The Capstone Editing Early Career Academic Research Grant for Women 2023

Overview

The Capstone Editing Early Career Academic Research Grant for Women provides up to A$5,000 for one academic per year to assist with the costs associated with a research project of her choosing leading towards a publication.

The grant can be used to cover any costs related to the research project, such as conducting a field trip; purchasing books, software or equipment; hiring a translator; travel to learn new techniques in a lab interstate or overseas; small lab equipment; key reagents to complete a project; performing surveys or interviews; and academic editing, such as for journal articles, manuscripts and conference papers. The grant can also be used to cover expenses that most university funding does not cover, such as those related to the need of academic women to secure paid child care to assist them to meet their work responsibilities and research goals, due to the continued prevalence of traditional gender roles around caring in the home.

As part of the application, you need to outline the scope of your research project and what you plan to use the funds for, and provide evidence of the costs involved.

Why we want to help

Despite their predominant numbers at the undergraduate and graduate levels, women generally remain under-represented in academia. This is known as the ‘pipeline effect’, in which women pursue academic advancement post-PhD at a lower rate than men, with many declining to take up academic positions. This effect, although under-studied, appears to be the result of the highly competitive nature of academia, which adversely affects women in both their decision to embark on an academic career and their development within that career.

Academic workloads at all levels are often excessive, with unrealistic expectations regarding research output and the unpaid overtime that is necessary to work competitively. Ninety per cent of full-time academics work over 40 hours a week, including 51 per cent who work over 50 hours a week (and this can mean anywhere up to 80 hours a week). Given the continued social expectations and structural factors that result in women often assuming the bulk of the responsibility of meeting the demands of parenthood and other caring roles, these workloads are quite simply impossible for many female academics to sustain. Despite the progress that many academic institutions have made regarding caring’s effect on academic work, it is undeniable that overall there is a systemic failure to recognise all the ways that caring, particularly motherhood, can profoundly alter a female academic’s career.

How we can help

For early career women academics, there are often costs associated with working longer hours to meet both their varied responsibilities and their research goals. While working outside of normal hours is not a practice that we encourage, it is one that is widely acknowledged (and sometimes even expected) to occur in academia. Often a woman’s additional childcare responsibilities, for example, are a barrier to her performing this additional work, putting her at a disadvantage in comparison to colleagues without those same responsibilities. In offering this grant, Capstone Editing acknowledges the greater difficulties faced by female academics in developing and continuing their careers and seeks to ameliorate this situation with practical, financial support.

Eligibility

Before applying for this scholarship, please check your eligibility against these criteria:

• You must be a woman.
• You must be employed as an academic staff member in a position that involves research at an Australian or New Zealand university (i.e. staff in teaching-only positions are not eligible and professional staff are not eligible).
• You may be employed on a continuing or fixed-term basis. (Casual staff are not eligible.)
• You may be employed part time or full time.
• You must be an early career academic. This is defined as someone who holds a PhD, and has graduated from their PhD within the past six years or who has begun continuing or fixed-term employment in an academic position for the first time within the past two years.
• The research project must be one intended to lead to publication. This is defined as a research project for which one of the expected outcomes is publication of a peer-reviewed journal article, book chapter or book. It is recognised that academic research is incredibly varied and that some research will result clearly and quickly in a publication while other research might not lead to a publication for some time. Part of the purpose of this grant is to assist women to overcome barriers to their career progression, and publication is crucial to this. That is why one of the goals of the research project should be publication. You can specify in your application the type of publication you are aiming for and how it is related to your research project.
• Previous recipients of this grant may not apply again.
• Previous unsuccessful applicants may reapply every year if they wish.
• You cannot apply if you are an employee or contractor of Capstone Editing (or a family member of an employee or contractor).

Application process

Applications are currently OPEN. Read about our past winners: Dr Tamaki Mihic (2018), Dr Claire Henry (2019), Dr Fiona Foley (2020), Dr Tin Kei Wong (2021) and Dr Nicole Hayes (2022).

Applications are open from 10 August 2022 to 24 June 2023.

The grant will be awarded on 25 July 2023.

The Capstone Editing Early Career Academic Research Grant for Women is awarded on the basis of both academic merit and financial need. Each application will be carefully assessed. The successful applicant will be chosen at the sole discretion of Capstone Editing, and this decision is final.

To apply, please complete the application form below.

If you have any questions, please first visit the Scholarship and Grants Program section of our FAQs.

If you still have questions or require any further information after reading our FAQs, you can email scholarships@capstoneediting.com.au.

Apply

To apply for this scholarship, simply complete this form and provide your supporting documents. Please ensure you have checked your eligibility in our terms and conditions. For details on how Capstone Editing protects your personal information, please read our privacy policy.

Source / More information: Official Website HERE.