Emerging Leader Award

Transition to independence is one of the most challenging and critical stages in the career of a research scientist. This award is established to encourage and support emerging investigators who are at the stage of building independent careers in our disciplines in Australia and New Zealand. The award will be an imprimatur of scientific accomplishment. The principal criteria will be the quality of the candidate's research and evidence of ability to sustain an independent career.

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Instructions to Applicants

Purpose:

The aim of this award is to encourage and support emerging investigators who are building independent careers in Australia and New Zealand in the disciplines of cell and developmental biology. This stage is one of the most challenging and crucial in the career of a research scientist.

 Eligibility:

Candidates will:

• Have worked up to 10 years FTE in an independent position at close of nomination

• Have been a financial member of ANZSCDB for at least one year

Nomination:

Candidates may self-nominate or be nominated by any financial member of ANZSCDB.

Selection criteria:

The principal criterion will be the excellence of the candidate, assessed via the following criteria.

a.    Scientific achievements (i.e. what research the candidate has done) (40%) – ground-breaking and influential discoveries leading to high-quality publications as first, last or corresponding author; indicators of quality such as editorials or other highlighters, cover features, citations, evidence of impact or influence on the field.

b.    Leadership, engagement, mentorship (i.e. what the candidate has done besides research) (40%) – Organizational roles including conference and seminar organisation; participation in peer review; outreach, advocacy; teaching, supervision, mentorship; contributions to the discipline including contributions to the Society.

c.    National and/or international profile (i.e. how others have responded to what the candidate has done) (20%) – invitations to speak; invited reviews; invited appointment to committees; honours, awards and prizes; grants and Fellowships.

ANZSCDB is committed to the principles of fairness, transparency, equity and diversity, including gender equality, in assessing and administering this award.

All criteria will be judged relative to opportunity, taking into account the following factors:

·         Number of years in an independent position .

·         Mentoring, research support and funding available to the candidate.

·         Career interruptions, including those due to employment outside academia, periods of unemployment, part-time employment or other interruptions, childbirth, carers’ responsibilities, misadventure or illness.

·         Ongoing family, medical or other circumstances that may impact on research output.

·         Teaching, administrative, or other duties that may have impacted on research output.

·         Any other aspects of career or opportunities for research that are relevant to the assessment.

·         The career and productivity impact of COVID-19 and lock-downs will be taken into general consideration, applicants should feel free to note exceptional circumstances.

Required documentation:

1.    A two-page document addressing the selection criteria (minimum 12-point font, 2 cm margins).

2.    A short (maximum half-page) statement addressing the opportunity issues described above, including the total length of any period of career interruption, an estimate of FTE available for scientific pursuits, the outputs of which are being evaluated, and hence a figure for total FTE in an independent position at the time of submission

3.    A list of the candidate’s most significant publications (maximum 5) since independence, each annotated with a short (maximum 6-line) statement of the significance of the work and a description of the candidate’s role(s) in the work.

4.    A full CV.

A single pdf file comprising all documents should be emailed c/o the ANZSCDB Secretariat (anzscdb@asnevents.net.au) by 5pm 9th July, 2023.

Judging:

Evaluation, shortlisting, and ranking of candidates will involve all members of the ANZSCDB Committee and the President. In situations where there is a tied vote or a lack of consensus, the President may cast the deciding vote or may choose to extend the award to more than one candidate.

ANZSCDB reserves the right to award joint candidates, or not confer an award, in any given round.

Prize:

The winner will receive a certificate, a trophy, a talk at future scientific meeting of/or involving the Society and reimbursement of costs up to $1500 incurred to attend the meeting.

ANZSCDB Emerging Leader Award 2023

 

 

Associate Professor Edwina McGlinn
Australian Institute for Regenerative Medicine
Monash University

Edwina completed her PhD at the Institute for Molecular Bioscience UQ, and post-doc at Harvard Medical School, prior to joining Monash University as the first EMBL-Australia Group Leader, based at the Australian Regenerative Medicine Institute (ARMI). Here, Edwina has been promoted to Associate Professor and Head of Research Excellence and Mentorship at ARMI. Edwina’s work combines complex mouse genetics, pluripotent stem cell differentiation protocols and advanced genomic technologies to reveal novel mechanism driving embryonic growth and patterning. Her specific focus is on identifying novel factors that control the timing of Hox cluster transitions. This has enabled her lab to reveal the regulatory logic controlling precise vertebral number within different regions of the vertebral column, supporting a revised model of Hox function in this classical context whereby Hox function is required to construct axial tissue not solely pattern. More broadly, this work provides a molecular framework to interrogate mechanisms of evolutionary change and congenital anomalies of the vertebral column and spinal cord. In addition to her research, Edwina has a strong passion for the promotion of equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) in science.

ANZSCDB Emerging Leader Award 2022

 
 

Associate Professor Kelly Smith
CardiaC Genetics LAB, University of Melbourne

To read about A/Prof Kelly Smith’s achievements, please click here.

Past Award Winners:

  • 2022 - Kelly Smith, University of Melbourne

  • 2021 - James Murphy, Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research

  • 2020 - Michael Samuel, CCB, University of South Australia

  • 2019 - Josephine Bowles, University of Queensland

  • 2019 - Kate Schroeder, University of Queensland

  • 2018 - Michael Piper, University of Queensland

  • 2017 - Archa Fox, University of Western Australia

  • 2016 - Ben Hogan, University of Queensland

  • 2015 - Brett Collins, University of Queensland 

  • 2014 - Ian Smyth, Monash University 

  • 2013 - Natasha Harvey, CCB/SA Pathology, University of Adelaide

  • 2012 - Aleksandra Filipovska, University of Western Australia

  • 2011 - Dagmar Wilhelm, University of Queensland

  • 2010 - Katharina Gaus, University of New South Wales

  • 2009 - Kieran Harvey, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre and Ruth Arkell, Australian National University

  • 2008 - Sally Dunwoodie, Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute