As of 2017, the Society of Australian Systematic Biologists offers four awards, along with student travels grants. These awards will span the full career spectrum of members, from postgraduate level to retirement.

 

Student grants

Student Travel Grants (awarded annually and now supported by the Australian Biological Resources Study, for  conference or workshop attendance related to systematics or taxonomy) 

Student Research Grant Award (awarded yearly)   

 

Honorific awards

Early Career Research Excellence Award (awarded yearly)  

Mid-Career Research Excellence Award (awarded yearly)   

Distinguished Career Award  

Previous award recipients are listed here.

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All awards generally open in the new financial year of each relevant year, and more information is available below.

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STUDENT GRANTS

Student grants now open, closing 14 July 2023.

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Student Travel Grants - Application details available here.  

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SASB is pleased to call for applications to the SASB Student Travel Grant for 2023. The SASB Student Travel Grant can fund economy class airfares or other travel, accommodation and registration to conferences and workshops relevant to the field of systematics and taxonomy. This also includes registration for virtual workshops or conferences. Grants are now also able to fund travel and accommodation to allow students to visit collections (e.g. museums) for essential research visits, and field work (note that this is a change from previous years, when field work and collection visits were not eligible). Travel can be within the state, interstate or international.

 

Grant awardees are required to submit a brief report on the conference, workshop, collection visit or field work they attended/conducted, which must be submitted to the SASB Secretary by no later than 3 months following the activity. This report may be disseminated to the SASB membership.

 

There is only one grant category for the current round:

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Funds of up to $2500 AUD (ex GST) can be applied for, either for smaller travel for field work activities, collection visits, and workshops and conferences within Australia, or larger field work activities, longer visits to collections, and international conferences or workshops.

 

Students are encouraged to only apply for the actual amount they require, and create a budget suitable for the type of travel or conference they are applying for. All applications will be merit-based and the strength of the justification for travel.​

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Travel should be conducted before the end of 2023. 

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Eligibility

The award is available to financial student members of SASB who are enrolled either full-time or part-time, and are within candidature in Honours (normally one year full time), Research Masters (normally 2 years full-time) or Ph.D. (normally 4 years full time). Student members of the SASB Council may apply.

 

All applications should be emailed before 11:59 pm AEST on 14 July 2023 to the SASB Secretary (SASBiologists@gmail.com; refer to https://www.sasb.org.au/contact). Late applications will not be considered. Applications must be submitted as a single PDF document, in Times New Roman 12 pt (or similar) font, single spaced with margins of at least 1 cm. Applicants will be notified of the outcome within two months of the round closing. Please follow this link for addition details on submission guidelines. 

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Student Research Award  - Award details available here 

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This annual award will be open to all student members that are within candidature and working on any relevant area of systematics. There will be a monetary award of $2,000 to cover research-related costs. The application should focus on a particular component or project that the student plans to include in their thesis.
The winner will be required to write a report on their work to be submitted to the SASB Secretary by the end of the 6 months following the end of the project; this report will be disseminated to the SASB membership. Initially there will be one monetary prize, but as funds become available a runner-up prize may be considered for highly ranked applications. Funds should be spent within 12 months of the award.

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Eligibility
The award is available to financial student members of SASB who are enrolled either full-time or part-time and are within candidature for a Research Masters (normally 2 years full-time) or Ph.D. (normally 4 years full time). Student members of the SASB Council may apply. Note that the award is not available for students undertaking Coursework Masters, Postgraduate Diplomas, or other similar programs.
All applications should be emailed before 11:59 pm AEST on 1 September 2021 to the SASB Secretary (SASBiologists@gmail.com; refer to https://www.sasb.org.au/contact). Late applications will not be considered.

 

Applications must be submitted as a single PDF document, in Times New Roman 12 pt (or similar) font, single spaced with margins of at least 1 cm. Applicants will be notified of outcome by the end of October 2021.

 

The application should consist of the following:

1. Applicant’s details
2. Project proposal (max. 2 pages)
3. Budget and justification (max. 1 page)
4. Curriculum vitae (max. 2 pages)

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Applications are now open. The deadline for applications is 11:59 pm AEST on 14 July 2023. Please read the detailed application information before preparing your application and emailing to the SASB secretary (sasbiologists@gmail.com). 

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HONORIFIC AWARDS

Nominations are open, closing 28 July 2023

Details for all honorific awards available here

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Early Career Research Excellence Award (ECREA)

This annual award will be for researchers who are members of the SASB, and who are <8 years post-Ph.D. in the calendar year of their nomination (NB. Ph.D. students who have not been awarded their degree will not be considered). This honorific award will be judged on performance relative to timeframe/opportunity.

 

Mid-Career Research Excellence Award (MCREA)

This annual award will be for researchers who are members of the SASB, and who are 8–15 years post-Ph.D. in the calendar year of their nomination. This honorific award is to be judged on performance relative to timeframe/opportunity.

 

Distinguished Career Award (DCA)

This biennial award will be awarded in 2023. This award is aimed at recognising a member of the Society who has made an outstanding contribution to systematics, either because of their research, mentoring of ECRs and students, or other relevant professional aspects, or a combination of these activities. The award would normally be for someone in the second half of their career, but there are no limitations on who is eligible, and there is an expectation that the awardee give an invited presentation at the SASB conference.

 

Eligibility

All non-student professional members of the Society are eligible to be nominated, excluding current members of the SASB Council.

 

Nominations

Nominators must address all the selection criteria listed below. Relevant career interruptions such as illness, caring responsibilities, or COVID-19 related career delays should be outlined clearly.

 

All applications should be emailed before 11:59 pm AEST on 28 July 2023 to the current Secretary (SASBiologists@gmail.com; refer to https://www.sasb.org.au/contact). Late applications will not be considered. Please read the detailed application information before preparing your application.  Resubmission of updated nominations is encouraged. Nominators and nominees must be current financial members of SASB to be eligible.

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Guidelines and Judging

 

• The student grants and honorific awards will be assessed by two different panels.

 

• The Student Grant panel and its chair will be appointed by the President, and will consist of not less than three members of the SASB Executive, with gender balance considered. All student councillors are ineligible to serve on the student grant panel, and are therefore still eligible to apply for both the student travel grants and the student research award.

 

• Nominations for honorific awards will include a clause that indicates the nominee is aware of their nomination.

 

• Any current member of the society can forward a nomination; these are limited to two per award from a single nominator.

 

• The Honorific Awards panel and its chair will be appointed by the SASB President, and include no less than five members of the SASB, with gender balance considered. Conflicts of interest will usually be dealt with by a nominator abstaining from judging relevant nominees. The SASB Council will make awards based on the panel’s recommendations.

 

• The level of the monetary prize for the Student Research Award should be fixed by a majority vote of the Executive, and expended as per the standard business of the Society.   

 

• Important dates and schedules will be published on the SASB website and via email.

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Previous award recipients

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Previous Travel Award recipients are listed here.