RDS-Early Career Researcher Grant-2026-March

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This is a preview of the 2026 Early Career Researcher Grant form. When you’re ready to apply, click Fill Out Now to begin.
 

Early Career Researcher Grant Application

* indicates a required field.

Information Before Completing the Grant Application

The Early Career Researcher Grant aims to support early career researchers demonstrating clear evidence of high research potential to progress their research careers and enhance competitiveness in applying for external research funding.

IMPORTANT REMINDERS BEFORE YOU BEGIN:

  • Please ensure you have read and understood the Early Career Researcher Grant Scheme Guidelines and FAQ/Instructions to Applicants. 
  • Use the Faculty Certification Form template available on the scheme website to secure support of the School, Department or Medical Research Institute (MRI) you are applying to. 
  • For applicants based at eligible affiliated MRIs, the Faculty Certification Form must be signed by the appropriate affiliated Director or delegate. If awarded, the MRI is required to provide a co-contribution of up to $20,000 (50% of application budget up to $40,000)
  • You will be required to upload the signed certification into this application before submitting.
  • Eligibility exemption requests must be made as part of this Application. Exemption requests made outside the Application form will not be considered.
  • A Themis Grant submission is required for all applicants. The status of the workbench submission should be 'Forwarded to HoD' by end of submission day.
  • Incomplete applications or declined eligibility exemptions will not be progressed for further assessment.
  • Applications must comply with the formatting, page and word limit requirements stated in the Application Form. Please ensure that you meet these requirements, as non-compliance risks your application being deemed ineligible for consideration. This is particularly important with regards to the page length of CVs and Project Descriptions.

Save as you go: Manually save your work as you progress through the application. 

 

Part A . Administrative Summary

https://sso.unimelb.edu.au/enduser/settings
Are you currently employed by the University of Melbourne? * Required
Response required.
Clear the selected value for Are you currently employed by the University of Melbourne?
Are you an honorary staff member of the University of Melbourne? * Required
Response required.
Clear the selected value for Are you an honorary staff member of the University of Melbourne?
Applicant Gender * Required
Response required.
Clear the selected value for Applicant Gender
No more than 1 choice may be selected. There is an optional field to add self entered response.
Response required.
Other
With regards to Australia, Indigenous refers to Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander (First Nations) peoples.

A1. Equity, Diversity & Inclusion

The University of Melbourne is interested in supporting research and researchers equitably and inclusively. The following questions will assist the various ECR Grant selection committees to understand how well your proposal aligns with institutional strategic aims to support equity, diversity and inclusion.

Please select the options relevant to your background/experience: * Required
Response required.Response required.
Clear the selected value for Please select the options relevant to your background/experience:
*'Other' may be used for free text answers.
Please select the options that are relevant to your ERC Grant project: * Required
Response required.Response required.
Clear the selected value for Please select the options that are relevant to your ERC Grant project:

A2. Host Faculty

At The University of Melbourne, 'Faculty' refers to Faculties and Graduate Schools.

Schools, Departments and Centres sit within these Faculties. You will need to select both the Faculty and School, Department, or Centre that you are applying to work in. 

You may select more than one department only if this project is to be shared between departments. If so, you will need the permission of both department heads.

If selecting an eligible affiliated research institute, please note the affiliated medical research institute (MRI) employing the ECR grant holder will be responsible for covering the portion of grant funding that is normally contributed by the Faculty.

Please refer to Scheme Guidelines for eligible affiliated research institutes
If uncertain please contact your Faculty finance representative

Fields of Research Codes (FoR)

You may include up to five FoR codes that best describe your area(s) of research, as relevant to the nominated publication(s). Please include code and percentage (totaling 100% for all FoR codes), e.g.:

  • 123456 - Atlantean Spearfishing (excl. mammals) - 51%;
  • 654321 - Atlantean Poetry - 49%

If unsure, please consult your faculty research office.

FoR Code

FoR Code Percentage

Must be a number and between 1 and 100. 

Must be between 1 and 5 rows

This number/amount is calculated. Total must be 100.

Socio-Economic Objective Codes (SEO)

You may include up to five SEO codes that best describe your area(s) of research, as relevant to the proposed research project. Please include code and percentage (totaling 100% for all SEO codes).

If unsure, please consult your faculty research office.

SEO Code

SEO Code Percentage

Must be a number and between 1 and 100. 

Must be between 1 and 5 rows

This number/amount is calculated. Total must equal 100.

A3. Appointment Details

Where applicable, please create additional rows for multiple appointments. Please select the 'Maximise' button to ensure you can view and complete all columns.

Current supervisor/lab headStart of current appointmentEnd of current appointment (if not continuing)Current appointment typeAppointment dutiesAppointment levelCurrent FTE
 * Required
 * Required
Response required.  * Required
Response required.  * Required
 * Required
 * Required
For multiple appointments, please use the start date of the first appointment
Must be a date. Applicants must be employed for the full duration of their ECR project.
Level A, B, C, etc.
e.g. 1.00 FTE, 0.4FTE, etc

Must be between 1 and 2 rows

Can you confirm you have confirmation of capacity for research at 0.4FTE (or equivalent/averaged over the grant period) from 2 January 2026 or earlier, and extending over the duration of your grant project? This is required for eligibility. * Required
Response required.

This section is not applicable because of your response to questions:

  • "Are you currently employed by the University of Melbourne?" on page 1
  • "Are you currently employed by the University of Melbourne?" on page 1
  • "Are you an honorary staff member of the University of Melbourne?" on page 1

The Carlo and Rita Giugni ECR Grant for Aged Care Research and The Judy Yeung ECR Grant for Voluntary Assisted Dying and Euthanasia Research are only open to current University of Melbourne staff in any discipline who will maintain a salaried position for the duration of the respective award period (2 January 2026 - 31 December 2026 for both Giugni and Yeung grants).

To be eligible for the Giugni ECR grant, the proposal must have potential to improve aged care or lead to a positive impact on how society supports aged people in their final years.

To be eligible for the Yeung ECR grant, the proposal must be for research that advances Voluntary Assisted Dying or euthanasia policy, practice or research.

Please note: Staff who are honorary at the University of Melbourne are not eligible.

 

Please tick to confirm where applicable.

As a current staff member of the University of Melbourne, would you like to be considered for the 2026 Carlo and Rita Giugni ECR Grant? * Required
Response required.
Clear the selected value for As a current staff member of the University of Melbourne, would you like to be considered for the 2026 Carlo and Rita Giugni ECR Grant?
As a current staff member of the University of Melbourne, would you like to be considered for the 2026 Judy Yeung ECR Grant? * Required
Response required.
Clear the selected value for As a current staff member of the University of Melbourne, would you like to be considered for the 2026 Judy Yeung ECR Grant?

Faculty Certification

Please attach a fully signed declaration form using the Faculty Certification Form template on the scheme web-page (form available for download here).

Applicants should submit a PDF copy of their application along with the Faculty Certification Form to your Head of School/Department for authorisation.

Before forwarding the form, ensure you have completed the Applicant Details section. If you are on a Research-Only appointment (as at A3), have your supervisor sign the form where indicated in addition to the Head of School/Department's signature on the remaining sections.

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