Theo Murphy Initiative (Australia) Funding Streams

The Theo Murphy Initiative (TMI) was established by the Royal Society to further scientific discovery. The fund is administered by the Australian Academy of Science and provides grant funding to support career development opportunities for Australia’s early- and mid-career researchers (EMCRs) in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Applicants will need to demonstrate how the proposed activity will support EMCRs knowledge development in the relevant STEM related field(s) of research.

There are three streams of funding available:

• Stream one – Flagship activities

  Three grants of between A$15,000 and A$50,000 each are available for delivering activities designed to provide tangible benefits to EMCRs in Australia. The activity must benefit EMCRs across more than one Australian organisation and include sponsorship support from additional event partners. The Academy will provide some support to the event where required, such as event website hosting, event registration and publicity.
   

  Guidelines and link to apply for Flagship activity

• Stream two – Amplify activities

  Up to ten grants of between A$5,000 and A$15,000 are available to EMCRs living in Australia for activities that will bring additional benefits and opportunities to conferences or symposia. Amplify grants do not support core event arrangements. The activity being funded by an Amplify grant must be an add-on event, complimentary to the main activity or be provided to attendees as a scholarship to cover event participation costs, such as conference registration fees, training workshop enrolment costs or to pay for consumable materials required to participate in the event.

  Guidelines and link to apply for Amplify activity

• Stream three – Participation support

  Australian EMCRs can apply for a participation support grant to assist with the cost of attending and participating in an event or activity. Participation support grants provide funding to offset the cost of caring, accessibility and mobility needs for EMCRs to enable their attendance at an event or activity that will support career development, such as a conference or training workshop.

  Guidelines and link to apply for Participation Support

Applicants can request up to a maximum A$5,000 per person towards eligible mobility, accessibility, and carer expenses for a single event, once per 12-month period.

The call for applications for all three funding streams will open on 25th September through the Academy's website and SmartyGrants, with the application deadline set for 5 pm (AEDT) on 6th November 2023.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) available here