Selection Report: Australian Laureate Fellowships 2024

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Overview

The Australian Laureate Fellowships scheme reflects the Australian Government’s commitment to excellence in research by supporting world-class researchers to conduct research in Australia. 

The objectives of the Australian Laureate Fellowships scheme are to: 

• attract and retain outstanding researchers and research leaders of international reputation, with exceptional ability to lead, collaborate, mentor and supervise, and enhance their capacity to create an enduring legacy;
• build focus and scale in research by forging new links among researchers, the international research community and/or industry and other research end-users;
• support a program of innovative and ground-breaking research that addresses a significant problem or gap in knowledge;
• create a cohesive research program and implementation plan that represents value for money; 
• provide an excellent research training environment and exemplary opportunity to nurture early or mid-career researchers;
• produce new or advanced knowledge resulting from the outcomes of the research with economic, commercial, environmental, social and/or cultural benefits for Australia, and to enhance research in Australian Government priority areas.

Selection process

Applications for funding commencing in 2024 opened on 16 August 2023 and closed on 
10 October 2023. Applications were submitted through the Australian Research Council (ARC) Research Management System (RMS). This report outlines outcomes from the ARC A/g Chief Executive Officer (CEO) to the Minister.

These recommendations are based on advice from the ARC Selection Advisory Committee (SAC) which: 

• assessed applications and reviewed assessments made by independent assessors
• reviewed candidates’ comments on assessors’ reports
• ranked each application relative to the others on the basis of the application, the assessors’ reports and candidates’ responses to those assessments
• assessed and recommended budgets; 

and, advice from the ARC’s National Competitive Grants Program (NCGP) Eligibility Committee which:

• considered eligibility issues identified by ARC staff, the members of the ARC SAC or independent assessors
• where required, sought advice from the ARC’s Medical Research Advisory Group
• made recommendations to the CEO in respect of ineligible applications.

This report reflects the outcomes approved by the Minister. Unless otherwise specified, data represented in this report exclude withdrawn applications.

Assessment criteria

All applications that meet the eligibility criteria for the Australian Laureate Fellowships 2024 applications were assessed and merit ranked using the following assessment criteria:

1. Investigator/Capability (40%)

• Describe the:
  • Research Opportunity and Performance Evidence (ROPE) including:
    • outstanding research outputs and achievements taking into account research opportunity;
    • evidence for and/or potential to undertake ground-breaking research;
    • leadership ability and plans to build world class research capacity and diverse teams; and
    • potential to create an enduring legacy.
  • extent to which the candidate will build collaborations across research organisations and/or industry and/or with other disciplines both within Australia and internationally.

2. Project quality and innovation (25%)

• Describe the:
  • contribution to an important gap in knowledge or significant problem;
  • innovation of the research program in the context of recent international advances in research in this area;
  • clarity of the major research questions;
  • cohesiveness of the project design and implementation plan (including the appropriateness of the aim, conceptual framework, method, data and/or analyses);
  • extent to which the research has the potential to enhance international collaboration; and
  • extent to which the research will be cost-effective and represents value for money.
• If the project involves research pertaining to Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander communities describe:
  • the strategies for enabling collaboration with Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander communities (for example, dialogue/collaboration with an Indigenous cultural mentor);
  • any existing or developing, supportive and high-quality relationships with Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander communities; and
  • any personal affiliations with local Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander communities that can facilitate the proposed research.

3. Benefit (10%)

• Describe the potential benefits including the:
  • new or advanced knowledge resulting from outcomes of the research;
  • economic, commercial, environmental, social and/or cultural benefits for Australia and international communities; and
  • potential contribution to capacity in the Australian Government priority areas.
    

4. Mentoring and capacity building (25%) 

• Describe:
  • Mentoring, including the extent to which the candidate demonstrates:
    • exceptional ability to supervise and mentor postdoctoral researchers and other early-mid career researchers; and
    • they will be providing a suitable environment for postgraduate students and postdoctoral researchers.
  • Capacity building, including:
    • the extent to which the project will build new teams and create world-class research capacity, collaboration and innovation;
    • the extent to which the candidate demonstrates exceptional leadership and the organisational ability to ensure the development of focus and scale in research;
    • evidence of the project’s and researchers’ potential to attract financial resources to enhance research capacity; and
    • the extent to which this research builds new international research collaboration or links between research and industry.

Assessment process

The ARC assessment process for Australian Laureate Fellowships 2024 involved 15 SAC members on one multi-discipline panel and was managed in RMS. A total of 551 independent assessors’ reports were submitted to the ARC.

