FAIR Fellowships – EOI / Application Guide

The Victorian Fostering Achievement in Research (FAIR) Fellowships program is open to early and mid-career medical researchers who did not receive funding in the 2024 NHMRC grant round. Applications from those who identify as or support underrepresented cohorts in medical research, such as women, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, people with a disability, and LGBTQIA+ community will be given priority.*

Eligibility

Researchers that:

are working within Victorian universities, medical research institutes and health services providers;
have had an application assessed in the 2024 NHMRC Investigator Grant round for the EL2 stream that was found to be ‘fundable but not funded’, with a minimum category score of 6; and
are not a Chief Investigator A on any current NHMRC grants.

*This program aims to support equity, diversity and inclusion in Victoria’s health and medical research workforce and is targeted to groups who face systemic barriers to success. As such, we would like to reassure you that information we are seeking from applicants, awardees and employer organisations is directly for this purpose. Information that may help provide evidence for the need of this program may be reported to program partners, but specific and identifiable information will not be made publicly available.

Please refer to the FAQs page for further details.

Funding Guidelines

Funding of $74,000AUD will be provided to the primary employer of the researcher, to be used to support the intended outcomes over the 12-month award period.
The primary employer of the researcher must provide matched funding of $74,000AUD as a cash contribution to support the researcher to achieve the intended outcomes as listed above.
The primary employer of the researcher is responsible for providing a financial acquittal of the program funding within one month of the end of the 12-month award period, and demonstrate how the funding has supported the intended outcomes of the program.

EOI / Application Process

Stage 1 – Submit an Expression of Interest

EOI forms can be requested via email from [email protected]

EOIs must be submitted by no later than
12noon [AEST] on Friday 23rd August 2024
via email to [email protected]

Stage 2 – veski review of EOIs

Over the following 2 weeks, veski reviews EOIs and invites those deemed eligible to complete a full application. Detailed instructions on how to complete and upload the application will be provided.

Stage 3 – Submit a full application

Applications must be submitted by no later than
12noon [AEST] on Friday, 20th September 2024
via email to [email protected]

Submissions

EOI and Application submissions will be acknowledged via email within 24 hours of receipt.

Please note: emails can, on occasion, be directed to your spam/junk/promotion or clutter email folders.

Outcomes

It is anticipated that applicants will be notified of the outcome of their application mid October 2024.

Successful applicants will receive written confirmation of their 12-month funded research award for research commencing on 1st January 2025 and completed by 31st December 2025.

Reporting

Successful grant Awardees will be required to report against research progress, funding expenses and use against budget.

EOI Requirements

Recognising that the 2024 NHMRC Investigator Grant applications have already been through a rigorous process of assessment, the EOI and Application processes for the Victorian Fostering Achievement in Research (FAIR) Fellowships program has been designed to make this as simple a process as possible for applicants, given the timeframes for execution.

Complete an Expression of Interest form, request via email from [email protected]

The EOI form asks for information, including:

Confirmation that you applied for a 2024 NHMRC Investigator Grant Emerging Leader Level 2 (EL2) stream that was ‘fundable but not funded’, with a minimum category score of 6.
Overall score as stated on your NHMRC Application Assessment Summary – include all decimal places.
Category number as stated on your NHMRC Application Assessment Summary.
Confirmation that you are not a Chief Investigator A on any current NHMRC grant.
Description of how your application supports priority cohorts in the health and medical research workforce that are underrepresented, including women, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, people with disability, and the LGBTQIA+ community.
Name of your primary employer.
Name of your administering organisation (if not your primary employer).
Confirmation that you have discussed the co-funding requirement.

Should you be deemed eligible for funding through the award program, you will be invited to submit a full application.

Application requirements

Applications must include:

Title of your 2024 NHMRC Investigator Grant application;
Overall score as stated on your NHMRC Application Assessment Summary – include all decimal places;
Budget of expenditure of proposed activities over the 12-months of funding, please ensure you use the template provided by veski;
Description of how your application supports priority cohorts in the health and medical research workforce that are underrepresented, including women, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, people with disability, and the LGBTQIA+ community.
Statement of Support; and
Professional Headshot (JPEG or JPG format Upload), High resolution (minimum 300DPI/1MB), 20cms wide. Please provide a professional headshot facing the camera in a smiling, relaxed pose in front of a plain background; head and shoulders must be included with space above and to each side of your head; landscape orientation.

In developing this program, the team at veski has been mindful of sensitivities around the language we use and how we request information from you and we sincerely hope we have not caused offense. If you have any comments or suggestions on how we might look to improve this please get in touch via [email protected]. If you should feel aggrieved in anyway through undertaking this application, you can raise your concern to [email protected]

Statements of Support

It is the responsibility of applicants to ensure Statements of Support are provided with the Application form by the due date to ensure the eligibility criteria of the application is met.

The Statement of Support must be from your primary employer, on letter headed paper and signed by the person who is able to confirm the organisation’s financial support of the required matched cash funding ($74,000AUD) for example, your Head of Institution, Deputy Vice Chancellor (Research), Director, Dean, or Head of Department.

The Statement of Support must include:

confirmation of the applicant’s current employment status, including the FTE;
confirmation that the applicant submitted a 2024 NHMRC Investigator Grant application to the EL2 stream;
confirmation that applicant is not a Chief Investigator A on any current NHMRC grant;
confirmation that matched cash funding of $74,000AUD over 12-months will be provided by the primary employer organisation to the applicant if successful;
commitment to provide in-kind support to enable proposed outcomes of the grant;
A 300 word description of how the primary organisation is supporting researchers like the applicant to remain in Victoria’s health and medical research workforce, including how this grant will assist the organisation.