Career Restart Grant

The nominated person to be supported must: 

• be an Australian citizen, or hold the appropriate residency or visa requirements to undertake paid work for the duration of the proposed activities,  

• have been awarded a PhD degree in the 10 full time equivalent years prior to the closing date (see Research Opportunity and Performance Evidence (ROPE) by ARC for more information)  

• have a demonstrated serious career disruption/interruption which may include:  
  • Caring responsibilities  
  • Family commitments 
  • Serious/chronic physical injury, illness, or mental illness or other serious life event. 

Applicants do not need to: 

• Be associated with one of the COMBS partner universities 
• Have recent research outputsHave been successful in grants in the past 
• Have recent laboratory, or equivalent experience 
• Be up-to-date with the latest in academia 

Note: The nature of any medical issues or caring responsibilities should not be disclosed as part of this application process. However, it may be appropriate to discuss flexibility and accessibility needs to facilitate research activities. This should be a conversation sensitively conducted between the Chief Investigator and the person being supported. 

Applicants must be nominated by a current COMBS Chief Investigator of a relevant research field.

Applications (submitted by the CI) will be assessed based on:  

• Severity of the career interruption: The applicant should describe the duration and nature of the interruption. Applications do not need to detail the actual interruption (e.g. disclosing medical issues or caring responsibilities). 
• Track Record pre-interruption and Impact of Interruption: The track record of the applicant, relative to opportunity.  
• Likely impact of the Grant: The likelihood that the grant will enable the applicant to re-establish or enhance their career and improve their research track record substantially to compete more effectively for academic employment.  
• Relevance to COMBS:  Concise statements outlining how the proposed research activities support the Centre’s Strategic Plan, and the Operational Plan for the relevant Research Theme. 

When submitting an application, CI’s will also need to declare: 

• Severity of interruption: Before submitting this application, the CI must determine that the career break was severe. When submitting, the CI uses their discretion to confirm that the break was severe and they support the applicant. 

• Confirmation of intent to hire: CI will commit to paying at least 50% of salary (including on costs) for the nominee. 

Applications must be submitted and supported by a current COMBS Chief Investigator. If you are interested in nominating: 

• Contact a COMBS Chief Investigator. A full list of current COMBS CI members is available here. 

• Work with the COMBS Chief Investigator to submit an application. 

Applications will be reviewed by COMBS and successful nominees and their Chief Investigators will be contacted.  

If this opportunity is not for you, but you are interested in applying for other roles within COMBS, we recommend regularly checking the COMBS website and following us on LinkedIn. 

COMBS is committed to developing a diverse workforce.