitted to the ARC for funding commencing in 2010 (Round 1), requesting 149 fellowships; 24 proposals (44.4%) are approved for funding.

Forty-three proposals were submitted to the ARC for funding commencing in 2011 (Round 2) requesting 124 fellowships; 21 proposals (48.8%) are approved for funding.

The following tables summarises the distribution of proposals within the three targeted discipline areas.

Table 1: Targeted Disciplines of all Round 1 proposals

Targeted Discipline Area
No. of requested fellowships
No. of approved fellowships
Success Rate
Space science and astronomy 36 17 47.2%
Marine and climate science 53 17 32.1%
Future industries 60 16 26.7%
Total 149 50  

Table 2: Targeted Disciplines of all Round 2 proposals

Targeted Discipline Area
No. of requested fellowships
No. of approved fellowships
Success Rate
Space science and astronomy 38 16 42.1%
Marine and climate science 43 17 39.5%
Future industries 43 17 39.5%
Total 124 50  

[top]

National Research Priorities

In Round 1, 22 of 24 approved proposals fell under a National Research Priority.
In Round 2, 20 of 21 approved proposals fell under a National Research Priority.

Table 3: Summary of the distribution of proposals within the National Research Priority areas for Round 1 and Round 2

National Research Priority
Round 1
Round 2
An Environmentally Sustainable Australia $4,732,800 (8) $5,289,600 (8)
Promoting and Maintaining Good Health $556,800 (1) $1,392,000 (2)
Frontier Technologies for Building and Transforming Australian Industries $6,960,000 (13) $6,681,600 (10)
Safeguarding Australia $0 $0
None selected $1,670,400 (2) $556,800 (1)
Total $13,920,000 $13,920,000

[top]

Outcomes

The following table summarises the approved Round 1 Super Science Fellowships by Administering Organisation and targeted discipline areas.

Table 4: Approved Super Science Fellowships commencing in 2010 (Round 1) by Administering Organisation and targeted discipline area

Administering Organisation
No. of considered proposals
Total approved proposals
Approved Fellowships - Space science and astronomy
Approved Fellowships - Marine and climate science
Approved Fellowships - Future industries research-biotechnology and nanotechnology
Total Funding for approved proposals
Anglo Australian Observatory (AAO) 1 1 1 0 0 $278,400
Australian Antarctic Division (AAD) 1 0 0 0 0 $0
Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) 1 1 0 3 0 $835,200
Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) 1 0 0 0 0 $0
Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) 3 1 3 0 0 $835,200
Curtin University of Technology 1 1 2 0 0 $556,800
Deakin University 1 0 0 0 0 $0
Griffith University 1 0 0 0 0 $0
James Cook University 1 1 0 2 0 $556,800
La Trobe University 1 1 0 0 1 $278,400
Macquarie University 2 1 1 0 0 $278,400
Monash University 3 2 0 2 3 $1,392,000
Murdoch University 1 0 0 0 0 $0
Queensland University of Technology 2 1 0 0 2 $556,800
RMIT University 1 0 0 0 0 $0
Swinburne University of Technology 2 0 0 0 0 $0
The Australian National University 3 2 0 2 2 $1,113,600
The Flinders University of South Australia 2 0 0 0 0 $0
The University of Adelaide 2 1 0 0 3 $835,200
The University of Melbourne 3 2 1 2 0 $835,200
The University of New South Wales 3 2 2 3 0 $1,392,000
The University of Newcastle 2 0 0 0 0 $0
The University of Queensland 3 1 0 2 0 $556,800
The University of Sydney 3 2 3 1 0 $1,113,600
The University of Western Australia 3 2 2 0 3 $1,392,000
University of South Australia 1 0 0 0 0 $0
University of Southern Queensland 1 0 0 0 0 $0
University of Tasmania 2 1 2 0 0 $556,800
University of Technology, Sydney 1 0 0 0 0 $0
University of Western Sydney 1 0 0 0 0 $0
University of Wollongong 1 1 0 0 2 $556,800
Total 54 24 17 17 16 $13,920,000

The following table summarises the approved Round 2 Super Science Fellowships by Administering Organisation and targeted discipline areas.

Table 5: Approved Super Science Fellowships commencing in 2011 (Round 2) by Administering Organisation and targeted discipline area

Administering Organisation
No. of considered proposals
Total approved proposals
Approved Fellowships - Space science and astronomy
Approved Fellowships - Marine and climate science
Approved Fellowships - Future industries research-biotechnology and nanotechnology
Total Funding for approved proposals
Anglo Australian Observatory (AAO) 1 1 3 0 0 $835,200
Australian Antarctic Division (AAD) 1 1 0 2 0 $556,800
Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) 1 1 0 3 0 $835,200
Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) 1 0 0 0 0 $0
Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) 3 0 0 0 0 $0
Curtin University of Technology 2 1 1 0 0 $278,400
Griffith University 1 0 0 0 0 $0
James Cook University 1 1 0 3 0 $835,200
Macquarie University 2 2 3 0 2 $1,392,000
Monash University 2 2 1 0 3 $1,113,600
Swinburne University of Technology 1 1 2 0 0 $556,800
The Australian National University 3 2 2 0 3 $1,392,000
The University of Adelaide 2 2 0 2 3 $1,392,000
The University of Melbourne 2 1 0 0 3 $835,200
The University of New South Wales 3 0 0 0 0 $0
The University of Newcastle 1 0 0 0 0 $0
The University of Queensland 3 1 0 3 0 $835,200
The University of Sydney 3 1 2 0 0 $556,800
The University of Western Australia 3 2 0 2 3 $1,392,000
University of South Australia 1 0 0 0 0 $0
University of Tasmania 2 2 2 2 0 $1,113,600
University of Technology, Sydney 2 0 0 0 0 $0
University of Western Sydney 1 0 0 0 0 $0
University of Wollongong 1 0 0 0 0 $0
Total 43 21 16 17 17 $13,920,000
Content Last Modified:

09/04/10


Top of page