ACRS Student Awards for 2010

ACRS normally supports the research of up to four students by the provision of Student Grants. The best proposals received will be awarded the Terry Walker Prize of $2500 or the Danielle Simmons Prize of $2500.

Given Terry Walker's commitment to field studies on Australian coral reefs and cays, this award is to be spent primarily on field studies on Australian coral reefs.

Given Danielle Simmons commitment to field work at Heron Island, successful applicants for this award will need to spend some time at Heron Island working in the field.

The other research grants (up to two) of $2000 are to be used for laboratory and/or field studies relevant to Australian coral reefs.

Any student who is currently enrolled at an Australian university and working towards a PhD or MSc on a topic involving research on Australian coral reefs is eligible to apply. Awards may not be used to fund conference attendance, or travel not related to field studies. Applicants must be a financial member of the society for the year in which the grant is to be awarded before applying for these awards (click here for membership application).

Applications MUST be sent electronically and consist of ONE SINGLE DOCUMENT. The application itself must not exceed four pages in total including budget and short summary CV. In addition, letters of support from the supervisor and institution (see item 7 below) and evidence of membership status (see item 9 below) MUST be provided and MUST BE included within the single electronic document, therefore applicants must arrange access to a scanner if required in advance of the closing date for applications. Applications must include the following information:

1. Name, address, date of birth and tertiary qualifications.
2. Name of institution, department and supervisor with email contact details.
3. Project title and degree for which enrolled.
4. Brief description of the project, stating: aims and justification, methods, including project design, progress made to date, and expected year of completion and year in which enrolled.
5. An indication of how the award would be spent including a short but explicit budget.
6. Details of all other sources of funding for the project.
7. A signed statement by the supervisor and a representative of the university, verifying that the project has been represented accurately and that the Institution is prepared to administer the award.
8. Students should indicate whether they wish to be considered for the Terry Walker and/or the Danielle Simmons award, bearing in mind the requirements for these awards, extensive field work and working at Heron Island at least for part of the project respectively.
9. A copy of your ACRS membership receipt (or application for membership/renewal) for the membership year in which the grant is to be awarded.

Proposals will be judged on:

* Scientific merit of proposed research
* Relevance of topic to current Australian coral reef research
* Design of project and progress to date
* Project scope, given the degree to be awarded and applicable resources
* Proposal presentation
* Track and research record of the student (e.g. publications, talks, prizes).

Successful applicants are required to prepare a one-page report for publication in the Society's newsletter at the end of the one-year grant period, and provide a summary of how the research grant was spent; this is to be emailed to Dr Pat Hutchings.

Please email copies to the selection committee:

Dr Pat Hutchings (pat.hutchings@austmus.gov.au) with a cc. to Dr Zena Dinesen (zenadinesen@optusnet.com.au) and Dr Barry Russell (ichthys@aapt.net.au).

CLOSING DATE IS FRIDAY 11th December 2009. The successful applicant will be notified by late January/early February 2010. Note that late or incomplete applications will not be considered. Applications received after the closing will not be considered, and they must be complete (i.e. CV, letter of support of supervisor and willingness of University to administer the grant and evidence of current membership status attached) and be provided with a single electronic document. Applications from non-financial members will definitely not be considered and evidence of current membership must be provided as indicated above.

	Web www.australiancoralreefsociety.org