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Future research stars supported under new Sydney fellowship

10 November 2016

The first cohort of fellows of the University's new Sydney Research Accelerator (SOAR) program has been announced.

Associate Professor Xiaoke Yi

In its first year, the program will enable 10 early-career and 10 mid-career researchers to further their research in important areas such as preventing melanoma, preparing us for the next global pandemic, building more powerful batteries for electric cars and helping those from disadvantaged backgrounds succeed in education.

As part of their two-year program, fellows are awarded $50,000 per year to support their research, innovation and development plans. They also benefit from a personalised program of research development support and structured mentoring.

Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) Professor Duncan Ivison said the program recognises and develops the University’s most talented researchers as part of the University’s 2016-20 unprecedented investment in research.

“Through SOAR, we will support up-and-coming research leaders to build momentum and increase the scale and impact of their research.”

“At the University of Sydney, we want to celebrate and nurture high-performing researchers to realise their full potential and SOAR is just one of the many new programs we are developing to do just that.”

Professor Ivison said the program would allow our best and most promising researchers more opportunity to fast-track their career development and position them as pioneers in new fields. It will help them build leadership skills and aid the development of new partnerships with industry and other leading academics around the world.

Dr Andrew Black, Director of Research Development and Collaboration, said the program received an overwhelming level of interest.

“The volume and calibre of the applicants was extremely high, which highlights the University’s ability to attract leading researchers across a variety of disciplines. With the demand and early success of the program, we hope to increase the number of fellowships offered in 2018.”

Highlighting the University’s commitment to gender equity, 50 percent of the fellowships were awarded to women.

The 2017 SOAR fellows are:

The 2017 SOAR fellows are: