The Academy and the Embassy of France in Australia are proud to administer the Social Science Collaborative Research Program.
Find details on the 2023 recipients here.
Applications for funding in 2024 are now CLOSED.
1. Program Objective
This research funding program is intended to foster and reinforce social science collaboration between Australia and France through:
- Research activities on a topic of interest to both Australia and France, provided to eligible French and Australian researchers, especially early and mid-career researchers.
- Research activities relevant to Pacific Island Studies (including those in French overseas territories).
- Research activities relevant to the Indo-Pacific region.
- Research activities with the capacity to support the development of strategic alliances between France and Australia.
Proposals with a multidisciplinary or interdisciplinary character are encouraged.
2. Funding
Grants available through this program are for a maximum of $5,000 AUD and are aimed at providing seed funding to foster the development of a larger research program.
Funding through this program is designed to facilitate:
- Researcher exchange between Australia and France or to a research-related Indo-Pacific nation.
- Researcher mobility, especially to attend international workshops (excludes business class airfare).
- Funding grants to undertake research or field work.
Funding is available to support activities within a 2 year (24 month) time frame, activities outside of this period should seek funding from subsequent rounds.
The funding rules of the program do not permit the inclusion of overheads or indirect cost as expenditures into the budget. Salaries and wages of principal investigators are in-kind contributions to the project expenses by the applicant.
3. Eligibility
Eligible applicants are France and Australia affiliated researchers, and experts in public and private sectors. As the Academy and the Embassy of France in Australia encourages the participation of early and mid-career researchers, one researcher involved in the project should be fewer than fifteen years beyond the completion of their PhD. PhD students are also eligible to apply. We recognise career interruptions can have a significant impact on the period between conferral of a researcher’s PhD and the submission of an application. We therefore allow extension of the eligibility periods for specified career interruptions.
The following significant and non-overlapping career interruptions will be eligible:
| Reason for career interruption | Time which can be claimed (minimum period of one month) |
| International relocation | Time commensurate with the interruption, not exceeding three months per international relocation. |
| Child-care as primary carer (includes periods of parental leave as well as part-time work while caring for one or more children) | Up to two years per dependent child |
| Other caring responsibilities (including care of a dependent child due to illness or disability) | Time commensurate with the interruption. |
| Medical condition or disability | Time commensurate with the interruption. |
| Non-research employment (if not concurrent with research employment) or unemployment | Time commensurate with the interruption. |
4. Agreement
By submitting your application, you will be asked to acknowledge and agree to the following conditions:
- Information on the Application Form is collected to make recommendations to the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia on the allocation of financial assistance under their respective budgets. The information collected may be passed to assessors for the purposes of obtaining a peer-review assessment of the application. It may also be passed to other funding bodies and other public organisations (including Universities and research bodies) judged appropriate by the funding organisations. In other instances, information on this form can be disclosed without your consent where authorised or required by law.
- While the Embassy of France and the Academy’s selection committee gives careful consideration to applications, it is not able to enter into discussion or correspondence regarding the reasons why an application is unsuccessful.
- Successful applicants, or their institution, will invoice the Academy for the awarded amount prior to the close of the relevant financial year.
- Successful applicants are required to submit a report of the research activities funded by the program and an acquittal of funds within two months following the completion of the funded activity. Should the research activities be undertaken over a period of more than one year, a progress report is also required at the end of each calendar year.
5. Contact
Michelle Bruce or Zoe Perry
P: +61 2 6249 1788
E: fellowship@socialsciences.org.au
6. Application Form
Download the 2024 Application Form here
Applications must be submitted to fellowship@socialsciences.org.au by 1 November each year.
Application outcomes will be notified by January 2024 for provision of funding.
