bridging the funding gap – guidelines

Prerequisites

Applicants must have had an application assessed for funding commencing in 2023, and received notification that the application was unsuccessful for either;

• a NHMRC Investigator Grant EL2 or L1 (receiving a minimum category score of 5 or 6), or
• an ARC Future Fellowship FT1, FT2 or FT3 (receiving an overall application band of between 10% to 25% of unsuccessful or top 10% of unsuccessful applications).

Eligibility

The veski inspiring women grants – bridging the funding gap, are open to eligible researchers and scientists in the areas of: science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

Applications are sought from STEM women who:

• Have intersectional identities*;
• Work at a not-for-profit Victorian university, research institute or health services provider;
• Are on a continuing research contingent funded / fixed term / casual employment contract;
• And at the closing date for applications (12:00pm Monday, 14 November 2022) applicants must be a full-time or a part-time employee [at least 0.6 FTE] at a Victorian university, research institute or health services provider; and
• Have between 8 -15 years of Full Time Equivalent [FTE] professional post- doctoral scientific research experience in their field. The years of post-doctoral experience may have been worked at less than 1.0 FTE.

Note: It is expected that successful grant recipients, for the duration of the grant term, will be supported by their institution through teaching load reductions, as per successful NHMRC or ARC recipients.

Please refer to the FAQs page for further details regarding the program and eligibility.

*All of the stated groups in the application form have equal opportunity for this award.

Funding guidelines

• Funding of up to $75,000AUD 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 up to $75,000AUD as a cash contribution to support the researcher to achieve the intended outcomes of the program. Primary employers who have provided salary/research support since your NHMRC/ARC unsuccessful notification, may use these funds as the matched cash funding.
• 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 award pilot.

The veski inspiring women grants – bridging the funding gap, is expected to support the research proposal contained within your NHMRC/ARC application, with the opportunity to enhance the research proposal to support the generation of important new data. To ensure the grant provides most value for the recipient the use of the grant funding is flexible and can also be used for, but is not limited to:

• Your salary
• A research assistant or postdoctoral researcher salary;
• A replacement of your teaching and administrative duties;
• Carers support;
• Research support materials to support or enhance the previous application
• Relevant IT purchases;
• Research-related travel i.e. international/national conferences [including family/carer expenses]
• Professional development;
• Undertaking a sabbatical at an Australian university to utilise specialist services and/or equipment; and/or
• Supporting mental health and wellbeing.

Key Criteria

Complete a full online application for the veski selection panel to assess against the following key criteria including;

• Significant leadership achievements in the field of research and more broadly i.e. mentoring and supervision, collaborative practice (200 words);
• The impact the grant will have on your career and how it will improve competitiveness for future funding (200 words);
• Key research activities and anticipated achievements throughout the 12months of the grant funding (300 words);
• Budget, inclusive of matched funding (download the budget template here);
• Demonstrated leadership as an advocate and supporter of diversity and inclusion STEM (200 words);

Other application requirements

• Outcomes relative to opportunities – description of impacts on research relative to opportunity
• Details of your current employment status, including salary and research funding available to you in 2023, plus other pending applications for funding;
• Details of the person who will provide the Statement of Support;
• Administrator contact details (for ongoing Funding Agreement liaison should you be successful); and
• Be able to take up the grant in 2023 and utilise funding to increase research outputs within a 12month period.

Disclaimer

This pilot supports equity, diversity and inclusion in Victoria’s research workforce and is targeted at women who face systemic barriers to success.  veski advises that information sought from applicants, awardees and employer organisations is directly for this purpose. Information that may have helped 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 or disclosed to any other external party without consent, unless required or authorized by law.

In developing this pilot, the team at veski were mindful of sensitivities around the language we used and how we requested information. We recognise we may not  have got it 100% right and sincerely hope we have not caused any offense. We would welcome feedback on how we can make our programs more inclusive.

Please direct any comments or suggestions on how we might look to improve, or any requests to alter any personal information to veski via [email protected].

Supporting documents

Either your
1.   NHMRC Investigator Grant application submission in either the EL2 or L1 stream (minimum category score of 5 or 6) for funding commencing in 2023 including;

• The 2022 NHMRC Application Assessment Summary (max 10MB PDF Upload);
• The full 2022 NHMRC Application (max upload 20MB PDF Upload).

