Amplify Activities

The Australian Academy of Science invites applications from Australian early- and mid-career researchers (EMCRs) for Amplify grants valued from A$5,000 to A$15,000 each, funded by the Theo Murphy Initiative (Australia). The 2023-2024 round will provide funding support for up to 10 Amplify activities that demonstrate the capacity to bring additional benefits and opportunities to EMCRs through add-on workshops, training events or activities attached to existing STEM conferences or symposiums in Australia. The Amplify activities cannot be standalone events, they must be new, additional activities that amplify the benefit of the existing event for Australian EMCRs.

Eligibility  

To be eligible to receive an amplify activity grant, applicants must:

• be less than 15 years post PhD, excluding career disruption or barrier* 
• be employed at an eligible Australian research organisation as outlined below. 
• be in an activity organising committee where at least one committee member is a registered member of the Academy’s EMCR forum  
  The organizing committee must have at least three members and it is encouraged to have more members on the committee.
• be currently residing in Australia and be either an Australian citizen or hold a valid Australian visa  
• not have received a TMI Flagship or Amplify grant in the past three years. 

Eligible research organisations: 

• Australian tertiary education institutions (as per the Higher Education Support Act 2003) 
• Australian cooperative research centres 
• Publicly funded research agencies 
• Australian state and territory funded research organisations 
• Australian public research companies 
• Australian private research companies 
• Australian not-for-profit research organisations 
• Other Australian incorporated entities. 

Eligible applications must: 

• be complete at submission, including all required responses and attachments. 
• explain how the activity will be managed by the organising committee, including an outline of the experience of the activity organising committee members. 
• outline the capacity of the proposed Flagship activity to provide tangible benefits to the EMCR community in Australia.  
• complete the activity income and expense budgets, in accordance with the eligible and ineligible expenses in the ‘Terms of award’ section. 

*Career disruption or barrier: A career disruption or barrier is an interruption that has caused prolonged impact on a researcher’s capacity to conduct high-level research in the period since the conferral of their first PhD. It may be due to reduced opportunities for research which may be due to one or more of the following: prolonged absences due to unemployment, childbirth, carers’ responsibilities, limited or no access to facilities and resources, disaster management and recovery, medical conditions, disability, or accessibility needs, community obligations, including Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander cultural practices and protocols.  

An additional 6 months (pro rata) can be applied for each year of eligible career disruption to account for the time it takes to reestablish research after a period of extended leave.  

Fields of research 

Applications are welcome from EMCRs in all fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). 

Terms of award 

Successful applications may receive an offer of funding from the Academy to support the delivery of an add-on Amplify activity that will bring benefits and opportunities to EMCRs participating in an existing STEM conference or symposium in Australia.

Terms and conditions of the grant are below and the acceptance of these conditions is a prerequisite at time of application submission.

• Funding can only be used to cover eligible expenses as approved in the application.
• Awardees must notify the Academy immediately if there is a change in circumstances that will prevent them from delivering the Amplify activity.  
• Wherever possible, steps should be taken to mitigate the risk of loss of funds through cancelled arrangements and any unspent funds must be returned to the Academy.  

Eligible expenses: 

Direct costs to deliver the Flagship activity, such as: 

• venue hire 
• event catering 
• audio visual services, including online streaming services 
• design, printing, and production of activity material and, if applicable, event output such as editing of online streamed events or production of a video asset of event activities that can be accessed online 
• travel arrangements for invited event speakers, subject matter experts or other event delegates as approved by the Academy 
• Fees for invited speakers or registered training providers 
• other direct event expenses as approved by the Academy. 
• Bursary, grant, or scholarship programs to fund the event registration fees for Australian EMCRs participating in the conference or symposium. 

Ineligible expenses: 

• All salary and staff costs, including contractor expenses. 
• Gifts or prizes for invited speakers, registered training providers and all other Flagship activity participants. 
• Travel costs of organising committee members. 
• Travel costs for any Flagship activity attendees or participants. 
• Research or project expenses. 
• Any institutional expenses, including institute overheads, managerial and administrative costs. 

*This limit applies to 75% fare, or full fare paying travellers. If an accompanying minor is entitled to a free flight, or a reduced airfare of 10% of the full airfare, a limit of $200 per accompanying dependant will apply. 

The grant does not provide funds for research expenses, salaries, bench fees, managerial and administrative costs, or institute overheads. Funding can only be used for the direct project expenses as outlined in the funding agreement.

How to apply 

Submit an online application on the Academy’s grant portal, and attach the following documents: 

1. CV of the applying EMCR and organising committee members (maximum of three pages per document). 
2. Letter of support from the STEM conference or symposium host organisation confirming approval of activity if the Amplify grant application were successful. 
3. Quotes or screen shots to support the requested budget items. Where the budget includes a bursary, grant, or scholarship program to support registration fees, applicants will be asked to outline the proposed approach and conditions.

Assessment criteria  

Proposals will be assessed based on: 

• the capacity of the proposed activity to provide benefits and opportunities to Australian EMCRs that are additional to the existing STEM conference or symposium  
• the relevance and value-add of the proposed activity to the existing STEM conference or symposium  
• the demonstrated effective use of grant funds in the activity budget, including attaching relevant supporting material for each requested budget item. 

Reporting requirements 

Successful applicants will be required to submit a report within three months of the project completion date.   

The final report must include a financial statement from the funded body showing all income and expenditure for the Amplify add-on activity, and include the signature of the relevant delegate confirming the funds were used in accordance with the conditions of the executed funding agreement or most recent variation. 

Acknowledgement and use of assets   

It is a requirement that any publication or media release resulting from the activities funded by this program mention the support of the Australian Academy of Science and the Theo Murphy Initiative.  

Notification of outcome  

Applications closes on 5 pm (AEDT) of 6^th November 2023 and the outcomes are expected in mid-December 2023.  

Applications will be considered carefully against the selection criteria by a committee of scientists with diverse expertise and final approval will be given by the Royal Society (Australia) Pty Ltd Board. The decisions of the Board will be based on the merit and impact of the proposals. The Academy will not be able to enter into discussion or correspondence regarding the reasons why an application is successful or not.