2024 Fellowships and Research Grants from the National Centre For Student Equity in Higher Education (NCSEHE)

Applications for all three funding programs will close at 8pm AWST on Thursday 28 September 2023. 

If you are interested in applying please contact mgse-grants@unimelb.edu.au as soon as possible as these applications require institutional sign off.

Equity Fellowship Program
NCSEHE’s Equity Fellowship Program returns in 2024 and will fund up to three fellowships valued at up to $230,000 each for one year, enabling successful researchers, practitioners and managers in higher education to contribute to the existing Australian student equity research and practice knowledge base.

Commencing in 2016, our Equity Fellows Program has thus far funded 14 successful fellowships, the research from which you can find on our website here.

Employees of Australian universities currently receiving funding for equity programs through the Australian Government’s Higher Education Participation and Partnerships Program (HEPPP) are eligible to apply for a fellowship, and we encourage applications from staff from a broad range of backgrounds, areas and career stages.

First Nations Fellowship Program
As NCSEHE recognises the importance of honouring and amplifying First Nations (Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander) Australians voices in academia, it is with immense pleasure that we launch the Centre’s inaugural First Nations Fellowship Program, which will fund up to three First Nations fellowships valued at up to $230,000 each.

The First Nations Fellowship Program seeks to strengthen the quality, capability, scale, and capacity of Australia’s First Nations researchers and practitioners, enable ground-breaking, robust, high-quality, and internationally competitive research, and provide successful candidates with the opportunity to engage with students, practitioners, administrators, and researchers in higher education equity.

First Nations Fellowships are open to First Nations Australian staff of Australian universities currently receiving funding for equity programs through the HEPPP.

Small Grants Research Program
Lastly, NCSEHE’s Small Grants Research Program will fund between eight and 13 projects valued at between $30,000 and $50,000 each, excluding GST, aimed at addressing equity issues across the entire higher education student lifecycle. NCSEHE is particularly looking to support proposals that address contemporary developments and challenges in higher education equity policy, practice, and evaluation, including but not limited to, issues raised and discussed as part of the Australian Universities Accord Panel’s Review of Higher Education.

All Small Grants Research Program proposals are required to identify one or more priority groups that are the focus of the research as listed in our Proposal Template, however, proposals are not limited to the priority groups we have listed and can nominate other groups experiencing disadvantage and/or underrepresentation in higher education.

Small Grants Research Program projects will be funded over twelve months, commencing in February 2024. Proposals are welcome from individuals or teams from Australian higher education institutions. 

More information
More information on each of the above named research programs, including application packs, is available on our website here.