Fellowships

Award Criteria

Preamble

AAIR now offers two annual Fellowships to the value of $2,500 each. The ‘Raj Sharma Fellowship’—in recognition of Raj Sharma’s influence on, and contribution to, institutional research in Australasia—is focussed on academic or career advancement in the pursuit of institutional research knowledge; and the ‘Zimmer Travel Fellowship’—in recognition of Bruce Zimmer’s contribution to AAIR—is offered to assist a member to attend an event held by an AAIR affiliate by covering associated travel costs. Bruce was one of the initial members of AAIR and a key organiser of the inaugural AAIR Forum held in Rockhampton in 1990. He served on the AAIR executive from 1990 to 2005 and was President from 1998 to 2002. Applications will be determined by the AAIR Executive Committee. If there is more than one applicant for each Fellowship, the selection panel, comprised of members of the Executive Committee, will award points out of ten for the selection criteria in order to make a final comparison. Additional information from the application (CV, publications, experience, etc.) will be taken into account. The request of a letter of support from the applicant’s institution might also be made if it is felt necessary. Only one Fellowship can be held for the year by the same person.

Eligibility to apply

The applicant must:

be a current AAIR Member with at least two years continuous membership
not be an office holder or member of the AAIR Executive Committee
have submitted, on or prior to the deadline for submissions, a complete application as per Fellowship instructions.

Selection Criteria

Raj Sharma Fellowship

For the Raj Sharma Fellowship, the application should be focussed on academic or career advancement in the pursuit of institutional research knowledge, describing how the Fellowship will be used to achieve these ends, particularly with regard to:

the area of IR knowledge in question:
- is this a legitimate, recognised area of institutional research?
- why is the applicant interested in this particular area?
- what does the applicant hope to learn from this Fellowship?
- will the applicant’s plans sufficiently expose him/her to this area?
how it will assist academic or career advancement:
- has the applicant given a realistic overview of how the Fellowship will assist his/her career?
how the results of the Fellowship will be communicated to AAIR members
a brief account of the expected costs supported by the scholarship

Zimmer Travel Fellowship

The Zimmer Travel Fellowship is offered to assist a member to attend an event held by an AAIR affiliate by covering associated travel costs. The application should describe how the Fellowship will be used, particularly with regard to:

which AAIR affiliate event the applicant intends to attend
how relevant the trip is to the applicant’s professional development
how the results of the Fellowship will be communicated to AAIR members.

Application

Process

Applications are usually invited in March/April and awarded (if any) by the end of April in any given year. Applications will be determined by the AAIR Executive Committee. The recipients will have 12 months to utilise the Fellowship. The Raj Sharma Fellowship will be paid on awarding. The Zimmer Travel Fellowship will be paid on presentation of relevant receipts showing relevant personal payment with receipts to be provided within 12 months of awarding. Advertisement shall be by AAIR Members’ Bulletin emails and Newsletters.

If you are interested in applying for an AAIR Fellowship, please email info@aair.org.au with your completed application.

Submission format

Contact information Name, physical address, email address, and institutional affiliations
Statement of interest and learning goals (limit 300 words) Describe your interest in, and learning goals expected from the Fellowship. How do you propose to communicate these to other AAIR members?
Statement of current research interests for publication, dissertation, or decision-support (limit 500 words) Describe your current research interest, or an IR challenge that you would like to address.
Abbreviated Curriculum Vitae (no more than 3 pages) A CV must be submitted in PDF format with the fellowship application. Please include your education, publications (if any), work experience, and other professional accomplishments.

Email your application

AIR Affiliated Organization Travel Grant

The AAIR Affiliated Organization Travel Grant, otherwise known as the AO Travel Grant, is offered to the winner of the Best Presenter Award at an AAIR Forum in any given year. There is an online application process via the AIR website, but only eligible applicants are able to apply under the endorsement of the AAIR Executive Committee.

Past Recipients

Stuart Terry, Otago Polytechnic, Best Presenter (2016) AO Travel Grant (2017) Attended the AIR Annual Conference at the Marriott Marquis (Washington, USA) in May-June 2017.
Naomi Doncaster, Southern Cross University, Zimmer Travel Fellowship (2016) Attended the Higher Education Institutional Research (HEIR) conference at John Moore’s University (Liverpool, UK) in September 2016.
Sara Booth, University of Tasmania, AO Travel Grant (2015) Attended the AIR Annual Conference at the Hyatt Regency (New Orleans, USA) in May-June 2016.
David Carroll, Graduate Careers Australia, Zimmer Travel Fellowship (2015) Attended the AIR Annual Conference at the Hyatt Regency (New Orleans, USA) in May-June 2016.
David Carroll, Graduate Careers Australia, Best Paper (2014) and AO Travel Grant recipient (2015) Attended the AIR Annual Conference at the Colorado Convention Center (Denver, USA) in May 2015.