Westpac Research Fellowships

Key dates for Westpac Research Fellowship 2026

Proposals open with Westpac: 1 July 2025
Online information session: 1pm, 30 July 2025. Register now!
UQ NOI close: 4 August 2025
Complete draft Applications due to the UQ Research Office: 6 August 2025
Eligibility Exemption Requests due to the Research Office: 6 August 2025
Full Applications close with Westpac: 25pm, 25 August 2025
University shortlisting: 15 September - 10 October 2025
Westpac National Assessment Centre: 3 - 4 December 2025
Anticipated announcement: Mid December 2025

Overview

The Westpac Research Fellowship offers early career researchers a unique opportunity to support their ground-breaking research, provide access to networks, open career pathways and global experiences. Successful Fellows will be undertaking research that can make a difference to Australia’s future in one of the Westpac Scholars Trust’s priority areas:

An Inclusive Country
Australia in Asia-Pacific
Sustainable Futures
Thriving Tech Sector

Eligibility

Applications are open to early carer researchers who completed their PhD between January 2019 – December 2022 inclusive (unless DVCRI exemption is granted), who are Australian citizens or permanent residents and can commence their Fellowship by 30 June 2026.
Your proposed research must contribute to the future of Australia in one of the Trusts' priority areas listed above and must include international opportunities to expand your leadership skills and global networks (e.g. study tours for the purpose of research, conference or short course attendance, an internship, or volunteering).
Matching cash contribution from your Faculty, Institute, School or Centre. See 'UQ Cash Contribution' section below for further details.
You must supply all documentation detailed in Section 7 of the Guidelines. This includes a Curriculum Vitae, Letter of Support from the DVCR, an Academic Reference, and a Personal Reference. Templates from Westpac are available under Key Documents below.
Funding requests for medical research as defined in ARC Medical Research Policy will not be considered.
Should your application progress to the final stage, you must attend the National Assessment Centre in person in Sydney on 3-4 December 2025. If your application is successful, you must also attend the Westpac Scholars’ Summit in Sydney in late March 2026. Costs of attendance (including travel) at both events is covered by the Westpac Scholar’s Trust.

Eligibility Exemption

If your PhD was awarded before 1 January 2019, you may be considered for an exemption to this eligibility criteria. An Eligibility Exemption can be provided up to a maximum of four years for the following career interruptions:

Caring responsibilities
Disability
Disaster management and recovery (e.g. affected by bushfires, floods)
Limited or no access to facilities and resources, e.g. through workplace interruptions.
Medical conditions
Parental leave
Non-research positions, not concurrent with research employment

To request an exemption, please complete the WRF 2026 Eligibility Exemption Calculator (template below) and forward this with interruption specific evidence to grants@research.uq.edu.au by the due date listed above.

UQ Cash Contribution

To be eligible to apply, UQ must provide cash contributions for the successful candidates.
Westpac provides $110,000 per annum towards salary and oncosts for three years. UQ must provide:

Salary gap: Any gap between the Westpac funding and the actual UQ salary level (including salary on-costs) will need to be provided by the Faculty/Institute/School/Centre. UQ Central cash is not available for the salary gap.
Project costs: UQ Central cash will match the cash amount provided by the Faculty/Institute/School/Centre for project costs up to a maximum of $25,000 per annum for 3 years.
Professional Development Funds: UQ is required to contribute $30,000 over the life of the project to support leadership development for the Fellow (e.g., through conferences, travel, and courses). This is pre-approved fully from Central funds and cannot be used for project costs.

The Faculty/Institute/School/Centre contribution needs to be confirmed via the UQ 2026 Westpac Research Fellowship Funding Application Certification/Cash Proforma (template below) before the UQ Letter of Support will be signed for submission.

How to apply

Step 1: Westpac Scholars Trust's portal registration and scheme reading:

The applicant will need an active account in Westpac's online system.
Familiarise yourself with the key Westpac and UQ documentation (see links at the end of this page).
Register for the Westpac online information session at 1pm, 30 July 2025 - register here

Step 2: Completing the application

Log into the system and complete the Application. You will be unable to submit until all attachments have been uploaded.
Attend the Westpac online information session at 1pm, 30 July 2025.

Step 3: RO internal review and feedback

In advance of internal review, ensure all online components are complete and valid. Generate a whole-proposal PDF for your records.
To initiate internal review, email your completed UQ Westpac 2026 Funding Application Certification/Cash Proforma (using template below), whole-proposal PDF, and the draft attachments, including CV and UQ Letter of Support, to RO at grants@research.uq.edu.au.
Internal review by RO/feedback provided (compliance/eligibility/grantscraft).

Step 4: Final submission

On receiving authorisation from RO, submit your application online in Westpac's online system.

Readership and researcher support

Before applying, we recommend you:

Contact your faculty or institute research manager for advice on peer readership programs.
Join the UQ R&I Mailer to stay up to date with round developments.
Access the UQ R&I Grants Library, a helpful resource of past successful proposals.