The Fellowship provides direct financial support with a $10,000 bursary payment per year over 2 years, and professional development, with a fee waiver for attendance at an ACSPRI course for each year of the fellowship.
PhD candidates at ACSPRI Member Institutions are invited to apply for the 2026-27 ACSPRI Fellowship Program. This year the application process has been streamlined into 2 stages to make it less onerous for most applicants.
Valued at $25,000, the fellowship will help PhD students to achieve their career goals, by providing direct financial support and professional development opportunities.
Fellowship holders will receive an annual bursary for two years and financial support to participate in ACSPRI courses and events.
Faculty: Faculty of Business and Law, Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences, Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health, Faculty of the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities
Study area: Accounting Finance & Economics, Business, Chemistry, Communications & Media, Computer Science & Information Technology, Creative & Performing Arts, Education, Engineering, Environmental & Biological Science, Health, Humanities & Social Inquiry, Law, Literature & Language, Management, Marketing, Maths, Medical Science, Nursing, Physics, Psychology & Human Behaviour, Social Sciences & Advocacy
Student type: Domestic students
Student status: Current student
Scholarship amount
Note: All scholarships are indexed annually
$10,000 bursary payment per year for each of 2 years ($20,000 in total);
a fee waiver for the attendance at an ACSPRI course in each year of the Fellowship (2 courses in total);
financial support to attend the ACSPRI Biennial Conference.
Total Value approx. $25,000.
Duration
2 years
Application process
In stage 1, all applicants are asked to complete a short web-based form. The form asks questions about your research, your methods, your motivation and the potential impact of your research. See the selection criteria below and please read these thoroughly, bearing them in mind when answering the required questions. Please note the maximum 250 word limit for each section.
Each applicant must also:
- Upload a current curriculum vitae
- Confirm (via tick box) they have discussed their application with their supervisor.
Each question in stage 1 will be weighed and scored based on the selection criteria below. Based on previous years, we expect about 100 applicants to apply for the scholarship. Approximately 10 applicants will be asked to proceed to stage 2 (about one in ten of the first stage applicants).
Applicants who have been invited to stage 2, will be asked to submit:
- A letter of support from their supervisor
- A 5-minute (maximum) video presentation articulating the questions submitted in stage 1:
- What is the motivation for your research/why is your research important?
- What is the potential of your research for academic impact?
- What is the potential of your research for impact(s) on policy and practice?
- In what ways is your research approach and method innovative?
Please note: Videos exceeding 5 minutes will not be assessed.
ACSPRI’s Professional staff will review and assess the written applications of stage 1. Successful applicants will be contacted and invited to submit stage 2 of their application. The ACSPRI Executive Committee will judge stage 2 and based on their review, the successful candidate will be selected.
Successful candidates will be asked to give a short presentation about their research at the Biennial ACSPRI Social Science Methodology Conference. ACSPRI will arrange for the candidates to attend as part of their award. The successful videos will be played at the Conference and published on the main ACSPRI and Conference websites.
Eligibility requirements
Applicants to the ACSPRI Fellowship Program must be enrolled in a PhD program of an ACSPRI member institution, (in either Australia or New Zealand), and must be confirmed candidates, (or near completing the requirements of confirmation).
Applicants from the full spectrum of social science disciplines and cognate fields are welcome to apply. This includes the traditional social sciences (e.g., anthropology, economics, demography, psychology, political science, sociology, etc.), the emerging field of computational social sciences/social data science, and applied disciplines aligned with the social sciences (e.g., business, education, public health, social work, etc.).
Applicants in the final year of their PhD are welcome to apply if their award has not been conferred by the July 31 deadline.
Application closing date
31 July 2025
Contact information
General enquiries