National Mediation Conference Scholarship: 2012 Applications

Since 1992 National Mediation Conferences Ltd (NMC) has convened a bi-annual conference for persons practising or interested in the practice of dispute resolution. NMC wishes to support the national mediation community by providing financial assistance in the form of a scholarship to a person enrolled in a higher degree by research involving the study of dispute resolution.

Title

The scholarship is called the National Mediation Conference Scholarship.

General Principles

The purpose of the scholarship is to provide financial assistance to a person undertaking original research and study at a postgraduate level that will -

  1. assist the community to understand dispute resolution processes; and/or
  2. enhance the body of knowledge of practitioners through research of a dispute resolution process or collective processes.

Value

A scholarship or scholarships to the value of up to $10,000 (inclusive of GST) will be awarded from surplus funds from time to time as determined by the Board of Directors of NMC in its absolute discretion.

In addition, a recipient of the scholarship may, in the absolute discretion of the Board of Directors of NMC, be awarded a grant of up to $1,000 to assist with payment of the costs associated with travel and accommodation to enable the person to attend the conference to present the outcomes of the research. The recipient may also be exempted from paying the registration fee for the NMC 2012.

Submission of applications

Please read the guidelines in full before submitting your application.

Applications must be submitted by 16 December 2011 to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Eligibility Requirements

To be eligible to apply for a scholarship an applicant must -

  1. be a citizen or permanent resident of Australia; and
  2. be currently enrolled in a higher degree course by research and study at an Australian University; and
  3. be willing and able to present on their research funded by the scholarship at the National Mediation Conference in Sydney in 2012.

Selection Committee

The selection committee for the scholarship shall comprise -

  1. one director of NMC, to be selected by the Board of Directors of NMC; and
  2. two senior academics with expertise in dispute resolution processes at an Australian university, to be selected by the Board of Directors of NMC.

Selection Criteria

The scholarship will be awarded by the selection committee to the applicant(s) who, in its opinion, best demonstrates -

  1. a research project that accords with the general principles of the scholarship; and
  2. that funding is necessary to assist the applicant to complete their higher degree by research course; and
  3. the need for financial assistance to carry out the research.

Selection Process

Selection of the recipient(s) will be made by the Selection Committee having regard to the scholarship application, the applicant's academic record and referee reports.

If, in the opinion of the Selection Committee, there are no suitable applicants in any year the award will not be made.

Awarding Body

The Scholarship is awarded by the Board of Directors of NMC on the recommendation of the Selection Committee.

Administering Body

The Scholarship is administered by NMC.

Terms of Payment

The Scholarship amount, the schedule of payment and any subsequent grant or exemption for conference fees will be determined by the Board of Directors of NMC in its absolute discretion.

Application Procedure

Each application should include:

  1. confirmation of enrolment at an Australian University; and
  2. a brief synopsis (no more than 1,000 words) of the study to be undertaken (this may be the thesis outline or similar); and
  3. a statement of academic record; and
  4. the amount of scholarship funds sought; and
  5. a budget of proposed expenditure of the scholarship funds applied for; and
  6. a statement (no more than 1,000 words) addressing the selection criteria; and
  7. two referee reports that address the selection criteria; and
  8. a statement from the applicant of their eligibility to receive the Scholarship.

Publications

Any thesis, dissertation or other publication resulting from research undertaken by the recipient while in receipt of the National Mediation Conference Scholarship must acknowledge the support of the scholarship and carry the by-line of the University at which the recipient is enrolled. The thesis, paper or similar outcome of the study is to be made available for publication on the National Mediation Conference website.

Contact Details

Questions regarding this Scholarship should be directed to: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it