McKenzie Postdoctoral Fellowships Scheme

Overview

Established in 2010, the McKenzie Postdoctoral Fellowships scheme is the University of Melbourne’s flagship postdoctoral development program that contributes to research excellence and builds the capability of high calibre scholars at the pivotal early career stage. The fellowship is a period of concentrated research time that enables outstanding early career researchers to strengthen their research, generate new projects and collaborations, develop research leadership capabilities, and contribute to the broader research objectives of the University.

Applicants must identify an Academic Contact to support their application, and the Academic Contact must complete and submit the 2026 Academic Contact’s Endorsement Form (see also under 'Supporting Documents' below).

Applicants with a PhD from the University of Melbourne are eligible to apply to this scheme.

Funding

The University of Melbourne will award up to 16 postdoctoral fellowships for commencement in 2026 to outstanding postdoctoral researchers working in any research field of interest to the University and its faculties.

In alignment with the University’s Indigenous Strategy Murmuk Djerring and our commitment to building the long-term capability and breadth of the Indigenous academy, and where the criteria of this scheme are otherwise met, at least two of the fellowships will be awarded to Indigenous researchers or researchers whose appointment supports the equity, diversity, and inclusivity of our research community.

Funded by DVCR strategic funding, each recipient will be awarded at Academic Level A6 in the University Salary Band, along with on-costs and superannuation, as per the applicable University of Melbourne enterprise agreement terms and conditions of employment.

Funded by the host faculty, fellows will receive an additional single allocation of up to $25,000 for research project costs over the full term of the Fellowship.

The default term of a McKenzie Postdoctoral Fellowship is three years of research-focused activity (at 1.0 FTE).

Eligibility

• Applicants for 2026 must have been awarded a PhD in any discipline from a university in any country, including Australia and the University of Melbourne.
• Applicants should have completed the requirements for the award of their degree no earlier than 17 March 2022.
• Applicants must be able to commence their fellowship by 30 June 2026.
• Applicants must not have previously held and completed a McKenzie, Mary Lugton, Puzey or Melbourne Postdoctoral Fellowship.
• Applicants must not have outstanding Progress Reports or Final Reports from any other University of Melbourne researcher development scheme.

Please refer the Early Career Research Fellowships Guidelines below for full eligibility criteria.

Applicants who fall outside of the eligibility criteria above may make an Eligibility Exemption Request (EER) in Section B-1 of the Expression of Interest form (please see the Scheme Guidelines below for parameters of Eligibility Exemption Requests).

How to apply

1. Review the Scheme guidelines

Read the Early Career Researcher Fellowship Guidelines and other supporting information linked below.

2. Establish an Academic Contact

   All applicants are required to establish an Academic Contact at the University of Melbourne. The Academic Contact's details must be listed in Part F1 of the EOI form. The Academic Contact nominated in the application should be a regular point of contact at the University of Melbourne. They are expected to endorse your application, provide informal mentoring to the successful fellows throughout their Fellowships, or nominate an appropriate mentor. To find academics in your field, please use the University’s Find an Expert search tool.

   Important application steps:

   • Provide the Academic Contact's Endorsement Form to your Academic Contact.
   • Upload the signed form to your application by the EOI due date. Unsigned or late forms will not be accepted.

3. Check Your Faculty's Submission Requirements

Note additional submission requirements specific to the Faculty/School in which you are applying to work. Using the table below, please familiarise yourself with submission requirements or deadlines for your Faculty/School you are applying to work in.

Only apply via the SmartyGrants link relevant to your faculty of interest (see table below).

Faculty	Contact	Instructions
Architecture, Building and Planning	SmartyGrants PORTAL for ABP APPLICANTS	Notice of Intent Due:  ASAP to abp-research@unimelb.edu.au Review Deadline: Email your draft application form (PDF copy generated in SmartyGrants) and a copy of your Academic endorsers' support letter to abp-research@unimelb.edu.au for review by Sunday 13 April 2025.
Arts	SmartyGrants PORTAL for ARTS APPLICANTS	Applicants should submit directly via the SmartyGrants Arts Portal. School contacts: 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
Engineering and Information Technology	SmartyGrants PORTAL for FEIT APPLICANTS	Contact: FEIT-research@unimelb.edu.au ECRF (McKenzie) applicants in FEIT must register their intent to apply by completing this form ASAP (full hyperlink: https://q.surveys.unimelb.edu.au/jfe/form/SV_8HRJSz6mshfVzZs).
Education	SmartyGrants PORTAL for FOE APPLICANTS	Faculty of Education applicants, please submit your draft application form (PDF copy generated in SmartyGrants) to foe-research@unimelb.edu.au by COB 17 April 2025.
Law	SmartyGrants PORTAL for LAW APPLICANTS	Please visit  the faculty scheme page. Law applicants should contact Averyl Gaylor at  law-research@unimelb.edu.au with any enquiries.
Science	SmartyGrants PORTAL for SCI APPLICANTS	Please submit your application in SmartyGrants by the deadline. Please ensure that you attach your signed Academic Contact Endorsement Form to your application prior to submission. The Faculty of Science will be offering a support program. To make enquiries and to join the program, please email the Science Research Office (SRO) science-internalfunding@unimelb.edu.au.
Fine Arts & Music	SmartyGrants PORTAL for FAM APPLICANTS	Please email fineartsmusic-research@unimelb.edu.au if you are planning on submitting an EOI application
Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences	SmartyGrants PORTAL for MDHS APPLICANTS	MDHS applicants should ensure they submit their signed Academic Contact Endorsement Form with their EOI. HoD/S certification will be sought by the faculty for shortlisted applicants.
Business and Economics	SmartyGrants PORTAL for FBE APPLICANTS	Contact: Susie Yu at fbe-research@unimelb.edu.au Applicants are advised to review the Eligibility and Eligibility Exemption Request deadlines carefully. Applicants must have an Academic Contact endorsement when applying for the EOI.

4. Prepare and submit your EOI (including Eligibility Exemption Requests if relevant)

   Log in to SmartyGrants via your faculty's portal (see above) to begin your EOI application. If you do not meet all of the eligibility criteria due to exceptional circumstances, please provide additional details in Part B-1 of the application.

   As per the scheme’s guidelines, you may request an eligibility exemption if:

   • your PhD was awarded prior to 17 March 2022, and there have been demonstrable career interruption/s or disrupted capacity to undertake research or exceptional personal circumstances that have limited the applicant’s scholarly research opportunity post-PhD to be effectively three years or less; or
   • you do not meet another eligibility criteria and can demonstrate exceptional circumstances to justify your eligibility.

5. Successful EOIs complete the Full Application

   • Only shortlisted applicants will be invited to complete the Full Application.
   • You will be given access to SmartyGrants to complete stage two of the application form.
   • Ensure you submit your completed application in SmartyGrants by the due date.
   • Ensure that your referees submit their written testimonials via email to ecr-fellowships@unimelb.edu.au by the due date.

Supporting documents

Documents for 2026:

• 2026 Early Career Researcher Fellowships (ECRF) Guidelines - Available by COB, Tuesday 18th March 2025
• 2026 FAQs - COMING SOON
• 2026 ECR Fellowships Career Interruptions Calculator
• 2026 Academic Contact’s Endorsement form
• 2026 Early Career Researcher Fellowships Faculty Certification form
• 2026 EOI Project Summary Template
• 2026 Full Application Project Description Template

Please contact ecr-fellowships@unimelb.edu.au for documents in alternative accessible formats.

Contacts

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