Research grants

Small Research Assistance Grants

Applications are invited for the 2009 Faculty Small Research Assistance Grants. Grants will be made in two rounds by the Faculty Research and Graduate Studies Committee in a competitive process.

Applications close as follows:

Friday 15 May, 2009 for the first round, and
Friday 4 September, 2009 for the second round.

Small research assistance grants are available to all staff of the Faculty of Law and Management for one year to a maximum of $8,000. Preference may be given to new researchers (Level A and Level B) or early career researchers (ECR) who have not received grants previously. The purpose of the grants is to encourage staff to run small projects leading to publication in ARC ranked journals.

New researchers without an established research record are encouraged to apply with an ‘experienced researcher’ as a co-investigator, who will be able to act as a mentor.

“Early Career Researcher (ECR) means a researcher who has been identified in the Proposal as having a PhD awarded on or after 4 March 2004” (Section 8.3 of the ARC Discovery Projects Funding Rules for funding commencing 2010).

Grants are primarily solely for the support of Faculty Staff. However, if staff is considering a collaborative project with a researcher from either another Faculty or University, then the FLM staff member must be the Chief Investigator.

Eligibility

Staff may submit up to two applications for funding. Full-time or fractional (0.5 or above) academic staff of the Faculty of Law and Management are eligible to apply. Staff shall be ineligible to apply for a grant if they are:

  • employed to work solely on a research project or projects (e.g., a research Fellow employed to work full-time on an ARC research project);
  • seeking a grant for research which forms part of his/her higher degree studies;
  • holders of an honorary appointment with the University;
  • are terminating their employment in the Faculty prior to the end of the year of application.
  • The applicants must prove substantial progress of any previously Faculty funded  projects and provide written proof (such as conference presentation and journal submission) as part of their new applications to be considered.

Selection criteria

Grants will be allocated by the Faculty Research and Graduate Studies Committee. Each application will be assessed using the following criteria

  • the degree of infrastructure support available within the School and Faculty for the proposal;
  • academic quality of the proposal in terms of aims and significance; 
  • national or societal benefits of project; 
  • link to Faculty’s research strengths/strategic plans;
  • justification provided for the budget;
  • soundness of planning and research methodologies;
  • the project outcomes (e.g. publication in a quality refereed journal); 
  • potentials for developing the project into a large external grant application.

Progress reports

Grants are awarded for period of twelve months and recipients must submit a progress report on the project within three months of the end of the grant period. Recipients applying for a renewal of their grants will be required to submit a copy of this report with their application for renewal.

Application process

General comments

Applicants should complete the Research Assistance Grants: Application Form and attach the documentation requested. Applicants are to limit their research proposal to the space provided or as indicated on the form. Applications should be submitted as developed research plans ready to be implemented. Please refer to selection criteria at Point 3.

An application should contain all the information necessary to assess the project, without the need for oral explanation or reference to further documentation. Applications will be the sole source of information available to the selection sub-committee.

Submission guidelines and forms can be found on the “Research Assistance Grants: Guidelines” below.

Guidelines and forms 

The closing date for Round 1 applications is Friday 15 May 2009.

The closing date for Round 2 applications is Friday 4 September 2009.

The original plus seven copies must be submitted to the Secretary of the Faculty Research and Graduate Studies Committee.

The Faculty Research and Graduate Studies Committee will meet soon after to award the grants.

Contact

Secretary to the Faculty Human Ethics Committee
Email: FLM_ERGS@latrobe.edu.au

La Trobe University schemes

Postdoctoral Research Fellowships Scheme applications close 23rd September annually.
Publications Committee subsidies for books or journals - applications close 13 October annually.

For the full research grants calendar, please visit the RGSO website.

For further information on research grants please refer to the RGSO website.

See also