The purpose of the ASSTA Special Initiative Awards is to encourage and promote national high-level initiatives in speech science and technology in Australasia by supporting ASSTA members' application to nationally competitive research grants.

No more than two Special Initiative Awards will be awarded in any one year and each award is worth up to $5000. Submissions can be made at any time and a decision will be made within 4 weeks, whichever is sooner (if submitting in December/January, however, please allow up to 8 weeks).

Note that if there is insufficient time or evidence provided to properly consider the submission an award will not be made.

Special Initiative Awards Proposal Guidelines

The following principles will be considered. While each application may not address all of these, they should be borne in mind when preparing your application. Special Initiative Award applications are designed to:

1. Promote and enhance research activity in speech science and technology in Australia and New Zealand and promote national and/or international collaboration in speech science and technology.
2. Be used as part of a nationally competitive program or scheme (e.g. ARC LIEF, ARC Linkage, etc.) which will involve co-investigators and participating academic or commercial organisations which will provide matching funds (i.e. the same amount or more).
3. Provide tangible benefits to the ASSTA membership through shared infrastructure or services.

Eligibility Criteria

The principal applicant(s) must be:

1. A long-standing ordinary member of ASSTA (financial for at least 2 years continuous at time of application), and
2. Employed in Australia or New Zealand.

There may be partner applicants who do not fulfil these criteria, but preference will be given to applications which include a critical mass of Australasian ASSTA members.

Application Procedure

Applicants should complete the Special Initiative Awards Form online.

IMPORTANT CONDITIONS

Applicants who have been awarded a Special Initiative Award must acknowledge ASSTA as a partner organisation (or equivalent) and succeed in the nationally competitive process to claim the award.