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The scheme attracts and helps retain the best and brightest mid-career researchers .
UNSW received the highest number of approved applications . Photo : AAP / Dean Lewins
Future funding
Sector receives $ 94m in research fellowships .
By Emilie Lauer
A hundred mid-career researchers from 21 Australian universities have received a grant through the Australian Research Council Future Fellowships scheme to develop research of national interest .
Funded by the Australian Government , the Future Fellowships scheme focuses on mid-career researchers from key industries such as cybersecurity , manufacturing , engineering , energy , health , science , media and communications .
This year the scheme rewarded 100 researchers who shared $ 94 million and will each have four years to develop their research .
CEO of the Australian Research Council , Judi Zielke , said the research undertaken by the new Future Fellowship Scheme will be innovative and bring benefits to Australians .
“ The ARC Future Fellowships scheme attracts and helps retain the best and brightest mid-career researchers , as they undertake research in areas of national importance ,” Zielke said .
“ These new Future Fellowships are awarded to outstanding mid-career researchers , who will receive funding support for the next four years to undertake innovative research in many exciting areas , with many potential benefits for Australians .”
In addition to finding solutions to key industry challenges , the Future Fellows will also be responsible for training the next generation of researchers .
This year the scheme received 627 applications . Twelve were deemed not to have met the eligibility requirements , and ultimately 100 were approved .
Grants were distributed across 21 universities in all states and territories , except in the Northern Territory .
New South Wales and Victoria institutions had the highest number of grants approved with 40 and 31 grants getting $ 37 and $ 29 million in funding respectively , closely followed by Queensland with 13 grants for a total of $ 13 million .
The University of New South Wales received the highest number of approved applications , with 14 of its researchers sharing more than $ 13 million in funding to work on projects including engineering , sciences , health , design and architecture .
UNSW Pro vice chancellor ( Research ) Professor Sven Rogge congratulated the 2022 Future Fellows and acknowledged their contributions to their respective research field .
“ UNSW was awarded the largest portion of ARC Future Fellowships of all Australian universities which underlines a broad research strength in terms of fields and career stages ,” Rogge said .
“ From projects that hope to develop objective physiological methods to measure mental imagery to extending our understanding of the workings of temperature extremes hidden below the ocean surface – it ’ s wonderful to see diversity among the 14 UNSW projects announced in this round of ARC Future Fellowships .”
Following UNSW on the highest number of grants attributed , Monash University grabbed 11 grants and The University of Queensland 10 .
Each of the Future Fellowship recipients will receive between $ 700,000 and $ 1.15 million .
The highest funding of this year ’ s cohort was received by University of Sydney researcher from the Faculty of Medicine and Health , Professor Renae Ryan , who will use the $ 1.144 million to look into how membrane proteins present in cells transport chemical messengers in the brain .
The project aims to generate new knowledge and techniques that will be shared with other researchers and the pharmaceutical industry to design new drugs to treat cancer and epilepsy .
USyd deputy vice chancellor ( Research ) Professor Emma Johnston congratulated the seven USyd researchers that secured funding and who will lead the research in ‘ green ’ chemical engineering , quantum computing , machine learning , neurology , geometry , and understanding Australia ’ s cultural past .
“ It is fantastic to see the innovative work of our outstanding mid-career researchers recognised with these extremely competitive fellowships ,” Johnston said .
“ The research of our new cohort of Future Fellows covers a wonderful breadth of disciplines and has the potential to change lives for the better .
“ I am confident we will see even more success in this scheme in future years as we focus on providing the very best environment to support our early- and midcareer researchers to excel as part of our new university strategy .”
The Future Fellowship is part of the Australian Government plan to support mid-career researchers who wish to undertake research in areas of national and international interest .
Applications for the 2023 Fellowship will open in early October and close in December 2022 . ■
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