Eligibility

The Fellowships are open to researchers and clinicians who are:

• Australian citizens or permanent Australian residents
• Meet the NHMRC classification of Leadership Level 1 (between 10-15 years post-PhD or MD (or MBBS) on January 1 of the application year, with provisions for appropriate career disruption periods)
• Appointable at Academic Level C (senior lecturer/senior research fellow) or Academic Level D (associate professor).

The applicant must devote a minimum of 0.6 FTE to research and carry out the research activities at a hospital, university, or medical research institute in Australia.

The host institution must endorse and support the applicant and proposed research, providing existing infrastructure and support to capitalise on this Fellowship. Proposals that deviate from this may be eligible but will require strong and clear justification as to why they should be considered.

Applicants should be committed to pursuing a leadership role in the Australian blood cancer ecosystem, have national recognition in their research area and demonstrate:

• Original contributions that are potentially of major benefit to blood cancer health and medical research and/or the health system for people living with blood cancer
• The ability to independently conceive and direct blood cancer research programs, coordinate a team of researchers and generate multi-centre collaborations
• Active contributions to the blood cancer ecosystem (e.g., public advocacy, peer review, research advisory boards or professional societies)
• Supervision, mentoring and promotion of early career researchers

Leukaemia Foundation National Research Priorities

Proposed projects must align to at least one of the following priorities:

• Understanding the biology of blood cancers
• Precision medicine
• New diagnostics
• Novel therapies and care options
• Psychosocial aspects of cancer
• Innovative clinical trials and/or incorporating real world data
• Prevention research including investigating blood cancer risk factors

Other funding sources

The Leukaemia Foundation Research Fellowship may not be held in conjunction with another Fellowship or grant which includes substantial funding for salary support. You are permitted to apply for the Leukaemia Foundation Research Fellowship if you hold an existing fellowship or grant with substantial salary support which is due to expire in 2024.

Additional funding for salary may be appropriate according to the applicant’s situation (e.g., clinical appointment). This additional funding for salary should be disclosed at the time of application with a statement of how this Fellowship will help support you to undertake research.

Complementary funding for the applicant’s research from other sources is strongly encouraged and Fellowship funding can be used to leverage additional funding were appropriate. Successful funding leveraged from other sources using the Fellowship must be disclosed to the Leukaemia Foundation.

Fellowship administration

The Leukaemia Foundation will enter a funding agreement with the administering institution of the successful applicant, using the standard Leukaemia Foundation’s Research Memorandum of Agreement (MoA)

The recipient and administering institution must agree to the specific conditions outlined in the MoA, including but not limited to:

• Listing of the successful applicant, administrating institution and title of project in communications published the Leukaemia Foundation and its partners
• Participation in media and stakeholder activities
• Acknowledgement of the Leukaemia Foundation in any publication/presentations related to the fellowship work

The administering institution must agree to meet any additional employment-related expenses for the recipient. This includes regular overhead and operating expenses of the institution, as required to support the Fellow’s research.

Career disruption

Please outline any significant period of career disruption providing the reason, duration and the dates for each period of career disruption. You must be able to provide documentation for the period of career disruption if requested.

Career disruption is classified as:

• A continuous absence from work for periods of 90 calendar days or more
• Or a continuous part-time employment (with defined %FTE) due to circumstances classified as career disruption, with the absence amounting to a total of 90 calendar days or more

A career disruption involves an interruption to your capacity to work, for example parental leave or carer’s responsibility to immediately family members (e.g. a spouse, child or parent) due to major illness or injury.

Please note, periods of career disruption will only be considered for the time subsequent to obtaining the relevant doctoral qualification. Periods of teaching or clinical practice are not regarded as career disruption.

Fellowship proposal

Proposals must be submitted via the online form here. Proposal attachments/uploads should be written using single spaced, Calibri size 11 font, in Word (.doc) or PDF format. You will be required to provide the following during the application process:

Scientific and lay titles
Brief lay description of your proposed project (maximum of 500 characters excluding spaces).

Potential to assume a leadership position in cancer research
Outline your career development objectives for the next five years and how the Fellowship will help you achieve a leadership position in cancer research (maximum of 1000 characters excluding spaces).

Alignment to Leukaemia Foundation National Research Program Priorities
Outline how your proposed research aligns with the Leukaemia Foundation National Research Program Priorities (maximum of 1000 characters excluding spaces).

Career Disruption
If required, upload outline any significant period/s of career disruption (maximum of 1000 characters excluding spaces).

Track record

Provide details of previous research experience highlighting up to 10 of your most significant publications relevant to the proposed research (uploaded document, maximum of 2 pages).

Research proposal

Detail your research proposal (uploaded document, maximum of 5 pages, including diagrams and references), including:

• Summary
• Background
• Aims
• Research outline
• Preliminary data
• Significance and potential impact to blood cancer

Budget
Submit a five-year budget proposal, providing indicative timelines (uploaded document, maximum of 1 page).

• A proportion of the budget must be used to support part of the applicant’s salary. Evidence of salary should be included and in line with awards and hosting institution practice.
• In addition, budget can also be allocated towards supporting direct research costs and costs of accessing research infrastructure etc.
• Fellowship funds cannot be used to purchase large pieces of research equipment.

Institutional support

A letter of support from your host institution endorsing your application and proposed research and outlining the level and quality of support offered by the institution (uploaded document, maximum of 1 page).

Mentorship
Provide a letter of reference from your mentor (uploaded document, maximum of 1 page).

Curriculum Vitae
Provide a copy of your CV (uploaded document, maximum of 2 pages).

How will the successful applicant be selected?

All applications will be assessed by an expert Advisory Panel made up of leading blood cancer researchers and clinicians. Shortlisted applicants will be required to attend an interview. Final funding decisions are made by the Leukaemia Foundation Board, and if applicable, funding partners, who reserve the right not to award Fellowships in any given year.

Submitting an application

Applications must be made via this form. 

You can save your application and revisit it later, by clicking the ‘Save and return later’ button.

Enquiries

Bill Stavreski
Head of Research at the Leukaemia Foundation

Or

Emily Kovacev
Project and Advocacy Coordinator at the Leukaemia Foundation

Email: research@leukaemia.org.au