Future Fellowships Fact Sheet 

KEY POINTS

• In the 2008-09 Federal Budget, the Government met its election commitment to fund the $844 million Future Fellowships scheme for top mid-career researchers.
• The internationally competitive scheme will provide an incentive for Australian researchers based overseas to return home to continue their work and also to attract the best international researchers to Australia.
• Over five years, the scheme will offer 1,000 talented Australian and international mid-career researchers four-year fellowships with salaries of up to $140,000 a year. Host organisations will receive an additional $50,000 a year to support related infrastructure, equipment, travel and relocation costs.
• The Future Fellowships scheme is intended to address the uncertain career paths for researchers that cause many highly qualified mid-career researchers to further their careers overseas due to lack of opportunities in Australia. 
• The scheme will seek to encourage those researchers who can demonstrate a capacity to build collaboration across industry and/or research institutions and/or with other disciplines.
• Future Fellowships will fund researchers conducting all types of research (including pure basic research, strategic basic research and applied research) and particularly in areas of national priority that will deliver significant economic, environmental, social health or cultural benefits to Australia, for example renewable energy, manufacturing technologies, the sciences, medical research, education and Indigenous health and wellbeing.
  

FACTS AND FIGURES

• The Future Fellowships will be administered by the Australian Research Council (ARC).
• The ARC will collaborate with the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) in assessment of funding proposals. Applicants will be expected to demonstrate a link between each Fellowship and the host organisation’s research strengths to ensure that they align with planning for renewal and expansion of the research workforce.
• Administration of the scheme by the ARC will help to ensure:
• that the selection of Future Fellows is based on merit;
• the application of consistent and equitable criteria in the selection of fellows;
• that candidates are of equivalent calibre across institutions and discipline areas; and
• that candidates in a given discipline will be provided with an appropriate research training environment that offers access to excellent infrastructure.
• On 23 May 2008, the Minister released a consultation paper on the development of the Future Fellowships   The closing date for feedback on the Future Fellowships Consultation Paper was 27 June 2008. The ARC received 240 submissions in response to the consultation paper from a diverse range of stakeholders across the research sector.
• The first round of Fellowships will be awarded in 2009.