The Kids Research Institute Australia Chair Julie Bishop has pledged $50,000 to fund an award designed to help young female researchers overcome persistent barriers to career and leadership success.
Ms Bishop said that, having become increasingly aware of the obstacles which could prevent young women from advancing their research careers, she wanted to find a way to help.
“I’ve been passionate about the work that The Kids does for a very long time, and through my previous political roles, including as a Minister for Education, Science and Training, I was aware there were challenges facing career researchers – particularly women who may be juggling family responsibilities, whether it be children or parents, and a whole range of other issues,” Ms Bishop said.
When I joined The Kids Research Institute Australia as Chair I wanted to take on a role that supported the brilliant female researchers we have here, and help them overcome some of the hurdles they face.
Ms Bishop established an award that would support an outstanding young female researcher in pursuing a research project of significance.
Funded through Telethon, the Julie Bishop Award makes $50,000 available to a female early or mid-career researcher over two years together with mentoring support from Ms Bishop.
More than 30 The Kids researchers applied for the award, with Ms Bishop saying all were outstanding.
Dr Amy Finlay-Jones was selected, an outstanding youth mental health researcher whose work focuses on improving mental health and developmental outcomes across the early life course.
“Dr Finlay-Jones works in an important field – mental health for children aged 0-5 years – and she has such a clear vision for where she’ll take this work over the years to come,” Ms Bishop said.
Dr Finlay-Jones is also the Starlight Fellow at The Kids and has just been named head of the Institute’s new Early Neurodevelopmental and Mental Health team.
She said she would use the award to support the team’s work, including professional development for team members and developing international collaborations, and was looking forward to Ms Bishop’s mentorship as the team worked to develop a new research strategy around the mental health of children aged 0-5.
I’m delighted to be selected amongst such an incredible pool of applicants – it’s wonderful to know that there is such recognition of the strength of the women researchers at the Institute, and acknowledgement of the value of targeted investment in this space - Dr Finlay-Jones
The Kids Research Institute Australia Director Professor Carapetis said the award filled a great need in the research workforce.
“This is a wonderful opportunity for Amy and an incredibly generous move by Julie,” Professor Carapetis said. “We hope her example will inspire others in the community to similarly invest in our many brilliant early and mid-career female researchers.”