Applications

L’Oréal Australia For Women in Science Fellowships

With the support of the Australian National Commission for UNESCO

endorsed by the Australian Academy of Science

The world needs science… science needs women

Applications for the 2011 L’Oréal Australia For Women in Science Fellowships opened on 1 April 2011 and closed on 2 May 2011.

The three $20,000 Fellowships are intended to help early career women scientists to consolidate their careers and rise to leadership positions in science. The Fellowships are awarded to women who have shown scientific excellence in their career to date and who have an appropriate research plan that will be assisted by the one-year Fellowship.

Criteria for Eligibility

  • Application is open to post-doctoral researchers who have completed their PhD since 2 May 2006 (NB: excluding maternity leave and periods of part time work due to family considerations);
  • Applicants must be Australian citizens or permanent residents. Temporary residents in the process of applying for permanent residency may apply but decisions of eligibility will be left to the discretion of the jury;
  • Applicants must be associated with an Australian-based research institution, and must be intending to continue their research in Australia for the next 12 months;
  • Applicants must be women involved in the life sciences, health sciences, material sciences, physical sciences, mathematics or engineering;
  • Applications will be considered only if they are complete and arrive within the deadline time.

Applications opened on 1 April 2011 and closed at midnight on 2 May 2011.

NB. Do not confuse the deadline for the L’Oréal Australia For Women in Science Fellowship with that of the UNESCO-L’ORÉAL International Fellowship program, which is part of the international program.

Exceptions

If for exceptional reasons you don’t meet one or other of the guidelines, and you still wish to apply, please note your circumstances in the application in your candidate’s statement.

How to apply

Initial application

Applicants are asked to complete the online application form by midnight on 2 May 2011:

1.       We recommend that you write a draft application first using the MS Word version of the form, allowing you to easily copy and paste longer answers into the online form (see the links in the last section on this page).

2.       We will only receive applications via the website. The form will only support basic formatting e.g. bold, italics, etc. In the form you will be asked to identify a mentor and up to two additional referees. Please do not send references or any additional information to us by email. It will not be used in the first round of judging.

3.       The applications will be sent to the jury panel for review and a shortlist of applicants will be drawn up.

Shortlisted candidates

1.       If you are shortlisted you will be asked to send a CV of three to five pages.

2.       We will write to your mentor and referees and ask them to provide closed letters of reference.

3.       The CV and letters of reference should be emailed to loreal@scienceinpublic.com.au or posted to: L’Oréal For Women in Science Fellowships, c/o Science in Public, PO Box 2076 Spotswood VIC 3015.

4.       Your CV and letters of reference must be sent by email by midnight on 3 June or, if posted, postmarked 3 June 2011. Late references may be accepted for consideration at the discretion of the jury panel.

5.       When naming your file, please use the following naming convention: “lastname_firstname_CV.file extension” for example Smith_Jane_CV.doc or Smith_Jane_CV.pdf for CVs; and Applicant Lastname_Firstname_Refereelastname.file extension type (e.g. Smith_Jane_Peters.pdf) for references.

Criteria for review

An inter-disciplinary jury of scientists will review all applications. The 2011 Jury currently comprises:

  • Jenny Graves, Professor and Head of the Comparative Genomics Research Group at the Australian National University and L’Oréal -UNESCO For Women in Science Laureate 2006
  • Suzanne Cory, Professor and Former Director, Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research and L’Oréal -UNESCO For Women in Science Laureate 2001, President of the Australian Academy of Science
  • Cathy Foley, Chief at CSIRO Materials Science and Engineering Division, and  President of the Federation of Australian Scientific and Technological Societies
  • Julie Campbell, Professor and Senior Research Fellow at the Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology, University of Queensland
  • Georgia Chenevix-Trench, Professor and Senior Research Fellow at the Queensland Institute of Medical Research
  • James Bradfield Moody, Chair of Science for the Australian National Commission for UNESCO and Executive Director of Development at CSIRO

The jury will review all applications and select three Fellows based on:

  • Intellectual merit/academic records/accepted requisites for scholarly scientific study including:
    • ability to plan and conduct research
    • ability to work as a team member or independently
    • ability to interpret and communicate research findings;
  • Scientific excellence and appropriateness of proposed research or a clearly articulated plan of study;
  • Reference letters.

The Fellowships are highly competitive, with over 160 applications received in 2010. The jury are looking for future leaders in their fields: researchers who have already had several high impact publications and other recognition of their research including grants, prizes and invitations to speak at conferences.

If you don’t yet have an established publication record, you may wish to defer applying for this Fellowship for a year or two while you establish your career.

The award

Three AU$20,000 fellowships will be awarded. Candidates will be permitted to attain matching grants or supplemental fellowship grants if they do not prohibit or pose a conflict in acceptance of the L’Oréal Australia For Women in Science Fellowship. The Australian Fellowships may not be deferred nor renewed. Awardees will receive the funds in two-part payments: the first at the award ceremony and the final payment six months later.

L’Oréal Australia reserves the right not to award one or more of the For Women in Science Fellowships.

The Fellowships are intended to help finance the scientific research of the Fellows. The Fellowship funds can, for example, be used for equipment and reagents/consumables, and for travel expenses including the cost of attending conferences. The funds may also be used for child care but not for any other personal costs.

The Fellowship may not be used to supplement the applicant’s salary, other than in exceptional circumstances, but may be used to support the hire of a research assistant if it is required to ensure the applicant’s research progresses.

In addition, the Fellowship may not be used to pay institutional overheads. It is a personal prize and will be paid directly to the recipients, not to the research institution.

Successful Fellows will be advised in writing of their successful submission by 6 July 2011. They will be invited to Melbourne prior to the Award Ceremony to undergo a media training session on 18 August.  This is not compulsory but is highly recommended. This will be followed by a morning tea at L’Oréal’s Melbourne headquarters on 19 August.

The Fellowships will be announced on Tuesday 23August 2011 at an Award Ceremony to be held in Melbourne.

The three Fellows will be expected to attend the Award Ceremony. Jury members and representatives from the Australian National Commission for UNESCO and the Australia Academy of Science will be invited to the ceremony, together with relevant government officials, academic or research institutions, science and general media, and the Fellows’ family and friends.

Fellows will also participate in the Girls in Science Forum for high school students on 24 August 2011 in Melbourne.

L’Oréal Australia will cover the cost of travel to Melbourne and accommodation (if required) for the successful Fellows. The first payment, equal to half of the Fellowship funding, will be made at the ceremony.

Six months after receiving their Fellowships (end of February 2012), recipients are expected to submit a status report on their research projects, including the value of the Fellowship and a reconciliation of funds spent. This report will be forwarded to L’Oréal and the jury members for review. The second payment will follow receipt of this report.

At the conclusion of the Fellowship in August 2012 a final report should be submitted including a summary of the Fellow’s achievements during the Fellowship year, the value of the Fellowship and a reconciliation of funds spent. The report should be submitted to L’Oréal within one month of the completion of the Fellowship and will be forwarded to jury members for review.

During the Fellowship period, Fellows will be expected to act as advocates for women in science in Australia. They may be asked to attend events in Australia on behalf of the Fellowship program, and where possible be available for interviews and similar opportunities.

Ready to apply?

  • Read about previous years’ recipients here
  • Draft your application offline using these links to the Rich Text or Word Version of the application (the rich text version may work better on Macs)
  • Read our FAQ page if you have questions
  • Complete the online application form
  • Sit back and wait for the results of the initial judging round. Both the shortlisted candidates and unsuccessful applicants will be notified of their status during the week of 23 May 2011.