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Mid-Career Award

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1. Purpose

The Mid-Career Award for Population Studies recognises researchers with an established and growing track record in population studies. It aims to support continued visibility and credibility during the phase of career in which researchers are consolidating an independent research identity, leadership, and expanding their contributions to the field through research, mentoring, and service. This Award is open in the conference year only.

2. Eligibility Criteria

2.1 Career stage

  • Nominee is between 10 and 20 years post-PhD completion (full-time equivalent), calculated from the date of thesis conferral/award.
  • The 10–20-year eligibility window may be extended in cases of documented career interruption(s). Examples include relocation from overseas, caring responsibilities, disability, disaster management and recovery, restricted access to facilities and resources, medical conditions, time in a non-research role, parental leave, unemployment, being the primary carer of a dependent child, or other significant circumstances. Extensions should be commensurate with the length of the interruption, such that the nominee's effective PhD conferral date falls within the Mid-Career Award eligibility period shown above.
  • A nominee should not be nominated for both the Mid-Career Award and the Research Excellence Award in the same nomination cycle. As both Awards are overseen by the same Sub-Committee, nominee names are checked across both nomination pools each cycle. Where the same nominee has been put forward for both, the Sub-Committee will contact the nominators to confirm which single Award the nomination should proceed under - defaulting to the Mid-Career Award unless the nominator demonstrates the nominee meets the Research Excellence Award's standards. Where a nominee has also received multiple nominations within a single Award (see Section 3), the Sub-Committee will contact the nominators to confirm which nomination should proceed, before applying the cross-Award check.

2.2 Membership

  • It is preferred that both the nominee and nominator be current financial members of the APA at the time of submission; however, nominations will still be accepted regardless of the membership status of either party.

2.3 Field of research

  • Nominee's work must fall within population studies broadly defined, including but not limited to demography, population health, migration studies, spatial demography, fertility/mortality research, family planning, population and environment, population and development, Indigenous demography, historical demography, economic demography, population ageing, and population policy.

2.4 Geographic scope

  • Nominee should have a substantive connection to Australian and global population studies, e.g., be based at an Australian institution, be an Australian citizen or permanent resident, and be conducting research with clear relevance to the Australian and global population context.
  • Current members of the APA Awards sub-committee are not eligible to be nominated for this award. APA Council members are eligible to be nominated for this award, however will recuse themselves from ratification.

2.5 Nomination type

  • Self-nominations are not accepted for this award. Nominations must be made by a colleague, mentor or a collaborator.
  • Nominations must be made with the nominee's knowledge and consent, including confirmation of awareness of the nomination and the nominee's provision of their CV.

3. Selection process

  • Nominations open and close on the same timeline as the Emerging Demographer Award, the Research Excellence Award and the Service to Population Studies Award.
  • Submissions are accepted electronically, via the Microsoft Teams/SharePoint form on the APA website.
  • Nominations consist of written responses on the Mid-Career Award Online Nomination Form, plus a PDF of the nominee's CV (up to 7 pages, minimum font 11).
  • There is no prescribed CV format or content beyond this page and font limit. The nomination is considered on the basis of the nominator's submission; referee letters are therefore not needed and do not need to be sought.
  • Only one nomination may be submitted per nominee, per Award, per cycle. Where the Sub-Committee becomes aware of multiple nominations for the same nominee, it will contact the nominators to consolidate these into a single submission.

4. Unsuccessful nominees

  • Unsuccessful nominees may be re-nominated in future years. The Career Awards Sub-Committee will provide short feedback to unsuccessful nominees by email.

The Australian Population Association reserves the right to not make an Award in this category in a given cycle if no nomination meets the required standard.

5. The Career Awards Sub-Committee: Role and Process

5.1 Composition

  • The Sub-Committee comprises at least four members, all serving in a volunteer capacity.
  • At least three members are appointed from within, and by the APA Council.
  • The Sub-Committee is chaired by an APA Council member appointed by the Council.
  • One member is appointed from the current financial membership, outside the APA Council, bringing an independent, external perspective to Sub-Committee.

5.2 Process

  • Each member independently reviews and scores every eligible nomination against the assessment rubric (below).
  • The Sub-Committee then meets to compare scores, discuss each nomination's strengths against the rubric, and rank nominees accordingly. Where a clear highest-ranked nomination emerges, this becomes the recommended recipient; where rankings are close or contested, the Sub-Committee discusses further and reaches a decision by consensus.
  • The Sub-Committee puts forward a recommended recipient and a short reasoning summary to the APA Council.

