Successful 2025 Outcomes
Listed below are the awardees of the ECU Early-Mid Career Researcher (EMCR) grants for 2025/26.
In total, 34 highly competitive applications were received, with 41% of applications being awarded funding to a total of $521,138.
Specifically for Stream 1 Kickstart, 64% of these applications were successful with $344,670 awarded. For Stream 2 Pilot Projects, 25% of these applications were successful with $176,468 awarded.
Through two distinct funding Streams, the Early-Mid Career Researcher (EMCR) Grant Scheme aims to support promising Edith Cowan University (ECU) Early-Mid Career Researchers (EMCRs) to progress their independent research careers. The scheme aims to provide EMCRs who have not previously been awarded external competitive research grant funding with experience in applying for research funding and in undertaking and managing a research project as a lead Chief Investigator (CI). Researchers can apply for funding to conduct a research project for up to 18 months, that will help develop their track record and enhance their research competitiveness. The project is required to be clearly defined and with data collection and outputs achievable within the 18 month period.
The EMCR Grant Scheme has two funding streams:
Stream 1 Kickstart: supporting ECRs within 2 years post-PhD conferral (excluding career interruptions) and who have had no previous external research funding to kickstart their career with an independent research project.
Stream 2 Pilot Projects: supporting EMCRs between 2-10 years post-PhD conferral (excluding career interruptions) to undertake necessary pilot work (e.g., to generate preliminary data to support analysis plans or sample size determinations, to trial methodological approaches, to test or validate data collection tools, etc.) to underpin a strong and justified research plan/approach to be included in the submission of an externally competitive research grant application. Applicants who are within 2 years post-PhD conferral who have received previous external research funding (excluding Category 1/Australian Competitive Grants or international equivalent), are eligible to apply under this Stream. Existing research projects will not be supported. Only proposals that already have a developed research plan that require refinement of approaches/methods/tools or proof of feasibility will be funded.
Funding for successful applicants commences 1 January 2026 and will be awarded for a maximum of 18 months. The maximum funding available for each award is $40,000.
** Coming Soon - Guidelines and Application Form for 2026! **
2026 Anticipated Key Dates
- 31 March 2025 - EMCR Grant opens
- 29 April 2025 - Career interruption approval requests to be submitted
- 6 May 2025 - EOI Submissions in ECU RMS
- 20 May 2025 - Research Administration Review
- 3 June 2025 - EMCR Grant closes
- 28 July 2025 - Anticipated announcement
Information Session
An information session is anticipated to be held Tuesday 15 April 2025 which will provide an overview of the scheme as well as some tips and insights from both Assessors and previously successful applicants. Previous slides and recording are available under 'See Also/Downloads'.
Career Interruptions
Career interruption is defined as a prolonged interruption to an applicant's capacity to work. Please see guidelines for full details. To aid with calculation of eligibility, please use the Career Interruption tool in the Downloads section.
Please note all career interruptions must be approved by Research Services. Approval requests must be received by 4pm, Tuesday 29 April 2025.