Or your

2. ARC Future Fellowship application submission for either FT1, FT2, or FT3 streams (receiving an overall application band of between 10% to 25% of unsuccessful or top 10% of unsuccessful applications) for funding commencing in 2023 including;

• Screenshot of the 2022 feedback tab and the assessment tab providing the details of the outcomes (Max 10MB PDF upload).
• The full ARC Future Fellowship Application (max upload 20MB PDF Upload).

And
3. The Career Disruptions or ROPE section from either your NHMRC/ARC application;
4. A Curriculum Vitae including: 10 top publications from the past 10 years; Please include commencement and end dates (MM/YY) of study, employment & career breaks (2 pages).
5. Professional headshot. Further details regarding the required format can be found within the on-line application. The file naming protocol to use when uploading your professional headshot is; surname_initial_headshot_BTFG.
6. Biography written in the third person (150 words).
7. A Statement of Support from your Victorian academic or research institution (1 page)

Statement of Support

It is the responsibility of the applicant to ensure a Statement of Support is uploaded into the application form by the due date to ensure the eligibility criteria of the application is met.

If you are unsure of the process to secure matched funding for your application within your organisation, please speak to your Research Office team in the first instance for guidance

The one-page Statement of Support must be from your primary employer, on letter headed paper and signed by the person who is able to authorise the organisation’s financial support of the required matched cash funding (up to $75,000AUD) for example, your Head of Institution, Deputy Vice Chancellor (Research), Director, Dean, or Head of Department. [a Statement of Support guide can be downloaded here.]

The Statement of Support must include;

• Confirmation of the applicant’s current employment status, FTE, and their employment contract type i.e. continuing research contingent funded / fixed term / casual employment contract;
• Commitment to provide matched cash funding of up to $75,000AUD in the event that the applicant is successful, including the source(s) of the matched funding i.e. Faculty, Department etc.;
• Whether any funds ($ Amount & Duration) for either salary or research have been provided (or plan to be provided) to the applicant by their employer as a result of them receiving a notification that they had narrowly missed out on funding to commence in 2023 for either a NHMRC Investigator Grant EL2, or L1 (minimum category 6); or an ARC Future Fellowship FT1, FT2, or FT3 (top 10% unsuccessful) and whether this funding, or a component of this, will be put towards the matched funding;
• A commitment to provide in-kind support to enable the proposed outcomes of the grant;
• A commitment to provide support through professional development and opportunities to increase academic standing during the grant term; and
• An expectation that applicants are supported by their institution for the duration of the grant term through teaching load reduction, as per successful NHMRC/ARC recipients.

Selection

Applications will be screened for eligibility by veski. All eligible applications for the pilot veski inspiring women grants– bridging the gap will be considered by the selection panel.

The veski selection panel will, with absolute discretion, select recipients for veski inspiring women grants, on the basis of the key criteria. The panel’s recommendations will be submitted to the veski board of directors for endorsement.

The recommendations of the selection panel are final and appeals will not be considered. Feedback on unsuccessful applications will not be provided by either the panel or veski.

veski reserves the right not to award any grants in a given year.

Submission of your Application

The application round is NOW CLOSED.

Awards Force communications settings

On submission of an application an email will automatically be generated via veski’s Awards Force platform to confirm your application submission has been received.

It is therefore essential to SUBSRCIBE to receiving Awards Force Broadcast and Notification emails as this is the primary method of communicating important messages regarding your Application.  Review your Awards Force user profile, and, via the Preferences tab, ensure broadcast and notification emails are selected.

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

Obligations of career recovery recipients

Events
Recipients may be invited to participate in additional activities and events organised by veski to promote the veski inspiring women grants – bridging the funding gap, and to present research outcomes as a result of the grant at public fora or conferences.

Reporting
veski inspiring women grant – bridging the funding gap recipients must provide a progress and final report including research progress, funding expenses and use against budget, and any revisions made to the research plan.

Grant funding is released bi-annually.

Reports, or components thereof, may be used to promote the scheme.