Funding levels and duration

Australian Laureate Fellowships projects are funded for 5 years on a full-time basis, subject to sufficient scheme funding, the provisions of the Australian Research Council Act 2001 (the ARC Act) and continued satisfactory progress of the Australian Laureate Fellowships project.

It is a requirement of the Discovery Program Grant Guidelines - Fellowships (2023 edition) for the Administering Organisation to provide a salary of Level E professorial appointment (or equivalent) to the Australian Laureate Fellowship. The salary provided by the ARC of $179,840 (2023$) per annum including 30 per cent on-costs contributes to that salary.

In addition to the Australian Laureate Fellowship salary supplement and salary-related (on-cost) support, the ARC will provide Australian Laureate Fellows with:

1. additional funding for 2 postdoctoral research associates for 5 years each and 2 postgraduate researchers for 4 years each; and
2. project funding of up to $300,000 per annum for 5 years.
3. up to $20,000 per year (additional to project funding for Kathleen Fitzpatrick Australian Laureate Fellowship or Georgina Sweet Australian Laureate Fellowship) to support ambassadorial role to promote women in research.

Summary of outcomes

The ARC received a total of 128 applications for Australian Laureate Fellowships for funding commencing in 2024. 

Seventeen Australian Laureate Fellows are approved for funding commencing in 2024, shown in Table 1. The overall success rate for Australian Laureate Fellowships for funding commencing in 2024 is 13.3 per cent. The total indicative funding approved is $58.3 million over 5 financial years (Tables 2 and 4). A break-down of success rates and funding amounts is shown in Table 2.

Of the unsuccessful applications in 2024, one was found not to meet eligibility requirements.

Table 1.  Australian Laureate Fellows approved for funding commencing in 2024.

Fellowship candidate	Administering Organisation
Prof Derek Abbott	The University of Adelaide
Prof Andrew Baker	The University of New South Wales
Prof Gabrielle Belz	The University of Queensland
Prof Nathaniel Bindoff	University of Tasmania
Prof Alan Collins	The University of Adelaide
Prof Yihong Du	The University of New England
Prof Christopher Gibson	University of Wollongong
Prof Michael Kearney	The University of Melbourne
Prof Liza Lim	The University of Sydney
Prof James McCaw	The University of Melbourne
Prof Andrea Morello	The University of New South Wales
Prof Jacqueline Peel	The University of Melbourne
Prof Sharon Robinson	University of Wollongong
Prof Jeffrey Walker	Monash University
Prof Hongxia Wang	Queensland University of Technology
Prof Michael Ward	The University of Sydney
Prof Thomas Wernberg	The University of Western Australia

* Biographies for the 17 Australian Laureate Fellows will be available on the ARC website.

Table 2. Application numbers, success rates, requested and allocated funds for approved Australian Laureate Fellowships applications from 2023 to 2024.

Funding year	Applications considered	Applications approved	Success rate (%)	Requested funds over project life for all applications considered ($)	Requested funds over project life for approved applications ($)	Funds allocated over project life for approved applications ($)	Return rate for approved applications (%)
2023	119	17	14.3	$421,052,923	$59,951,053	$53,912,540	89.9
2024	128	17	13.3	$460,930,538	$61,366,926	$58,342,497	95.1

 

Kathleen Fitzpatrick Australian Laureate Fellowship and Georgina Sweet Australian Laureate Fellowship

Of the 32 female Australian Laureate Fellowship candidates, 27 applied for a Kathleen Fitzpatrick Australian Laureate Fellowship or a Georgina Sweet Australian Laureate Fellowship.

The recipients of the Kathleen Fitzpatrick Australian Laureate Fellowship (awarded to a highly ranked candidate from the Humanities, Arts and Social Science disciplines) and the Georgina Sweet Australian Laureate Fellowship (awarded to a highly ranked candidate from the Science and Technology disciplines) are provided with additional funding to undertake an ambassadorial role to promote women in research and to mentor early career researchers, particularly women, to encourage them to enter and establish careers in research in Australia. 

The assessment for these prestigious Fellowships takes place in two stages. Applicants who have indicated interest in either a Georgina Sweet or Kathleen Fitzpatrick Fellowship must first be successful as an Australian Laureate Fellow. Only when the SAC has recommended them as Australian Laureate Fellows will an applicant be assessed for a Kathleen Fitzpatrick Australian Laureate Fellowship or a Georgina Sweet Australian Laureate Fellowship.

The 2024 recipients of the Kathleen Fitzpatrick Australian Laureate Fellowship and Georgina Sweet Australian Laureate Fellowship are shown in Table 3.

