ACSES launches new Research Impact Grants and 2027 Fellowship programs

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The Australian Centre for Student Equity and Success (ACSES) is pleased to share three new funding opportunities for 2027, with the launch today of our all-new Research Impact Grants along with additional rounds of the First Nations Fellowship and Equity Fellowship programs.

The Research Impact Grants Program will provide up to $120,000 per project for proposals addressing developments and challenges around equity policy, practice, and evaluation in Australian higher education.

We are seeking proposals focused on one of five research areas:

equitable tertiary pathways and harmonisation
student financing, financial pressures, and equity
generative artificial intelligence (AI) and student equity
translating equity evidence into practice
evidence to support First Nations higher education funding and success.

ACSES Research and Policy Program Director Professor Ian Li said the inaugural funding round would also prioritise projects using a quasi-experimental design (QED) to evaluate the effects of an intervention, program, policy, or practice.

“We’re looking to support projects that will produce research that can be applied nationally and adopted by universities,” he said.

“This includes outcomes that are potentially portable across institutions and scalable across the sector, with strong potential for the translation of outcomes into equity policy or practice.”

2027 ACSES Fellowship programs

Our Fellowship programs provide up to $230,000 per recipient for researchers and practitioners to complete projects that inform practice and policy via a combination of research, research translation, best practice implementation, evaluation, and knowledge transfer.

The First Nations Fellowship Program was designed to strengthen the capability, scale, and capacity of Australia’s First Nations researchers and practitioners. Open to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians, it prioritises proposals that demonstrate leadership in generating and translating research to inform, develop, implement, enhance, and promote institutional evidence-based best practice.

The Equity Fellowship Program aims to raise the profile of student equity within higher education institutions and promote efforts to improve access, participation, and success for people from disadvantaged and underrepresented backgrounds. It is offered to researchers and practitioners from a wide range of backgrounds and career stages, working in areas contributing to enhancing student equity, experience, and outcomes.

Both Fellowships support projects that produce practical and accessible outputs for the adoption or implementation of research findings—including policy guidance, practice frameworks, and evaluation tools.

Submission deadlines