The call for applications is currently closed
The 2025 award round is now closed.
The Max Day Environmental Science Fellowship Award is an annual award of up to $20,000 per awardee to assist PhD students or early career researchers with their research. It provides funding support toward research expenses, courses and the costs of travel. Grants are GST exclusive. Funded activities are normally expected to have been undertaken within two years from the date of award. Awardees can apply for project variations if their award proposals are impacted by extenuating circumstance.
The award is named in honour of the late Dr Maxwell Frank Cooper Day AO FAA who spent a lifetime championing entomology, conservation and forestry, as well as helping other scientists. Through sponsoring this award Dr Day is acknowledging the support that he himself received as a young researcher to travel overseas to gain his PhD at Harvard. Following Dr Day’s strong belief in the strength of an interdisciplinary approach to research, only applicants who are able to demonstrate an interdisciplinary approach to their research will be considered for this award.
Applicants must demonstrate an interdisciplinary approach to their research work, address all selection criteria and conduct their research in one or more of the biological sciences relating to one or more of the following disciplines:
* The Australian Academy of Science is committed to ensuring that all eligible researchers can be considered for awards and collects career interruption information to assess their opportunity to demonstrate scientific excellence. Accordingly, extensions to the post PhD eligibility requirements for early and mid-career awards will be provided for qualifying career disruptions.
A career disruption involves prolonged interruption to a nominee’s capacity to conduct full time equivalent (FTE) high-level research, either due to part-time employment or absence (for periods of one month or greater) and/or long-term partial return to work, to accommodate carer’s responsibilities, illness or other interruption.
The career disruptions here must have occurred post the date of the letter advising that the PhD thesis was passed and resulted in significantly reduced research productivity or nil research output. Career disruption periods will be taken into account for those who would otherwise be beyond the post PhD career eligibility requirements.
Applicants may use the award in Australia or overseas but must demonstrate that the proposal has direct relevance to Australia in one of more of the four disciplines mentioned above. Successful applications will clearly address all selection criteria.
Eligible expenses are all expenses that fall under the following areas of funding:
Applications must include the following:
Late applications will not be considered and applicants who fail to adhere to the above requirements will not be considered.
Applications are considered carefully against the selection criteria by a committee of scientists with diverse expertise. The decisions of the committee are based on the assessed competitiveness of the proposal. The Academy is not able to enter into discussion or correspondence regarding the reasons why an application is successful or not.
The successful awardee(s) will be notified of the award by early November for a Fellowship starting up to 12 months from the date of award.
The successful awardee(s) will also be offered travel and accommodation to attend the Science at the Shine Dome event as part of their award.
This award is open to nominations for candidates from all genders.
For more information contact awards@science.org.au
Aviya Naccarella, Deakin University: The contribution of mycophagous mammals to ecosystem services and restoration
Dr Elvis Okoffo, University of Queensland: Unmasking the hidden threat: Investigating microplastic pollution in Moreton Bay for a sustainable future
More information on the 2024 Max Day Environmental Science Fellowship Award awardees can be found here.
Patrick Finnerty, University of Sydney: Neighbourhood watch—using ‘virtual’ neighbours to protect plants from herbivores during habitat restoration and post-fire recovery
Shawn Scott, University of South Australia: Post-fire population response and chytrid occurrence in South Australian frogs
More information on the 2023 Max Day Environmental Science Fellowship Award awardees can be found here.
See the list of previous awardees here.
This award has been made available through generous contributions from the following individuals:
Presidents’ Circle (Donations of or valued at $100,000 – $499,000)
Dr Maxwell Frank Cooper Day AO FAA
Dr Jon Day PSM
Mr Doug Hooley PSM
Science Circle (Donations of or valued at $20,000 - $99,000)
Professor Andrew (Frank) Smith FAA
Donations of or valued at $1,000 – $4,999
Emeritus Professor Patrick De Deckker AM FAA HonGSL
Donations of or valued at $500 – $999
Mr Nicholas Benson
Mr Ian Hardy
Dr Laurence Mound
Donations up to $499
Mrs Eliza Allen
Marek Cmero
Dr Peter Coyne
Dr Alana Grech
Professor Alec Lazenby AO
Dr Libby Robin
Ms Suzanna Rumon
Dr Denise Sherer
© 2024 Australian Academy of Science