The AAS Post-Doctoral Fellowship consists of an honorarium of AUD$4,000, awarded to a PhD graduate to assist in the development of work for publication. The honorarium is intended to support the writing up of research already conducted. It is not intended to support fieldwork or conference attendance.
The 2020 funding round round is now open, with applications due by Monday, 9 March 2020. If you are considering submitting an application, please make sure you have read the below Instructions for Applicants in detail.
Gil completed his PhD at the University of Sydney in 2018 under the supervision of Terry Woronov, auxiliary supervisors Jadran Mimica and Yasmine Musharbash. His project explores contemporary forms of self-improvement in urban China. Focusing on pedagogic activities in interpersonal ‘soft’ skills, Gil describes self-improvement as an engagement with ideals of personhood. Through affective moments in workshops for self-improvement, participants perceive transient transcendence above local norms and in turn realise their 'non-ordinary' ideals. Gil's perspective prioritises an understanding of self-improvement as a practice that reifies some of the contradictions in Chinese society’s distinct experience of modernity. Gil will use the AAS honorarium to compose a book manuscript while enjoying the continuous moral and intellectual support of the Anthropology department at USYD.
Sean received his PhD in Anthropology from the University of Western Australia in 2012 for his thesis ‘The politics of cultural production in the DIY hardcore scene in Bandung, Indonesia’, which was based on ethnographic research into the ‘Do It Yourself’ production practices, social organisation and values of the Bandung hardcore punk scene. He will be using the AAS honorarium to develop this thesis into a book manuscript. The book, tentatively entitled Running in Circles: The Politics of Value in an Indonesian Punk Scene, will focus especially on the ways in which the global punk values of autonomy and community have been expressed and implemented by DIY activists in Bandung. He will receive additional support from the University of Western Australia.
Lindy grew up in Western Queensland and moved to Sydney to study pharmacy. After graduating, she left Australia and has since worked around the world as a pharmacist and for various NGOs. Her scientific background and interest in other peoples and their cultures has formed the basis of her anthropological research. Lindy used the honorarium to turn her thesis into a book manuscript, which she has now submitted to a University Press. She received additional support from Macquarie University (office space and library access).
Applicants must be financial members of the AAS at the time of application (current members can check their paid status here: https://www.aas.asn.au/member-hub/. non-AAS members who wish to apply for membership in order to be eligible for the fellowship should do so well in advance of the fellowship application deadline)
Applicants must have been awarded a PhD in Anthropology no more than ten years before the closing date for applications. For eligibility purposes the award date is the date listed on the applicant’s academic transcript.
Applicants must not hold a permanent or full-time fixed-term academic position while in receipt of the honorarium. Those in casual or part-time fixed term academic positions are encouraged to apply, including research assistants who may be classified as professional/general staff. Those who have had a career break for parental leave are also encouraged to apply.
Applications will be judged based on:
Merit of the proposed publication project
Applicant’s track record, relative to opportunity
Benefit to career trajectory/prospects (including time/financial considerations)
Prior to submitting her or his application, each applicant is encouraged to make arrangements to be supported by an Australian academic institution willing to host her or him for the term of the fellowship if the application is successful. A visiting fellowship – through which the successful candidate would be provided with library access, IT support, and a space to write – would be an example of such an arrangement. Host institutions are not permitted to deduct a levy from the honorarium.
The fellowship may be carried out on a full-time or part-time basis, but it must be completed within eight months of the announcement of the award. Applicants are asked to provide a description of the time they will devote to the fellowship, based on what is most suited to their circumstances (see ‘Application Procedure’ below).
Where appropriate, it is hoped that the successful candidate will offer any completed manuscript to The Australian Journal of Anthropology.
The successful applicant is required to submit a report of up to one page to the AAS Executive, up to one month following the completion of the fellowship.
Applicants will need to provide:
A description of the proposed publication(s) that the fellowship will assist in bringing to completion (no more than 500 words), including:
The publications’ background, aims/arguments, and contribution to anthropology
Any progress in and feedback on the work to date, as well as what needs to be done to get it published
How this work fits with the applicant’s broader career goals
A description of circumstances (no more than 500 words), including:
Details of employment since PhD graduation
Any constraints/barriers to academic career progress (financial, employment, family responsibilities)
The time to be devoted to the fellowship
Any institutional support the applicant has arranged to receive if successful
A copy of the applicant’s CV
An academic reference in support of the application. Applicants are required to arrange for the reference to be emailed directly from the referee to aas@anu.edu.au and received by the application deadline. (Please note, if the reference is not received by the due date the application will be ineligible.)
