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Inspiring Women Career Recovery Grants

Deadline: 21-Jun-21

The veski is seeking applications for its inspiring women career recovery grants that are designed for female mid-career leaders or emerging leaders in STEM in Victoria to provide vital and timely support via short-term flexible funding to boost research & help restore pre-pandemic competitiveness.

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has compounded pre-existing gender inequality. Reduced work hours and work disruptions due to home & caring responsibilities have disproportionately affected women, threatening to wind back the hard-fought gains to achieve gender equity.

Funding information

  • The veski inspiring women recovery grants will provide 12 months funding of up to $50,000 to boost research outputs and increase competitiveness when applying for future funding from major funding bodies.

Important notes

The veski inspiring women career recovery grants selection panel is seeking an honest and confidential assessment of the applicant pertaining to:

  • The quality of the candidate and demonstrated outstanding achievements leading up to the COVID-19 pandemic, noting outcomes relative to opportunities;
  • Demonstrated leadership including evidence of supporting and fostering an inclusive culture of innovators;
  • The extent to which the pandemic affected the applicant’s planned research outputs in comparison to peers in the same field of research;
  • The potential for the grant to restore pre-pandemic competitiveness, leveraging the maximum benefit in the short-term; and
  • The potential impact of the grant on the candidate’s capacity for longterm research contributions & career development, as well as on the field of research.
  • The candidate is further assessed on the Victorian academic or research institution’s Statement of Support.

Eligibility Criteria

  • The veski inspiring women career recovery grants are open to female researchers and scientists in the areas of: science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
  • Recipients of other professional, state, national or international awards are eligible to apply. Preference may be given to applicants who have not received funding to support career disruptions in 2020/2021, dependent upon the amount of funding recieved.

Applications are sought from STEM women who:

  • are leaders, or potential leaders in their field (noting achievements relative to opportunities);
  • had significant home and carer commitments (or other compounding reasons) that disrupted and limited working hours in 2020, reducing expected research outcomes, and affecting competitiveness in their field;
  • can utilise the grant funding to quickly and significantly boost research outputs, with the potential to assist others in the process; and
  • can provide details of those in your care during 2020.
  • Preference will be given to those with significant caring responsibilities, for example those with children who were required to be home schooled during lockdown periods.
  • Applications that demonstrate the potential for significant impact to career progression, and to the field of research, with benefits for the State of Victoria are encouraged.

At the closing date for applications (21 June) applicants must:

  • Be an Australian citizen, Permanent Resident of Australia or New Zealand citizen;
  • Be a full-time or a part-time employee [at least 0.6 FTE] at a Victorian academic or research institution; and
  • Have at least 5 years of Full Time Equivalent [FTE] professional postdoctoral scientific research experience in their field, up to a maximum of 10 years. The years of post-doctoral experience may have been worked at less than 1.0 FTE.

To redress the balance of the effects of home and carer responsibilities in 2020, the highly flexible funding can be used, but is not limited to:

  • fund a Research Assistant or Postdoctoral Researcher;
  • support a PhD stipend (Australian/NZ PhD students);
  • fund a replacement of their teaching and administrative duties;
  • extend expiring contracts of temporary or fix-term staff;
  • pay for carers support;
  • support for relevant IT purchases;
  • support for research-related travel i.e., international/national conferences [including family/carer expenses],
  • pay for professional development;
  • undertake a sabbatical at an Australian university to utilise specialist services and/or equipment; and/or
  • support mental health and wellbeing.

It is preferred that any funding directed to salary or stipend support is ‘paying it forward’, with the aim of building diverse and inclusive teams, including the support of other women in STEM through the grant.

For more information, visit https://www.veski.org.au/career-recovery-grants/