Indigenous Postdoctoral Guidelines

ANU Indigenous Australian Postdoctoral Fellowships Program — Information for Applicants & Application Process

ANU aspires to be the university of choice for Indigenous Australians, whether they be students or academics. To fulfil this aspiration, ANU will build a substantial Indigenous research and education community that can generate world-leading and influential Indigenous-led research which informs policy and practice and contributes to our understanding of the world.

The Indigenous Postdoctoral Fellowships Program is an important initiative in this community building exercise. These fellowships aim to attract talented, recent Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander doctoral graduates across all the academic disciplines of the University. This program aims to recruit Early Career Academics who have the potential to become academic leaders in their discipline area.

Fellows will undertake both teaching and research during the fellowship. Applicants must present a plan for the post-doctoral research they propose to do at ANU as part of their application. As part of the process of developing their application, applicants are strongly encouraged to make contact with heads of ANU academic areas they would like to work in to discuss their planned research projects.

1. Objectives

The objectives of the ANU Indigenous Australian Postdoctoral Fellowships Program are to:

• Attract talented, Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander recent doctoral graduates to the Australian National University across all the academic disciplines of the University.
• Develop a substantial Indigenous research and education community capable of generating world leading and Indigenous-led research, particularly in areas which inform and influence government policy.
• Develop opportunities for the next generation of Indigenous academic leaders who will provide leadership both within and beyond the University.

Over the medium to long term it is anticipated that Indigenous scholars will be embedded in all Colleges and Centres of the University.

2. Funding and conditions of employment

2.1 Fellows will be appointed for five years full-time. There will be a review point at three years. Fellows may transition to continuing employment.

2.2 The terms and conditions of the Fellowship will be those of the ANU Enterprise Agreement.

2.3 Part-time working arrangements may be negotiated.

2.4 Fellows will provide an annual report to the Vice-Chancellor, through their head of school. Fellows will also provide a final report.

2.5 It is envisaged that while these are research intensive positions the Fellows will undertake a well-balanced portfolio of academic work that will include some teaching.

2.6 Each fellow will receive between $10,000 to $30,000 annually (depending upon discipline) towards the costs of research and professional development.

2.7 Fellows will be linked to mentors who will assist and guide their development.

3. Applicant eligibility

3.1 This is an Identified Position in accordance with the University's Identified Position Procedure and only Indigenous Australians are eligible to apply.

3.2 Applicants must have been awarded their PhD on or after 1 December 2011. Applicants will be able to indicate on their application any personal circumstances to enable the assessment of their achievements relative to the opportunity. Such circumstances may include:

• family responsibilities (e.g. child rearing, elder care, illness of a partner/dependent)
• temporary or permanent disability
• periods of part-time work
• relevant cultural expectations or circumstances
• absences due to ill-health or injury
• other circumstances specified by the applicant.

3.3 Applicants must be awarded their PhD, or provide evidence of successful completion of PhD examination process and acceptance of their PhD by their institution in their application.

4. Application process

4.1 Applications must be submitted online. The fellowship will be advertised as a job opportunity on ANU Jobs.

4.2 Applications must include the names and contact details of three referees who are able to comment on the applicant’s academic ability. Not more than one of the referees should be from the applicant’s PhD supervisory panel.

4.3 Applicants may be considered outside this timeframe under exceptional circumstances.

5. Selection criteria

5.1 All applications will be assessed by the following criteria:

• The quality of the proposed research program.
• Capacity to contribute to the University’s teaching programs.
• Research opportunity, performance evidence, and teaching record.
• Potential to develop as an academic leader.

Applicants will also be assessed against the standard selection criteria for Level B academic staff. These are:

6. Evaluation and assessment of applications

All applications will be assessed by a panel which will include a majority of Indigenous Australian academics. The panel may seek additional advice regarding the alignment of the applicant’s research area with the research environment available at ANU. Applicants may be asked to participate in an interview with the selection panel.