Melbourne Research Excellence Awards
2023 Awards
The Melbourne Research Excellence Awards recognise outstanding contributions towards the delivery of high-impact research and the building of a world-leading research community. They are a celebration of the research that helps achieve the goals of Advancing Melbourne, including recognition of mid-career researchers, external partnerships, collaborations across disciplinary boundaries, and graduate research supervision.
These awards complement other forms of research recognition that arise through publications, external grants, early-career grants, fellowships, and academic societies. Except where indicated otherwise, the Melbourne Research Excellence awards are open to both teams and individuals.
Award for Excellence in Graduate Researcher Supervision
Nominees should have a sustained record of high-quality graduate researcher supervision at the University, relative to opportunity and disciplinary norms. For this award, which is open only to individuals, the awardee will have demonstrated supervision practices that develop their graduate researchers’ skills both in research and more broadly, and which lead to them becoming rounded, independent, and successful in their chosen fields.
Award for Excellence in Interdisciplinary Research
Nominees will have been collaborators in interdisciplinary research of outstanding influence, that is, the establishment of new, or advancing of existing, collaborations and programs that draw on multiple disciplines typically involving multiple faculties or schools.
Award for Excellence in Mid-Career Research Achievements
Nominees will have accomplished an outstanding research achievement at mid-career evidenced by a single or small suite of connected publications reporting work predominantly undertaken at Melbourne. This award is for individuals who are five to ten years post-PhD.
Award for Excellence in Research Programs with External Organisations
Nominees will have been instrumental in creating or developing research programs and initiatives with outstanding influence involving other institutions, industries, or external organisations such as governments or community groups. This category excludes activities that are supported by major external competitive funding from research councils.
Award for Excellence in Enabling Research
Nominees will have led transformative initiatives at institutional or local level that build research capability or provided support that was essential to the success of a research activity. This award recognises activity that is designed to enable research outcomes, rather than recognising the research itself. This award is open to both professional and academic staff.
Nomination Criteria for Melbourne Research Excellence Awards*
*Except Graduate Researcher Supervision Award
Nominators should provide evidence to support the nomination in the respective award category, using the forms of evidence that best makes their case. This may include but is not limited to the following:
- Research outcomes with demonstrated impact
- The membership of teams that contributed to the outcomes, including aspects such as inclusion of graduate researchers and early-career researchers and the presence of collaborators from diverse disciplines and organizations
- Evidence of testimony from beneficiaries of the research or activity
- Trajectories of research programs from conception to communication or deployment of outcomes
- Demonstrated alignment with Advancing Melbourne goals
Nomination Criteria for Graduate Researcher Supervision Award
The specific nature of the award means that it relies on distinct kinds of evidence. Below are characteristics to consider in making a nomination, but these are only indicative, and nominators should select the forms of evidence that best makes their case.
- Approaches to supervision that influence, motivate, and inspire candidates to excel
- Fostering of candidates’ development of critical thinking skills, analytical skills, scholarly values, capacity as communicators, and planning, design, and execution of projects
- Shaping of outstanding research outcomes for candidates as recognised by awards for theses, publications in leading venues, and appointment to competitive postdoctoral positions
- Approaches to feedback that foster independence and leadership and are reflective of the diverse needs and styles of individuals
- Support for the development of candidates as individuals, including their career development, induction into their global academic community, and engagement with users of their research
- Contribution to the development and practice of high-quality supervision practices and graduate research environments within faculties or for the wider University
Evidence should be provided from diverse observers, such as committee chairs, independent colleagues, and graduates who have had significant postdoctoral experience, and can be supported by testimony from current and recent candidates.