What is the Boosting the Next Generation of Women in STEM?
The Boosting the Next Generation of Women in STEM is a program that provides funding to a single delivery partner to manage 500 university scholarships to women who are re-training, seeking higher qualifications, or undertaking study after a break from either study or the workforce.
Objectives
The objectives of the Boosting the Next Generation of Women in STEM are to:
- increase participation of women in STEM tertiary education to increase re-training, seeking higher qualifications, or undertaking study (either for the first time, or to extend and broaden their qualifications)
- support women to build the crossing-cutting and multi-disciplinary skillsets sought by industry to foster the next wave of mentors and role-models, and support re-entry into the workforce
- stimulate an increase in the number of women in senior leadership and decision making positions in government, research organisations, industry and businesses.
The intended outcomes of the program are to:
- increase representation of women in the STEM workforce
- develop deeper and new connections and collaborations between researchers, industry and students, on industry-relevant problems.
Funding
The Australian Government has committed a total of $41.2 million over 7 years for the program. The grant amount will be up to 100 per cent of eligible project expenditure. The maximum grant is up to $41.2 million.
Eligible Projects
To be eligible your project must be aimed at designing, establishing and managing a program to identify sectoral focus areas in STEM, nominate collaborative industry projects and award scholarships to high-performing women.
Eligible activities must include:
- co-designing a program with the department, industry, universities and the broader STEM sector to provide nationally competitive scholarships for eligible students
- administrative support for the program, including program management and delivery, monitoring the progress of scholars and their projects, collecting data and reporting on the progress of the program
- engaging universities to nominate collaborative industry projects or placements in priority STEM areas
- providing a tailored development program including mentoring and other skills development for participants
- building a governance mechanism for the ongoing management of the program
- provide networking and career development opportunities to scholars to foster linkages between scholars, researchers, government and industry
- communicating outcomes of the program, such as case studies on industry projects and/or placements and scholar achievements
- other activities identified by the department.
For your project to be eligible, your application must show:
- evidence from your board (or chief executive officer or equivalent if there is no board) that the project is supported
- that you can complete the project and meet the costs of the project not covered by grant funding.
Eligible Applicants
To be eligible you must have an Australian business number (ABN) and be:
- an entity incorporated in Australia and a trading corporation
- an incorporated trustee on behalf of a trust
- an incorporated association
- an incorporated not for profit organisation
- a publicly funded research agency (PFRA) as defined in section 14 of the guidelines.
If you are a trading corporation, your trading activities must:
- form a significant proportion of the corporation’s overall activities as to merit it being described as a trading corporation; or
- be a substantial and not merely peripheral activity of the corporation.
Timing
Applications close 07 October 2021.
