Lizard Island Doctoral Fellowships

Funding is provided for field expenses at LIRS (and at MERL, if required) over one, two or three years as required. Salary is not provided. Additional funding may be awarded to fellows in the second or third year of their fellowship to present their PhD research at an international conference.

The maximum value of each 2024 fellowship (other than the Joint Fellowship) is AU$14,300 including GST per year for up to three years. However, projects that do not require diving should limit their request to $11,000 including GST. The value of the international conference travel award is up to an additional AU$4,000.

The Joint Minderoo Foundation and LIRRF Fellowship offers the same level of funding for the LIRS component as the other Lizard Island fellowship, plus the same amount for the MERL component (excluding the travel award). The maximum value is thus $28,600 including GST per year for up to three years, plus up to $4,000 for travel to present at an international conference in the second or third year. The LIRS and MERL amounts will be paid to the successful applicant's institution separately by the Australian Museum and the Minderoo Foundation, respectively.

Fellowship funds must be spent on field work at LIRS, and at MERL if applicable. Allowable expenses include bench fees, travel, freight, and field/lab consumables.

Fellowship funds may not be used for salary, for living expenses (such as food while in the field), for equipment other than research consumables, or for research or travel by the fellow's PhD supervisor (or any other more senior researcher) except as outlined below. The fellow's university may not deduct a fee for administering the fellowship.

Purpose: The fellow must conduct field-intensive research at LIRS and, if applicable, at MERL ) that will form a substantial part of their thesis.

Field work duration: The fellow must spend substantial time in the field at LIRS and, if applicable, at MERL, for which bench fees at the current applicable rate must be paid. The minimum time is an average of 100 person nights at LIRS per year. For example, a 50-night trip by two people meets the 100- person night requirement. Projects that require diving may need a 3-person team. The time requirement for such projects is at least 130-person nights per year. The annual budget for non-diving projects is up to $11,000 including GST and for diving projects is up to $14,300 including GST.

Applicants for the Joint Fellowship should plan to spend a similar amount of time at MERL as at LIRS.

Timing: Each fellowship year runs from 1 April to 31 March. The first field trip using fellowship funds must not start before April 2024. Any funds unspent at the end of each fellowship year must be returned to LIRS unless carry-over arrangements are approved.

Supervisor involvement in field work: If the fellow's supervisor or any other senior researcher wishes to accompany the fellow on field trips, fellowship funds may not be used to cover any part of that person's travel costs. They may be used to pay bench fees for the supervisor or other senior researcher at the student assistant's rate for up to 5 days over the life of the fellow's project, providing that the senior person is assisting the fellow on those days rather than conducting their own research. Bench fees for any additional days spent at LIRS by the senior researcher must be paid at the current rate applicable to researchers and that amount may not be paid from fellowship funds.

Conference travel award: Fellows who have been awarded two or three years of funding may apply in their second or third year for up to $4,000 additional funding to assist them to present their research at an international conference. Conference funding is not offered to one-year fellows.

Progress and reporting: Funding in the second and third years, if awarded, is subject to suitable progress. Reporting, outreach, and acknowledgement conditions will be detailed in a contract with each successful applicant.

Feedback: Feedback will not be provided to unsuccessful applicants.

At the time of applying, applicants must:

1. be accepted into a PhD program for a project that requires substantial field-based research at a coral reef location, and
2. show that they can support themselves for the duration of the requested fellowship period by, for example, having a stipend from a scholarship or other source.

Applications from people who do not meet these criteria will not be considered further.

1. The applicant meets the eligibility criteria.
2. The application is of high quality, including spelling, grammar, meets word restrictions, provides information in the required manner, the funding request is consistent with the remaining duration of the PhD, and similar considerations.
3. The applicant has an excellent academic record.
4. The applicant has high research output in relation to career stage.
5. The project makes good use of LIRS facilities, requiring an average of at least 100 person nights (for non-diving projects) or 130 person nights (for diving projects that require a 3-person team) at LIRS per year of funding to conduct field-intensive research, which may include aquarium-based research. Applications for the Joint Fellowship must demonstrate a similarly high level of usage of MERL.
6. Projects for which LIRS is the primary research base will be given preference, except applications for the Joint Fellowship, in which case LIRS and MERL should be the two primary research bases.
7. The applicant has relevant research and field work experience.
8. The significance and innovative approach of the project.
9. The project is feasible within the limitations of capability, time, budget and safety regulations.
10. Fellowship funds will be used efficiently (e.g. travel costs are minimised).
11. There is an actual or potential source of additional funding if the fellowship does not cover all planned costs, or there is a plan for amending the proposal if such additional funding doesn't become available.

Preliminary applications

Preliminary applications must be submitted online:

Online preliminary application form for 2024 doctoral fellowships

The online form requires upload of a separate Word-based form:

Preliminary application project form for 2024 doctoral fellowships

Preliminary applications will be assessed against selection criteria 1-7 only.

Invited full applications

Highly ranked preliminary applicants will be invited to submit a full application. Full applications will only be accepted from those invited applicants.

Full applications must be supported by a letter from the applicant's primary supervisor which has been endorsed by the head of the university department where the applicant is enrolled. The letter must support the research proposal including the proposed field work at LIRS and, if applicable, at MERL.

Full applications may be sent for external review and will be assessed against all selection criteria.

Full application project form for 2024 doctoral fellowships

Information for completing applications

To assist in preparing your application, please consult other sections of the LIRS website and, if applicable, the MERL website to learn about available facilities. This will allow you to determine the number of assistants you will need to bring to comply with scuba diving and boating regulations and any experimental needs. Where your own institution's requirements differ from those of LIRS or MERL, the most conservative will apply. Note that diving at LIRS in teams of two can only be done with written permission from the project leader's home institution. For the MERL, a team of three (two divers and a deck supervisor) is the minimum dive team size requirement under WA Regulations. You are welcome to contact LIRS or MERL with any queries. Contact information is provided below.

Indicative costs for field trips to Lizard Island are provided in the table below for planning purposes. Please use these rates when preparing your budget estimates.

Bench fees at MERL in 2023/24 are provided separately below. These may be waived in some instances but please prepare your application for a Joint Fellowship assuming that full fees will be applied. For future years, assume that charges will increase with inflation.

Commercial flights operate in and out of Exmouth (Learmonth) on Qantas Airways only. Please refer to the Qantas website when preparing your submission.