All applications must have a first-named applicant who is a registered podiatrist and a current member of the Australian Podiatry Association. This applicant must be the chief investigator and will take primary responsibility for the scholarly aspects and running of the project, as well as any administrative aspects of the grant.

Grants may be allocated to experienced researchers and/or early career or inexperienced researchers. Track record relative to opportunity will be taken into consideration in the assessment process.

Undergraduate student projects (including Honours projects) are not eligible for funding.
Grants can only be allocated to an approved Australian research or public institution (e.g. university, research institute, public hospital, community health centre, etc.).

In Category A up to $30,000

In Category B up to $15,000

In Category C up to $10,000 

Applications open on 1st Septmber and close on 31st October each year.

Yes – please download the form using the link at the top of this page.

Applicants MUST use the most recent forms downloaded from the website. Please note that all applications must follow the instructions provided. Applications that do not use the correct form or do not follow the guidelines exactly will not be assessed. For example, applications exceeding the page limit (e.g. for the project plan and CV sub-sections) will definitely NOT be considered as this raises issues of fairness and equity.

No, all applications must be submitted as one complete PDF document (i.e. all sections must be combined in the one document and the converted to a PDF document), which must include all relevant signatures.

All grant funding must be used for activities directly related to the conduct of the research project. This will typically involve funding for research staff, equipment and consumables. Funding for computers and conference travel, for example, cannot be requested in the application. APERF reserves the right to part-fund projects if any requested items are considered unnecessary or the budget is deemed to be excessive.

All applications are independently evaluated and scored by the APERF Board of Trustees. Evaluation and scoring are done with a standardised assessment matrix. The trustees then meet in person in December and final funding decisions are reached by consensus.

Grant applications are assessed in early December. Applicants will be notified of the outcome in January.

APERF uses the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia (NHMRC) guidelines for managing conflicts of interest in the review of grants. For example, if a trustee is named as an applicant on a grant or are employed at the same institution as the first-named applicant, they are completely excluded from the review process. All other conflicts are declared in advance and are considered by the trustees using the NHMRC guidelines.

APERF will attempt to provide brief feedback for all unsuccessful grants, although the trustees reserve the right to not provide feedback. However, funding decisions are final, so no additional correspondence will be entered into, and there is no appeal process.

Yes, upon completion of the project, all successful applicants must provide a final report using this form, detailing expenditure and briefly summarising the findings of the project. Failure to complete a final report will jeopardise any future funding from APERF. Interim reports will also be required for projects that run for more than one year (i.e. where funding is provided over more than one year).

Yes, it is a requirement of funding that you acknowledge APERF’s contribution to your project in any presentations or publications arising