EMCRA Funding

EMCRA Travel Awards

Applications for the EMCRA Travel Awards are now open.

Purpose

The travel awards support costs associated with conference attendance and/or laboratory visits for early to mid career researchers and academics.

In 2026, SBS EMCRA will be offering two rounds of travel awards, with one international and one domestic travel award available for each Department per round. Grants are valued at $2,000 for international and $750 for domestic travel.

Round 1: For travel from 1st January 2026 through to 30th June 2026
Round 2: For travel from 1st July 2026 through to 31st December 2026

How to apply

Please read the full guidelines for this award here.

Important dates for Round 1

Applications open 1^st December 2025
Applications due by 5pm on Friday, 13^th February 2026
Outcome of application: End of March 2026

Important dates for Round 2

Applications open 1st June 2026
Applications due by 5pm on Friday, 17^th July 2026
Outcome of application: Late August 2026

Apply now

Call for reviewers

Are you interested in gaining experience in reviewing award applications?

The SBS EMCRA committee is looking for EMCRAs to review the 2026 Travel Awards applications. It's a great way to get involved in these initiatives and the experience will look great on your CV!

Important Dates

Round 1: Review period – 14th to 28th March 2026
Round 2: Review period – late July 2026

How to register

Complete the form here.

EMCRA Seed Funding Award

The most recent round of the EMCRA Seed Funding Award was run in 2025. 3 Grants of $40,000 each were awarded to the highest ranked applicant from each of the School’s three Departments.

Funding will not be awarded in 2026, but we expect to open applications for 2027 funding (1 X $20,000 grant to each Department) before the end of 2026.

Purpose

The EMCRA Seed Funding Award scheme is designed to support innovative new research led by EMCRA Association in the School of Biomedical Sciences (SBS). SBS recognises the value and importance of supporting the career development of EMCRs towards establishing a track record of project management and autonomous innovative research that will underpin future bids for external competitive research funding.

This award facilitates emerging research led by EMCRAs across SBS. Applicable research projects may include basic research, translational work, teaching-focused projects, or other research projects within the scope of EMCRAs working across SBS. While collaborative research projects are encouraged, individual research projects are also eligible. Collaborative projects can be with researchers in or beyond the University of Melbourne; however, funds must be expended through the University’s Purchase and Acquisition services.

To facilitate the development of EMCRAs research, SBS will make available a grant to the leading applicant from each of the School’s three Departments: Anatomy and Physiology, Biochemistry and Pharmacology, and Microbiology and Immunology.

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