Postdoctoral Fellowship Program Funding Guidelines (Round 3) - 18 September 2019 For further information contact
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Postdoctoral
Fellowship Program
Funding Guidelines (Round 3)
18 September 2019
For further information contact:
Australian Centre for Advanced Photovoltaics
Attention: Dr Richard Corkish, University of NSW
Email: acap@unsw.edu.auPostdoctoral Fellowship Funding Guidelines
Round 3 ACAP Fellowships 2020
A. ABOUT THE AUSTRALIAN CENTRE FOR
ADVANCED PHOTOVOLTAICS
The Australian Centre for Advance Photovoltaics (ACAP) is supported by the Australian Government
through the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA).
ARENA is a Commonwealth agency that was established to make renewable energy solutions more
affordable and increase the supply of renewable energy in Australia.
The Australian Centre for Advanced Photovoltaics (ACAP), comprising the Australian partners of the
Australia-US Institute for Advanced Photovoltaics (AUSIAPV), is developing the next generations of
photovoltaic technology, providing a pipeline of opportunities for performance increase and cost
reduction. Headquartered at UNSW’s School of Photovoltaic and Renewable Energy Engineering, the
Centre includes research groups at CSIRO, Australian National University, University of Melbourne,
University of Queensland and Monash University. AUSIAPV links ACAP with NSF/DOE Energy Research
Center for Quantum Energy and Sustainable Technologies (QESST), based at Arizona State University,
the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratories, The Molecular Foundry at
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratories, Stanford University, Georgia Institute of Technology and
University of California – Santa Barbara.
These national and international research collaborations provide a pathway for highly visible,
structured photovoltaic research collaboration between Australian and American researchers, research
institutes and agencies, with significant joint programs based on the clear synergies between
participating bodies.
ACAP is significantly accelerating photovoltaic development beyond that achievable by the institutions
acting individually, leveraging past and current funding.
This Program is supported by the Australian Government through the Australian Renewable Energy
Agency (ARENA). The Australian Government, through ARENA, is supporting Australian research and
development in solar photovoltaic and solar thermal technologies to help solar power become cost
competitive with other energy sources.
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R3 Fellowship Guidelines 23 Aug 2019B. ABOUT ACAP POSTDOCTORAL FELLOWSHIPS
Applications are now sought for ACAP Postdoctoral Fellowships.
ACAP Postdoctoral Fellowships will support high calibre candidates whose research will lead to the
advancement of innovation in Australian photovoltaics research, development and industry. The
conditions and requirements of ACAP funding are summarised below.
It is intended that up to $280,000 will be provided to the host institution to support each Fellow.
Category Qualifications Tenure or Salary Eligibility Criteria
support from ACAP
Post-Doctoral The candidate must: On award of the The Candidate must:
Fellowship • have been awarded a Fellowship, the Fellow
PhD on or after 1 July must be employed • be an Australian citizen or
2016 or under a fixed term permanent resident; or be able to
• be expecting to contract, with a obtain a valid visa from the
submit a PhD thesis cessation date no later Australian Government prior to
by 30 April 2020. than 31 December 2022, 30 April 2020;
unless otherwise agreed • be already undertaking or intend to
between ACAP and the start research activity within 6
host institution, and months of receiving the offer of an
approved by ARENA. ACAP Fellowship;
[For example, maternity • have completed a recognised and
leave and leave without suitable post graduate degree in a
pay may, in certain related field;
circumstances, extend • not accept another equivalent
the contractual period]. award or fellowship to undertake
the proposed research which is
The ACAP funds are greater than 30% of the requested
awarded to the ACAP award;
Fellow’s host • not have received a Round2 ACAP
institution for the Fellowship and
Fellow’s salary and • complete the ACAP Postdoctoral
salary-related on-costs Fellowship Application Form.
and for legitimate
expenses listed under
section 4. “Payment of
ACAP funds”.
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R3 Fellowship Guidelines 23 Aug 2019C. APPLYING FOR AN ACAP POSTDOCTORAL FELLOWSHIP
1. Selection Criteria
Applications may be submitted only for the following research areas:
• Characterisation of photovoltaic devices or materials
• Silicon solar cells and modules;
• Si-based tandem or spectrum-splitting solar cells, including new materials;
• Emerging materials for future photovoltaic technologies;
• Stability of photovoltaic materials for Si-based tandem or spectrum-splitting solar cells;
• PV technology futures and impacts, markets, deployment at scale, product alternatives and
factors that impact performance in the field;
• Technology for end-of-life (EoL) treatments, including recycling, of photovoltaics;
• Costing and life cycle assessment of manufacturing, EoL treatments, and PV cell and module
material alternatives;
• PV Markets.
