Handbury Fellowships

Helen & Geoff Handbury Fellowship Program

About the Handbury Fellowships

How To Apply

Past Fellowship Recipients

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Dates for the 2011 call for applications:

Funding round open: 10 March 2011

Closing date for applications: 10 June 2011

Applications must be received by 5:00 pm Australian Eastern Standard Time (AEST) on Friday 10 June 2011

About the Handbury Fellowship Program

The Helen & Geoff Handbury Fellowship Program is a community-university partnership scholarship fund that provides financial support to the Western Victoria community region in partnership with RMIT University staff or students to undertake projects that provide a direct and tangible benefit towards the sustainability of the region and surrounds. Sustainable development may include any one or a combination of economic, social, cultural, educational or environmental benefits. Projects that develop an ongoing partnership between RMIT University staff and/or student(s) and the region community are particularly encouraged. For the purposes of our definition, ‘community’ is not defined exclusively by geographic region, but also includes communities of interest, occupation, history, language, and others. The Helen & Geoff Handbury Fellowship Program was officially launched in May 2002, as a three-year pilot program. The founding members of the RMIT University-Southern Grampians played an important role in supporting the development of this innovative scholarship program.

Geoff Handbury and his (late) wife Helen Handbury are well-loved community members in the Hamilton region. They are champions of innovative change and ideas that would make a difference to communities in their region and beyond, and well-known for their generous philanthropy. Both Helen and Geoff believed in the capacity of people working together for the betterment of not just the region, but also the world. In 2000, the Handburys made a significant donation to RMIT University to further develop the region-university partnership. In 2002, an amount of this donation was allocated to the development of a new community-university fellowship program.

This Fellowship program was conceptualised and developed by senior research fellow, Yaso Nadarajah to initiate, extend or strengthen ideas and practices in the region, through community-led research. A grant of $250,000 in late 2005 matching the initial contribution to set up the Fellowship (2002-2005) was awarded by the Australian Government Department of Education, Science and Training (DEST) under the Collaboration and Structural Reform Fund (CASR). This funding has enabled this program to continue for another three years (2005-2009). The CASR funding was an acknowledgement of the Handbury's generous contribution to community as well as recognition of the innovativeness, capacity and success of the Program.

The Handbury Fellowship strives to provide a mechanism that encourages an investment in human capital at the community level, offering a valid methodology and supportive environment by bringing such work into the mainstream of what is traditional university research environment, to form vibrant partnership of that which is formal research and community research. This provides 'ethical engagement bridges' for local ideas/questions/activities so that they can take root, grow, flourish and provide a rich harvest for the wider community, regional strategies and also national policies.

The Handbury Fellowship Program is particularly interested in the ideas and work of people who might fall outside of other grant processes, or who would not see themselves as capable of applying for a grant. The amount of funding available for any one Fellowship varies according to need and project scope, and is in the range of up to $10,000. A selection committee is made up of members of the community and the university who make the final decision on upcoming fellowships.

The Fellowship Program is coordinated from the Globalism Research Centre, RMIT University.

Fellowships principles:

…all people can shape and guide their lives according to the highest ideal of wellbeing

…personal change and the ability to bring about social change is linked, beginning in a through relationships and knowledge seeking

…any community-university partnership project must adhere to the fundamental project principles of methodological soundness and ethical review, shared worldview, goals and strategies, and mutual trust and respect

…both partners of the project are involved in all stages of project development, implementation and evaluation and the degree of involvement may vary depending on community and university expertise, and interest

…the focus of the project emerges from the community and therefore, the results of the project must flow back to the community

The Fellowship processes are as follows:

There is a call for applications once a year. These are advertised through regional media (including local radio stations) and community newsletters in the Western Victoria region. Community Applicants interested to know more about the fellowship or to find out what possibilities there are for collaborating with University researchers can contact the Fellowship Coordinator, Partnerships with other universities in the region with particular expertise in the area of research identified by the application are also supported.

There is a selection panel consisting of two community members (sponsor representatives), a Local Council representative and three senior RMIT members including fellowship coordinator. Applications are processed and short listed. Short listed candidates are interviewed before final results are announced.

Successful candidates are notified by mail and announcements are also made in local papers, radio stations and the university global email.

Fellowship projects are usually undertaken within a twelve month period and may be part-time or full-time. Projects of longer duration are considered if accompanied with an appropriate justification.

Recipients of the Fellowship are required to provide a written report on the project outcomes within one month of the agreed completion date, as well as present their findings at any appropriate public forums or as related to the outcomes of the project

Fellowship community presentations are advertised in local papers and newsletters.

For 2011 Handbury Fellowship information please contact:

Yaso Nadarajah at yaso.nadarajah@rmit.edu.au

Research themes and future areas of interest in the region

The following research themes have been identified as areas of interest for the region. These include:

• food security
• economy and livelihoods
• community health and education
• cultural diversity
• ecology

How to apply

The Guidelines and Application Form for 2011 outlines all key criteria for submitting an application.

Please refer to Past Fellowship Recipients to refer to range of applications awarded.

Application Forms

The Handbury Fellowship Program Guidelines and Application Form for 2011 is now available to download as a Word document or PDF.

For further information regarding application forms and submissions, please contact:

Dr. Yaso Nadarajah (Handbury Fellowship Founder & Chief Executive Officer)
Senior Research Fellow
Globalism Research Centre
School of Global Studies, Social Science & Planning, (37.5.28)
RMIT University
411 Swanston Street, MELBOURNE VIC 3001

Tel: (03) 9925 2684 (Fellowship Office)
Fax:(03) 9925 3049

Email: yaso.nadarajah@rmit.edu.au

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