Postdoctoral fellowships

Applications close at 5pm on Thursday, 8 April 2010.
Guide to applicants

Cancer Council Victoria is an independent volunteer-based charity which was established in 1936. Our mission is to lead the fight against cancer. Our core business is cancer control. We conduct and support research as well as delivering statewide support and prevention programs and advocating regulation and other interventions to reduce the physical and emotional burden of cancer.

Purpose of the fellowship

Postdoctoral fellowships are offered to provide Victorian scientists who have recently completed a PhD with support for an additional year of research based on their thesis work. The application must establish that the research will be greatly enhanced by having the candidate spend a further year with the same research group (ie. where the recipient was a PhD candidate).

Eligibility

The research must relate to cancer aetiology, prevention, diagnosis or treatment.
Applicants must have submitted their PhD thesis between 1 October 2009 and 31 March 2010.

Funding and duration

The fellowship funding will be paid to the host institute at the NHMRC Personnel Support Package (PSP) Level 3 rate of $67,508 pa. The PSP amount covers all salary and salary on-costs (eg. payroll tax, workers compensation, leave loading, compulsory and contributory superannuation) as well as some minor operational support.

Fellowships will be awarded for a period of one year.

Funds will be paid quarterly in advance to the host institute, which will make payments to the recipient according to its internal arrangements.

Selection process

Selection will involve an assessment of applications against the following criteria:

the quality of the applicant's academic record,
the significance of the research proposal and the case made for the years continuation,
comments from their PhD supervisor, and Head of their Research Department/Institute.

Conditions of postdoctoral research fellowships

Reporting

At the conclusion of the Fellowship, holders must submit a report on their research. Cancer Council Victoria may specify special reporting requirements or formats.

Recognition of The Cancer Council Victoria

The fellow must acknowledge the support of Cancer Council Victoria and (if applicable) any nominated fund, donation or bequest, in all publications and any media announcements pertaining to the research for which the fellowship has been awarded. Cancer Council Victoria may specify from time to time a form of words to be used to acknowledge the support of Cancer Council Victoria and any nominated fund, donation or bequest.

Naming Rights

The fellowship will be known by the name "Sydney Parker Smith Postgraduate Cancer Research Fellowship"

Limitation of other paid activity

The fellowship is provided for full-time research. The fellowship holder must not engage in other paid activity which materially diminishes his or her capacity to conduct the research full-time.

Other funding sources

The fellowship holder can receive funding from other sources subject to the following provisos:

the other funding must not be contingent on any naming rights pertaining to the candidate or the research,
funding will not be granted to any researcher who is receiving or who is an applicant for funding from the Tobacco industry or any of its agencies or subsidiaries,
funding will be withdrawn without notice from any research for which an application is made to, or funding received from, the Tobacco industry or any of its agencies or subsidiaries, during the currency of the grant.

Compliance with the conditions of the fellowship is mandatory. Depending on its nature and severity, non-compliance may result in withdrawal of the fellowship.

Approvals required

If offered a fellowship, you will need to submit copies of the relevant committee approvals eg. Human Research Ethics Committee, Animal Experimentation Ethics Committee, Biosafety Committee. The fellowship funding will not commence until all approvals have been provided.