Paul Bourke Awards for Early Career Research (Australia)

Four Paul Bourke Award recipients are selected each year by members of the Academy’s Panel Committees. The awards are presented to social science researchers who are within five years of receiving their doctorate (with allowances for career interruptions).

Disciplines Covered

• The disciplines covered by the Panels are as follows:
  • Panel A – People, Place, Culture, and Communication: Built Environment & Design, Human Society (including Anthropology, Criminology, Demography, Gender studies, Geography, Policy and administration, Political science, Social Work, Sociology), Indigenous Studies, Language, Communication and Culture
  • Panel B – Business & Economics: Accounting, Commerce, Economics, Human resources and industrial relations, Management, Marketing, Tourism, Statistics
  • Panel C – History, Law & Philosophy: History, Law and legal studies, Philosophy
  • Panel D – Education, Psychology & Public Health: Education, Health Sciences, Psychology

Award Information

• The Awards comprise a testamur and medallion presented to each recipient.
• As part of the Paul Bourke Award, and with agreement of the recipients’ home universities, the Academy will assist with the coordination and promotion of a lecture delivered during the following year.
• The recipients are also asked to contribute to media and promotion of their Award and their research by the Academy.

Eligibility Criteria

• Nominations will be checked by Academy staff for eligibility prior to assessment by Panel Committees. Eligibility criteria include:
  • A PhD in the social sciences, awarded normally not more than five years* prior to the closing date for nominations, excluding any eligible periods of career interruption.
  • Australian citizenship or permanent resident status.
  • Endorsement by two Academy Fellows as Proposer and Seconder
  • The nominated scholar must not have previously won the Paul Bourke Award for Early Career Research.
  • Scholars are eligible to be nominated within five years of the conferral date of their earliest PhD (as certified by the administering organisation), plus any eligible career interruptions. If a nominee has more than one PhD, the earliest awarded PhD must fall within this timeframe.

For more information, visit Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia.