Early Career Researcher Grant

Overview

The University of Melbourne’s Early Career Researcher (ECR) Grants scheme aims to support early career researchers (ECRs) to undertake high-quality research projects that strengthen their track record and build capability and competitiveness for future research funding applications. This scheme is a core part of the University’s research development strategy under Advancing Melbourne 2030 and Advancing Research 2030, which place a high priority on supporting researchers at the pivotal early career stage.

Funding

Each successful project is funded by a matched commitment from Chancellery (50%) and the host faculties and departments (50%). Grant funding will be awarded as follows:

• Minimum of $5,000 and a maximum of $25,000 for Architecture Building and Planning, Arts, Business and Economics, Education, Fine Arts and Music, and Law.
• Minimum of $5,000 and a maximum of $40,000 for Engineering and Information Technology, Science, and Medicine Dentistry and Health Science

Applicants who apply for ECR Grants may be concurrently eligible and considered for special research grants targeted at ECRs, namely the Carlo and Rita Giugni ECR Grant for Aged Care Research and the Judy Yeung ECR Grant for Voluntary Assisted Dying and Euthanasia Research (see 1.4 in the Guidelines). In this instance, part of the grant funds will be provided from the relevant philanthropic gift fund.

These two grants are only available to employees of the University or its departments (please see the ECR Grants scheme guidelines for full eligibility criteria).

Applicants for 2026 ECR grants can be Research focused, Teaching and Research or Education focused.

How to apply

1. Review the Scheme guidelines

   Read the Scheme Guidelines and supporting information linked below.

2. Review faculty processes

   Ensure that you are aware of any additional submission requirements specific to your Faculty/School.

   Faculty	Contact	Instructions
   Architecture, Building and Planning	Lanny Sandler (abp-research),  abp-research@unimelb.edu.au	Notice of Intent Due: 5.00 pm 14 February to abp-research@unimelb.edu.au Review Deadline: 5.00 pm 2 March.  Email draft application form ( PDF copy generated in SmartyGrants) to abp-research@unimelb.edu.au for review.
   Arts	School contacts	Please submit directly to RIC. To arrange signoff please liaise with your School research representative: Arts: Elizabeth Lakeyelizabeth.lakey@unimelb.edu.au or Delia Lin delia.lin@unimelb.edu.au Asia Institute: Claire Maree cmaree@unimelb.edu.au Culture and Communication: Susan Lowish susan.lowish@unimelb.edu.au Historical and Philosophical Studies: Matthew Champion mscha@unimelb.edu.au Languages and Linguistics: Nick Thieberger thien@unimelb.edu.au Social and Political Sciences: Jens Zinn jzinn@unimelb.edu.au
   Business & Economics*	Ryan Perera, 9035 3863, fbe-research@unimelb.edu.au	Notice of Intent Due:  5.00 pm Friday, 14 February to fbe-research@unimelb.edu.au Review: 5.00 pm Friday, 21 February. Email draft application form ( PDF copy generated in SmartyGrants) to fbe-research@unimelb.edu.au for FBE review.
   Engineering and Information Technology	FEIT Research Services, FEIT-research@unimelb.edu.au	Register for the FEIT applicant support program.
   Education	foe-research@unimelb.edu.au	Please submit your draft project description and application form (PDF copy generated in SmartyGrants) for review to foe-research@unimelb.edu.au by 20 February 2025
   Law	Mas Generis, Averyl Gaylor and Marcus Feaver: law-research@unimelb.edu.au	Please contact Mas, Averyl or Marcus ASAP if you intend to apply.
   Science	Science Research Office, science-internalfunding@unimelb.edu.au	Notice of Intent: Monday 17 February 2025, 3.00pm - by email to science-internalfunding@unimelb.edu.au Review: Monday 24 February 2025, 3.00 pm - draft application form (PDF copy generated in SmartyGrants) by email to science-internalfunding@unimelb.edu.au
   Fine Arts & Music	Charlotte Midson, fineartsmusic-research@unimelb.edu.au	Please email fineartsmusic-research@unimelb.edu.au if you are planning on submitting an application
   Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences*	Tessa Grimmond, mdhs-grants@unimelb.edu.au	Submit directly to RIC via SmartyGrants.
   Eligible Affiliated Research Institutes	Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre (PMCC) The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health Bionics Institute The Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute Melbourne Business School (MBS) Orygen/CYMH [noting that most staff of CYMH are directly employed by the University, meaning they can apply under 4.1(c)(iii) of the guidelines]	*ECRs with honorary appointments who are employed by eligible affiliated research institutes may apply. MBS please follow any instructions from FBE. PMCC researchers please contact  Grants@petermac.org at least 2 weeks before the submission date if you are interested in this scheme. Other MRIs follow any instructions from MDHS. If awarded, these grants will be administered via the UoM faculty/department. Additionally, the Medical Research Institute is required to provide a co-contribution of up to $20,000 (50% of application budget up to $40,000).

3. Prepare and submit your Application form (including Eligibility Exemption Requests if relevant)

   • Log in to SmartyGrants to begin your application. If you do not meet all of the eligibility criteria due to career interruptions affecting research opportunity or other exceptional circumstances, please provide additional details in part B-1 of the application.
   • Start a draft Themis submission and copy the Themis submission #ID (the seven digit number starting with a ‘2’) to your SmartyGrants application.
   • Ensure you upload the fully signed Faculty Certification Form to your SmartyGrants application before submitting.
   • Submit your complete application via SmartyGrants portal by the due date.
   • Once you submit your SmartyGrants application a PDF of the application will be sent to you. Ensure you attach a copy to your Themis submission.

4. Create and submit a Themis Grants Workbench Submission

   A Walkthrough of this process is found here: Themis Workbench Submission (TS).

   Here are a few things that will help you with your Themis submission:

   • Access the workbench via Themis Homepage  > UoM Research Self-Service > Grants and Contracts > Grants Submission Workbench.
   • When filling out your submission details on the first page, select "4 - internal grant sponsored by UoM" as the type of submission.
   • On the sponsorship page, search for " Early Career Researcher Grants Scheme - 2026". Add the '%' mark before entering part of the scheme name (e.g., "%Early") and click on search.
   • Ensure you attach a PDF copy of your SmartyGrants application.
   • On the validation page, verify the listed Head of Department and change the status to 'Forwarded to HoD' before submitting. Do not add any other individuals (reviewers, etc.) on this page as it is not relevant to this program.
   • The status of the workbench submission should be 'Forwarded to HoD' by the submission due date.

   We understand that electronic approval from the Head of Department (HoD) may experience some delay. If you are unfamiliar with the approval process, your faculty research office can provide assistance.

Technical Support: In case you encounter any technical difficulties with the submission, kindly contact the Researcher Development Schemes team via the Research Helpline General Enquiries form with your Themis submission number (TS), and we will do our best to assist.

To help you with ensuring your query gets to the RDS team, please select the following options on the form:

• When asked "My request relates to" select "Research Grants and Contracts"
• In the "related to a GRANT/CONTRACT" question select "Grants"
• In the "relation to a Research Grant Proposal or a Grant Award or Agreement" question select "Research Grant Proposal"
• Then under the description section make sure to list you are seeking assistance for an  'Internal UoM' grant called the ‘Early Researcher Grants Scheme’ and request to speak with the RDS team. Please also provide any relevant information regarding your query.

Supporting documents

Key documents

Resources

Contacts

Manage Your Grant