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Research Excellence Award

Submission Form Here

1. Purpose

The Research Excellence Award recognises researchers who have made recognised and groundbreaking contributions to population studies across their career. It celebrates researchers whose cumulative body of work has significantly advanced the field and shaped scholarship, policy and practice in population studies at a national and global level. This Award is open in the conference year only.

2. Eligibility Criteria

2.1 Career stage

  • This Award is aimed at late-career researchers with a substantial, sustained record of achievement.
  • As a guide, nominees will typically have more than 20 years of experience in population studies research (full-time equivalent). The Sub-Committee retains discretion to consider nominees outside this guide where an exceptional and sustained record of impact is evident.
  • A nominee should not be nominated for 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 nominator(s) 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 single Award the nomination should proceed under, before this cross-Award check is applied.

2.2 Membership

  • Nominee and nominator must be current financial members of the APA at the time of submitting the nomination or join prior to the nomination being submitted.

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, or have conducted research with clear and demonstrated 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 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 a CV.

3. Selection Process

  • Nominations open and close on the same timeline as the Emerging Demographer Award, the Mid-Career 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 Research Excellence Award Online Nomination Form, plus a PDF of the nominee's CV (up to 10 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 by submitting an up-to-date application. 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 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

These criteria cover the nominee's contributions since PhD conferral, over their career to date. 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 word count

Sustained, field-shaping research contributions

30%

The nominee's cumulative body of work reflects original, foundational, or paradigm-shifting contributions that have measurably advanced population studies as a field, sustained over a substantial part of their career.

Q1

Up to 300 words

Scholarly, policy and societal impact

20%

Evidence that the nominee's research has shaped academic scholarship and/or government policy, practice, industry or community outcomes in population studies, at a national and/or international level, sustained over time.

Q2

Up to 250 words

Leadership in building the field: programs, networks and research income

20%

The nominee's role in building the discipline itself: founding or leading major research programs, institutions or networks; sustained success in securing significant research funding; driving research enterprise, translation or collaboration.

Q3

Up to 250 words

Mentorship, succession and legacy

20%

Sustained investment in developing successive generations of population researchers (including supervision outcomes and career outcomes of mentees), and the nominee's broader legacy for the discipline's future.

Q4

Up to 250 words

National and international standing and recognition

10%

Editorial leadership, fellowships, prizes, invited or keynote roles, and other markers of the nominee's recognised authority and distinction in the field.

Q5

Up to 150 words

Total

100%

—

Q1–Q5

Up to 1,200 words

*Note career disruptions are excluded from consideration.

 

7. Questions

All responses should address the nominee's contribution over their career to date i.e., since reaching the point of eligibility for this Award.

Q1. Sustained, field-shaping research contributions Explain the nominee's sustained, field-shaping contribution to population studies, and how their cumulative body of work has been original, foundational, or paradigm-shifting in advancing the field over a substantial part of their career. Recommended up to 300 words.

Q2. Scholarly, policy and societal impact Outline how the nominee's research has shaped academic scholarship and/or government policy, practice, industry, or community outcomes in population studies, at a national and/or international level, sustained over time. Recommended up to 250 words.

Q3. Leadership in building the field: programs, networks and research income Explain the nominee's leadership in building population studies as a discipline, for example, founding or leading major research programs, institutions or networks; sustained success in securing significant research funding; or driving research enterprise, translation or collaboration. Recommended up to 250 words.

Q4. Mentorship, succession and legacy Outline the nominee's sustained investment in developing successive generations of population researchers, including supervision outcomes and the career outcomes of mentees, and their broader legacy for the discipline's future. Recommended up to 250 words.

Q5. National and international standing and recognition Describe the nominee's national and/or international standing and recognition — for example, editorial leadership, fellowships, prizes, or invited or keynote roles — as markers of their recognised authority and distinction in the field. Recommended up to 150 words.

Career disruptions are excluded from consideration and are not addressed in a rated question.

 

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 deliver a keynote address at the next APA Biennial Conference, in recognition of their sustained contributions and standing in the field.