5.3 Conflict of interest

  • Before reviewing nominations, all Sub-Committee members declare any conflicts of interest with nominees (e.g., current or recent supervisory relationship, close collaborator, direct line manager, etc.).
  • A member with a declared conflict recuses themselves from scoring and discussion of that specific nomination. The remaining members assess it.
  • Sub-Committee members may nominate candidates they have supervised or collaborated with, provided they recuse themselves from scoring that nomination.

5.4 Confidentiality

  • Nomination materials and Sub-Committee deliberations are treated as confidential internal documents and are not shared outside in any manner.

5.5 Ratification and finality

  • The Sub-Committee's recommendation is put to the APA Council for ratification prior to public announcement.
  • Once ratified, the decision is final.

6. Assessment rubric overview for the APA website

These criteria cover the nominee's contributions since PhD conferral, over the past 10–20 years of their career. For use as an overview on the APA website; detailed questions on the online nomination form are set out in Section 7.

Criterion

Relative weighting

What the Sub-Committee looks for

Linked question(s)

Recommended length

Sustained research quality and originality

30%

Independent, original thinking and depth across a sustained program of work, over the nominee's period of eligibility for this Award

Q1

Up to 300 words

Impact on the field

25%

Academic impact (citations, uptake by other researchers); policy or applied impact (adoption by government or other stakeholders, coverage of findings in the media); methodological impact (approaches taken up by others in the field)

Q2

Up to 250 words

Growing influence and recognition

15%

Evidence of the nominee's own profile in the field: invitations to speak, editorial board membership, grant review panel service, being sought out as a media or policy commentator, professional leadership roles, awards

Q3

Up to 250 words

Research leadership

15%

Generating and directing research: securing significant competitive funding, building and leading research teams or programs, initiating major collaborations

Q4

Up to 250 words

Developing others and service to the discipline

15%

Supervision of HDR candidates; mentoring colleagues, especially beyond their immediate team; teaching; editorial/review service; leadership roles in governance and committees

Q5

Up to 150 words

Total

100%

—

Q1–Q5

Up to 1,200 words

Career interruptions / non-linear pathways

Not scored

Contextual information only — taken into account in applying the eligibility window

Q6

Up to 200 words (optional, excluded from the 1,200-word cap)

 

7. Questions

All responses should address the nominee's contribution over the past 10–20 years i.e., since reaching the point of eligibility for this Award.

Q1. Sustained research quality and originality. Describe the nominee's research contribution and how their body of work over this period demonstrates independent, original thinking and depth across a sustained program of work. Recommended up to 300 words.

Q2. Impact on others. Describe the impact of the nominee's work on others: academic (e.g., citations, uptake by other researchers), policy/applied (e.g., adoption by government or other stakeholders, coverage of their findings in the media), or methodological (e.g., approaches taken up by others in the field). Recommended up to 250 words.

Q3. Growing influence and recognition. Outline evidence of the nominee's growing influence and recognition in Australian and global population studies, e.g., invitations to speak (keynotes, invited talks), editorial board membership(s), grant review panel service, being sought out as a media or policy commentator, professional leadership roles including government/industry advisory bodies, or other awards. Recommended up to 250 words.

Q4. Research leadership. Describe the nominee's leadership in generating and directing research, such as securing significant competitive funding, building and leading research teams or programs, or initiating major collaborations. Recommended up to 250 words.

Q5. Developing others and service to the discipline. Explain the nominee's contribution to developing other people and to the discipline more broadly, including supervising HDR candidates and mentoring colleagues (especially those beyond their immediate team), teaching, editorial/review service, and leadership roles in governance and committees. Recommended up to 150 words.

Q6. Career interruptions. If relevant, describe any career interruptions or non-linear pathways that should be considered in assessing the nominee's track record relative to opportunity. This is optional. This response is not scored like Q1 to Q5. Recommended up to 200 words.

8. Recognition

The Award recipient receives:

  • Formal acknowledgement at the Awards session at the APA Biennial Conference.
  • A certificate.
  • A mention on the APA website and LinkedIn and in the APA newsletter.
  • An invitation to co-guest edit an issue of Australian Population Studies, jointly with the Emerging Demographer Award winner, providing a further editorial, mentoring, and leadership opportunity.