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TASA/AASR Postgraduate Conference Scholarship

TASA/AASR Postgraduate Conference Scholarship | Prize Details | Eligibility | Application Procedure | Notes | Previous Recipients

Applications close 13 August, 2010

The TASA/AASR Postgraduate Conference Scholarship Fund was established in 2003 with funds donated by the former Australian Association of Social Research Inc. (AASR). The scholarships aim to support postgraduate participation at TASA annual conferences.

TASA members contribute to this fund via the annual membership form.

The TASA Executive would like to encourage postgraduate members to apply and also academic supervisors to encourage their students to apply for the scholarship.

Prize

The recipient of the prize will receive:

  • Registration for the annual conference
  • Registration for the pre-conference TASA Annual Postgraduate Workshop
  • A letter of acknowledgment of receipt of scholarship

Eligibility criteria

Those eligible for consideration of the scholarship will meet the following criteria:

  • Current enrollment in an Honours, Masters or PhD program
  • Acceptance of paper as part of the refereed proceedings of TASA Conference
  • Not previously a recipient of the award
  • Current financial TASA members
  • Agree to submit a brief report to be published in Nexus

The following Selection Criteria will be taken into consideration:

  • Quality of paper submitted
  • Sociological relevance of paper
  • Financial hardship
  • Remote location
  • Family circumstances (where this impacts on capacity to pay conference attendance)
  • Special reasons (other than paper presentation) for attending TASA conference

Selection panel

Selection panel will normally consist of the Vice President (convenor), Postgraduate member and Conference Convenor .

Application procedure

  • Nominations must be made on this official nomination form (also available from TASA web or TASA office)
  • Papers must be submitted to the refereed proceedings by the deadlines set by the Conference Local Organising Committee (LOC). Please make sure you double check this date on the TASA Conference website in case the deadline is brought forward.
  • Applications will be reviewed by TASA Executive sub-committee and decision will be made taking into consideration the ranking provided by the LOC
  • Up to five scholarships may be awarded each year
  • Applicants will be notified of the outcome of their application by early October. This will allow enough time for those nominees who were not successful to still register for the conference at the ‘Early Bird’ rate.
  • The decision of the review panel is final and no further discussions will be entered into.
  • Successful applicants will have the payment of their conference and workshop registrations made by the TASA Office.

Application forms are available in Word and PDF formats. Please right click on the link and select Save Target As

General note

Any changes to prize value, eligibility criteria and nomination/submission procedure are subject to TASA Executive approval.

This is what four of the 2009 recipients said about receiving the scholarship:

“I was thrilled to receive a TASA conference scholarship for 2009. Researching and writing a PhD thesis requires a narrow focus and some degree of solitude. TASA conferences and activities have been essential for me as a link to the actual practice of sociology beyond the piece of writing in front of me. It’s inspiring to meet other sociologists who work in similar and different areas, and the postgraduate activities are terrific. I returned inspired.” Paula Wright - La Trobe Univeristy


“I was awarded the TASA Postgraduate Scholarship for my research on Oprah Winfrey and Discourses of Intensive Mothering. As a first year PhD candidate, attending the conference at ANU in Canberra - with the funding from TASA - was not only a great surprise and satisfying achievement, it was also rewarding to discover the number of well-established academics in this prominent sociological field who are both interested in, and supportive of my (as well as other postgraduates’) work. An absolute highlight at the conference this year was the postgraduate writing workshop with Professor Raewyn Connell who gave all of us in attendance a wide variety of amazing, insightful, encouraging, and practical advice on how to improve our techniques in effective communication. I look forward to next year’s conference and building on the networks that this event has initiated for me. And I would definitely recommend TASA to all postgraduate students who are interested in social studies and the social world!” Nicola Pitt, PhD Candidate - Monash University.


“I attended the TASA conference for the first time in 2009, as I am in a business faculty, and I now strongly encourage anyone from other disciplines to expand their horizons by attending. If I didn’t receive the TASA conference scholarship in 2009, to put it simply, I wouldn’t have been able to attend nor present my paper (thereby basically wasting the time I spent on it).