ANZSCDB Early-Career Researcher Awards
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Instructions to Applicants
Purpose:
The aim of these awards is to encourage and support early-career researchers who are working towards independent research careers in Australia and New Zealand within the disciplines of cell and developmental biology. This stage is one of the most exciting in the career of a research scientist, during which skills are consolidated and areas of research expertise established. Up to two awards will be available, one to recognise a researcher working in Cell Biology and another for a researcher working in Developmental Biology.
Eligibility:
Candidates will:
• Have worked up to 5 years FTE in a post-Ph.D. research 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%) –Discoveries leading to high-quality publications as first author (but also last or corresponding author if relevant); indicators of quality such as editorials or other highlighters, cover features, citations, evidence of impact or influence on the field, commensurate with career stage.
b. Leadership, engagement, mentorship (i.e. what the candidate has done besides research) (40%) – Organisational roles including conference and seminar organisation; participation in peer-review; outreach, advocacy; teaching, supervision, mentorship; contributions to the discipline including contributions to the Society, all assessed commensurate with career stage.
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 FTE years post-doctoral research conducted
· 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, carer 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, 2cm 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 a postdoctoral research position at the time of submission
3. A list of the candidate’s most significant publications (maximum 5) since the award of a Ph.D., 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 28th June, 2024.
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 each award to more than one candidate.
A pool of least four candidates will be required in any given round for the competition to be considered valid.
ANZSCDB reserves the right to award joint candidates, or not confer an award, in any given round.
Prize: Winners will receive a certificate, a talk at a future scientific meeting of/or involving the Society and reimbursement of costs up to $1000 incurred to attend the meeting.
2023 ANZSCDB Early-Career Researcher Awardee
dr Jessica Greaney
Zenker Group
Australian Regenerative medicine Institute, Monash University
Dr Greaney’s research explores the multifaceted roles of the cytoskeleton in early mammalian development. Jess undertook a PhD in Reproductive Medicine at the University of Queensland in the laboratory of Professor Hayden Homer where she studied the process of oocyte maturation using live-imaging. It was during this time that she developed an interest in the cytoskeleton and how it influences cellular function. Jess later joined the lab of Dr Jennifer Zenker at the Australian Regenerative Medicine Institute at Monash University as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow. She was recently awarded a Monash University Early Career Postdoctoral Fellowship to develop light-activated tools to manipulate microtubules in pluripotent stem cells and the preimplantation mouse embryo. Jess hopes that her work will provide insight into the dynamic nature of the cytoskeleton and a deeper understanding of the interplay between a cell’s structure and its identity.
2022 ANZSCDB Early-Career Researcher Awardees
dr Lilian Schimmel
Vessel Dynamics Lab
Institute for Molecular Bioscience, University of Queensland
“My work studies the molecular mechanisms that guide blood vessel growth and function in development and disease. It is well appreciated that the stiffness of the environment surrounding blood vessels affects their growth and function, however the specific signals activated by mechanical forces like stiffness remain largely unknown in endothelial cells. By focussing on the signals in endothelial cells that regulate their interactions with the surrounding environment, I aim to identify specific signalling pathways that are involved in the response of endothelial cells to their surrounding environment and how those lead to abnormal and leaky blood vessel formation.”
dr Ivar Noordstra
Cadherin cell-cell adhesion and tissue organisation in health and disease Lab
Institute for Molecular Bioscience, University of Queensland
Dr Noordstra’s work builds around the cytoskeleton and epithelial morphogenesis, with a special focus on the formation and maintenance of cell-cell interactions. Noordstra completed his PhD in the field of microtubule dynamics in the lab of Prof. Anna Akhmanova at Utrecht University in the Netherlands. During this time he applied advanced microscopy approaches to interrogate the molecular regulation of microtubule dynamics and how these control cell shape and invasiveness in 3D matrices. Noordstra won an EMBO Long Term Fellowship, which “gave me the freedom to lead a research project focussing on the function of E-cadherin nano- and micro clusters in epithelial development” within the Yap lab at IMB. “Through collaborations with colleagues in Australia, Spain and India, we elucidated the detailed molecular mechanisms underlying the formation of cell-cell junctions”, describing “how cells identify topologies of cortical flow as a basis for decision to commit to junction assembly”.
Past Award Winners:
2023 - Jessica Greaney, Australian Regenerative Medicine Institute - Monash University
2022 - Lilian Schimmel, IMB, University of Queensland | Ivar Noordstra, IMB, University of Queensland
2021 - Max Nobis, Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research
2020 - Yoon Lim, CCB, University of Adelaide | Sarah Boyle, CCB, University of Adelaide
2019 - Avnika Ruparelia, Monash University | Janita Manning, CCB, University of Adelaide