New Futures Mobility Fund
Program highlights
- Funding support to attend recognised scientific conferences and similar professional events in Australia
- Build your research profile through networking, visibility and career development opportunities
- Flexible funding to help remove cost barriers and make participation more accessible
The New Futures Mobility Fund (New Futures) is a grant program delivered by the Australian Academy of Science (the Academy). It provides competitive mobility grants to support eligible humanitarian visa holders living in Australia to participate in recognised scientific conferences, symposia and similar professional events in Australia.
The fund offers flexible funding support to help remove cost barriers and enable participation in professional scientific opportunities. It is intended to strengthen professional visibility, support career development, and grow research networks through engagement with Australia’s scientific community.
Key dates
Below are the key dates for the application process. While we aim to keep to this schedule, some dates may change depending on circumstances.
GUIDELINES
The following guidelines provide important information about eligibility, submission requirements, and assessment processes. Please review them carefully before submitting an application.
Applicant eligibility
At the time of application, applicants must:
- be living in Australia
- hold an eligible humanitarian visa subclass (see list below)
- be engaged in research training or research activity in Australia
- be seeking funding support to attend a recognised STEM scientific conference, symposium or similar professional event in Australia
Eligible humanitarian visa subclasses are below:
- Refugee (subclass 200)
- In-country Special Humanitarian (subclass 201)
- Emergency Rescue (subclass 203)
- Woman at Risk (subclass 204)
Eligible applicants may include:
- Masters students and PhD candidates
- Early- and mid-career researchers (EMCRs) with a Masters or PhD degree awarded up to 15 years* prior to the application deadline (where applicable).
* An extension to this timeframe may be considered in the case of significant career interruptions.
Activity eligibility
Eligible activities are those with a structured scientific or professional development program and a clear rationale for how attendance will strengthen the applicant’s research capability, networks, and career development. Events must be Australia-based (no international travel).
Eligible activities may include:
- Professional conferences, symposia, workshops or similar professional events
- Specialist training courses or masterclasses delivered alongside a recognised scientific conference or symposium event.
- Professional development opportunities that support the applicant’s research training or research activity.
- Research translation and industry engagement forums with a STEM focus, where attendance supports research career pathways.
Other professional opportunities within Australia, as approved by the Academy
The Academy may request clarification where an event’s scientific standing or relevance is not clear from the application materials.
Fields of research
Applications are welcome from all fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).
Eligible Australian research organisations (EROs)
Applicants must be employed by an eligible research organisation, including:
- Australian tertiary education institutions (as defined in the Higher Education Support Act 2003)
- Australian cooperative research centres
- publicly funded research agencies
- state- or territory-funded research organisations
- Australian public or private research companies
- Australian not-for-profit research organisations
- other incorporated Australian entities.
An ERO must be registered for GST, and if a university, must be exempt from income tax. Non-corporate Commonwealth entities (as defined under the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013) are not eligible.
Successful applicants will be offered a grant from the Academy of up to A$5,000 (GST exclusive) towards the cost of attendance at recognised scientific conferences, symposia and similar professional events in STEM fields in Australia.
Grant funding can be used towards the cost of:
- professional development or professional event registration fees (including event access fees)
- return economy airfare from the applicant's home city to the event location in Australia, and
- accommodation costs that are specifically aligned with the requested activity dates.
Travel must commence after 1 October 2026 and be completed by 30 September 2027. Awardees are required to organise their own event registration, travel and accommodation arrangements, in accordance with the awarded fund conditions.
Funding is intended to cover the applicant’s costs associated with attending an eligible STEM event in Australia and does not provide support for caring or carer costs. Dependants may accompany the successful applicant at their own cost. The grant does not provide funds for bench fees, managerial, visa or insurance costs.
Successful applicants will be issued a funding agreement setting out funding conditions, eligible expenditure, reporting requirements and acquittal requirements. Grant funds will only be released on receipt of the signed funding agreement and required activity supporting evidence.
Applications must be submitted via the Academy’s Good Grants online portal and must be completed in full and include the following attachments as supporting evidence:
- brief curriculum vitae, including publications (maximum six pages)
- copy of eligible humanitarian visa grant notice
- letter of support from current supervisor or equivalent institute delegate. See the letter of support information sheet (PDF download below and on the templates tab) for details on what information should be included in it.
- event invitation, registration details, or equivalent supporting evidence confirming event outline and cost
- indicative budget outlining proposed use of funds
Applications must be complete at the time of submission to be considered. Incomplete applications, including those missing any required supporting material, will be deemed ineligible and will not proceed to merit assessment.
Privacy note: Visa evidence is sensitive personal information. Access to visa evidence in Good Grants will be restricted to authorised Academy Secretariat staff for eligibility checking. Visa evidence will not be provided to assessors and will not be exported to other systems.
Applications are considered carefully against the assessment criteria by a panel convened by the Academy and comprising Academy Fellows with relevant subject matter expertise. The decisions of the panel are based on the assessed competitiveness of each application.
Applications will be assessed on the criteria below, without any weighting:
- The quality and suitability of the proposed professional development opportunity, including the standing and relevance of the event to the applicant’s research and career stage.
- The expected benefits of attendance, including opportunities to build networks, strengthen professional visibility, and support career development.
- The extent to which the grant will enable access to the opportunity (including consideration of barriers and the appropriateness of the requested costs).
- Feasibility and value for money, including whether the budget is reasonable, clearly explained and aligned to eligible costs.
The Academy is not able to enter into discussion or correspondence regarding the reasons an application is successful or unsuccessful.
Successful awardees are required to submit a report within three months of activity completion. The report template will be provided to awardees.
Any publication resulting from activities funded by this program must acknowledge the support of the Australian Academy of Science and the New Futures Mobility Fund (exact acknowledgement wording will be provided to successful applicants). Any case studies, testimonials or impact stories are optional and will be subject to informed consent.
Applications are to be completed through an online form found by clicking on the Apply button on the top right of this web page when the round is open.
The letter of support information sheet can be downloaded from below.