Table 3. 2024 Kathleen Fitzpatrick Australian Laureate Fellowship and Georgina Sweet Australian Laureate Fellowship

Fellowship Type	Approved candidate	Administering Organisation
Georgina Sweet Australian Laureate Fellowship	Prof Hongxia Wang	Queensland University of Technology
Kathleen Fitzpatrick Australian Laureate Fellowship	Prof Jacqueline Peel	The University of Melbourne

 

Table 4. Indicative funds for approved Australian Laureate Fellowships 2024 applications

Budget item	2024–2025	2025–2026	2026–2027	2027-2028	2028-2029	TOTAL
Australian Laureate Fellowship Salary including on-costs	$3,057,280	$3,057,280	$3,057,280	$3,057,280	$3,057,280	$15,286,400
ARC Postdoctoral Researchers	$3,754,212	$3,754,212	$3,754,212	$3,754,212	$3,754,212	$18,771,060
ARC Postgraduate Researcher	$776,880	$1,015,920	$1,015,920	$1,015,920	$239,040	$4,063,680
Project Funding	$4,031,226	$4,043,661	$4,099,611	$4,112,750	$3,934,109	$20,221,357
TOTAL	$11,619,598	$11,871,073	$11,927,023	$11,940,162	$10,984,641	$58,342,497

 

Outcomes by discipline

A summary of outcomes by discipline panel is shown in Table 5. 

Table 5. Application numbers, success rates and requested and allocated funds for Australian Laureate Fellowships 2024 by discipline.

Discipline *	Applications considered	Applications approved	Success rate (%)	Requested funds over project life for all applications considered ($)	Requested funds over project life for approved applications ($)	Funds over project  life for approved applications ($)	Return  Rate for approved applications (%)
BSB	22	5	22.7	$79,487,961	$18,471,602	$17,697,563	95.8
EIC	35	2	5.7	$127,018,684	$7,444,540	$7,157,790	96.1
HCA	16	2	12.5	$59,774,848	$7,670,945	$7,558,560	98.5
MPCE	31	7	22.6	$109,594,926	$24,080,077	$22,315,087	92.7
SBE	24	1	4.2	$85,054,119	$3,699,762	$3,613,497	97.7
Total	128	17	13.3	$460,930,538	$61,366,926	$58,342,497	95.1

*BSB = Biological Sciences and Biotechnology; EIC = Engineering, Information and Computing Sciences; HCA = Humanities and Creative Arts; MPCE = Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry and Earth Sciences; SBE = Social, Behavioural and Economics Sciences  

Outcomes by Administering Organisation

The Administering Organisations of the 17 applications approved for funding are: 

• Monash University (1)
• Queensland University of Technology (1)
• The University of Adelaide (2)
• The University of Melbourne (3)
• The University of New England (1)
• The University of New South Wales (2)
• The University of Queensland (1)
• The University of Sydney (2)
• The University of Western Australia (1)
• University of Tasmania (1)
• University of Wollongong (2)

Career age and gender

Of the 128 Australian Laureate Fellowship candidates in this round, 32 were female, 95 were male and 1 chose not to specify gender. The success rate for female, male and unspecified candidates in this round is 15.6 per cent, 12.6 per cent and 0.0 per cent respectively. 

Success rates of Australian Laureate Fellowship candidates by career age and gender in the current Australian Laureate Fellowship round are presented in Figure 1. Candidates who did not provide gender information (0.8 per cent) and candidates who did not specify the date of completion of their PhD or who do not hold a PhD (0 per cent) are not represented in the figure below. 

Figure 1.  Participation and success rate of Australian Laureate Fellowships 2024 candidate by gender and career age*^

* Career age is calculated as years since PhD. The earliest PhD award date was used where there was more than one PhD. 

^ Calculated career age does not take career interruptions into consideration.

Attracting and retaining outstanding researchers

Applications were open to Eligible Organisations to nominate candidates who are world-class researchers of international repute, resident either within Australia or overseas (Table 6).

Table 6. Citizenship/residency status of Australian Laureate Fellowships 2024 candidates and approved Awardees

Citizenship/residency status	Applications considered	% of Applications considered	Applications approved	Success rate (%)
Foreign Nationals	4	3.1	0.0	0.0
Resident Australians	120	93.8	17	13.3
Returning Australians	4	3.1	0.0	0.0
Total	128	100	17	13.3

Note: All totals and percentages are shown using rounded figures, and as such may not sum.

International collaboration

Among 128 of the applications considered, applicants foreshadowed 605 instances of collaboration with researchers in 72 overseas locations. Of the applications approved for funding, 17 foreshadowed 67 instances of collaboration with researchers in 22 overseas locations (Figure 2).

Figure 2. International collaborations by location in approved Australian Laureate Fellowships 2024 applications*

*The top 9 international collaboration locations are listed in Figure 2 and the remaining are grouped in the ‘Other’ category