FEMALE AUSTRALIAN LAUREATE FELLOWS TAKING THE LEAD In 2010, the ARC introduced two special Australian Laureate Fellowships: the Kathleen Fitzpatrick Australian Laureate Fellowship—awarded to a highly ranked female candidate from the humanities, arts and social science disciplines—and the Georgina Sweet Australian Laureate Fellowship—awarded to a highly ranked female candidate from the science and technology disciplines. To date, sixteen named Australian Laureate Fellowships have been awarded and each one is undertaking a range of activities at the university and national level to build Australia’s research capacity, undertake innovative research programs and mentor early career researchers. Two such Fellows are Professor Sharon Parker and Professor Leann Tilley. Professor Sharon Parker, 2016 Kathleen Fitzpatrick Australian Laureate Fellow, from The University of Western Australia is studying how transformative work design promotes meaningful, healthy and productive work. With the digital revolution rapidly reconfiguring work processes and the demography of the workforce profoundly shifting, work design is crucial for optimising health, for unleashing employee talent, and for creating agile and effective organisations. Through her ambassadorial and mentoring role, Professor Parker is undertaking a variety of activities, including reviewing women academics’ careers, creating a repository of online resources and guidance, and designing an evidence-based program to provide early career academic women with support, mentoring, skill development, and networking to enhance their research effectiveness. Professor Leann Tilley, 2015 Georgina Sweet Australian Laureate Fellow, from The University of Melbourne, undertakes research in the areas of cell biology and drug development related to the malaria parasite. In her ambassadorial and mentoring role, Professor Tilley has established
three awards to promote and support female scientists who demonstrate excellence in the area of Quantitative Biomedical Science. She has also created travel awards to enable high-profile international female speakers to give keynote addresses at Australian biomedical science conferences that have a demonstrated gender equity policy.
The Kathleen Fitzpatrick and Georgina Sweet Australian Laureate Fellowships include additional funding for recipients ($20,000 per year over five years) to undertake an ambassadorial role to promote women in research.
Stock image—Business. Image courtesy: ©iStockphoto.com/archerix.
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