Participate in community-engaged scholarship projects

This month, the Stakeholder Engaged Scholarship Unit (SESU) will be issuing a call for expressions of interest (EOIs) to academic staff, as well as professional staff with relevant research experience. Staff will have the option to nominate themselves to participate in the design and delivery of partner-initiated, mission-focused scholarship and research projects.

The SESU activates community-engaged scholarship and research projects proposed by external agencies, particularly non-profit Catholic and secular organisations, to meet their needs. Our projects support communities facing disadvantage and are aimed at producing social, economic and/or cultural benefits.

Earlier this year, several organisations shared their research needs and applied to the SESU. Shortlisting of the projects will shortly conclude and we will soon after announce the projects that you can apply to be involved in.

Why should I apply?

You have the opportunity to work closely with a partner organisation on a project for 12–18 months. It’s a unique chance to co-design the research and work collaboratively to deliver a project that will have a direct impact for the community it serves. Through a SESU project, you can share expertise and learn first-hand about the work partners are doing to address various social injustices.

You will be compensated for your work through an adequate workload allocation on the project (for academic staff; see below for more information).

Don’t just take our word for it. Hear from two of the academics about their experience with the SESU:

If you experience issues with the above embedded link, please click here to watch the video.

Who can apply?

We will accept EOIs from academic staff on continuing contracts and fixed-term contracts of more than six months across all faculties, research institutes and institutes. Professional staff with relevant research experience can also apply.

Understanding the EOI process

The call for EOIs will remain open for three weeks and include details of the scholarship projects proceeding via the SESU’s 2023 round of funding.

The EOI form will invite you to comment on your expertise, experience and skills as relevant to the projects. EOIs will be brief so the application process should be quick to complete.

While you will apply on your own, where possible the Advisory Group to the SESU (responsible for assessing EOIs) will make recommendations for projects to be delivered by teams, rather than individuals. This should create more opportunities for staff to develop their scholarship skills and will lead to meaningful collaborations across the university.

The EOI will require approval from your supervisor and Executive Dean, Research Institute Director or Institute Director before it is submitted to the Advisory Group.

What happens if my EOI is successful?

We anticipate that project planning will be underway in June for the successful projects. Selected staff will meet with the organisations and SESU staff to produce a clear project plan.

Staff members’ involvement in the project will be confirmed when a partnership agreement is signed with the organisation and a workload allocation has been agreed for the delivery of the project by Executive Deans, Research Institute Directors or Institute Directors and the Advisory Group.

Organisational units will receive financial reimbursement to cover the cost of replacing some of the usual work of the staff member, which would have otherwise been completed had they not been engaged in a SESU project.

More information

Further information will be provided with the call for EOIs this month.

Read more about the SESU online

Questions should be directed to sesu@acu.edu.au.