For nodes for which there are four or more applications, Node Leaders, with the support of an internal
committee and a fair and transparent process, will be asked to rank the applications for which they are
the intended host. ACAP will convert these ranks to scores by percentiles:
p = 100 (N – r)/(N – 1) (1)
where p is the percentile value, N is the number of compliant applications submitted to be hosted by the
node and r is the node’s rank order for the application.
Each node should rank all the applications for which it is the intended host and may submit up to 15
applications for review.
The criteria used in selecting successful applicants are:
(a) Ranking by proposed host institution (if more than 3 applications for the host institution);
(b) Strong academic record as evidenced by academic track record relative to opportunity,
publications and referee reports;
(c) Academic quality and relevance of the proposed research project to ACAP’s Research Program
(http://www.acap.net.au/research);
(d) Commercial viability, with reference to the 10-year 2019 International Technology Roadmap for
PV (https://itrpv.vdma.org/) for a combination of efficiency (Fig. 44), stability (Fig. 53) and cost
(Fig. 54), and hence LCOE (Fig. 59);.
(e) Quantum of institutional and/or industry support (documented).
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R3 Fellowship Guidelines 23 Aug 2019For nodes for which there are four or more applications, weightings in the selection process will be:
Ranking by proposed host institution 30
Academic record relative to opportunity, as evidenced by track record
relative to opportunity, publications and referee reports 25
Academic quality and relevance of the proposed research project to
ACAP’s Research Program (see http://www.acap.net.au/research) 30
Commercial viability with reference to the 10-year 2019 International
Technology Roadmap for PV 10
100% matching institutional and/or industry cash or in-kind support,
as evidenced by letter(s)? (Yes scores 5; No scores 0). 5
TOTAL 100
For nodes for which there are three or fewer applications, weightings in the selection process will be:
Academic record relative to opportunity, as evidenced by track record
relative to opportunity, publications and referee reports 25
Academic quality and relevance of the proposed research project to
ACAP’s Research Program (see http://www.acap.net.au/research) 30
Commercial viability with reference to the 10-year 2019 International
Technology Roadmap for PV 10
100% matching institutional and/or industry cash or in-kind support,
as evidenced by letter(s)? (Yes scores 5; No scores 0). 5
TOTAL 70
For nodes where there are three or fewer applications, totals will then be multiplied by 10/7.
Total scores will be normalized to correct for variation of scoring between reviewers [1].
2. Reporting Requirements
Postdoctoral Fellows are directly responsible for submission to ACAP of a n n u a l progress reports and a
final report by the due date and in the format specified. All ACAP Reports are the property of ACAP.
ACAP will grant an automatic, perpetual, royalty-free, worldwide right to the candidate and the host
institution to use ACAP Reports for academic purposes (teaching or research) only.
[1] Winters, R. S. "Score Normalization as a Fair Grading Practice. ERIC Digest", from
https://www.ericdigests.org/2003-4/score-normilization.html.
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R3 Fellowship Guidelines 23 Aug 2019• Progress Reports
A standard ACAP Progress Report must be submitted by 31 January 2021 describing the progress made
since the start of the Fellowship and an outline of the intended research for the following calendar year
including timelines in the form of a GANTT chart and noting any variation to the major direction of the
research or a change in the anticipated finishing date. A reporting template for Progress Reports will be
available from ACAP.
If, for any reason, the Final Report is not already due, a standard ACAP Progress Report must be submitted
by 31 January 2022 describing the progress made since 1 January 2021.
Any change in the major direction of the research or change in the anticipated finishing date must be
approved by ACAP.
From time to time ACAP may also request that Fellows present status reports of their research to relevant
stakeholder groups.
• Final Report
Within 1 month of the scheduled completion date of a Postdoctoral Fellowship, or by 31 October 2022 in
any case, a standard ACAP Final Report must be submitted by the Fellow. A reporting template for Final
Reports will be made available by ACAP.
3. Knowledge sharing requirements
ACAP Postdoctoral Fellows are required to work with ACAP to promote the ACAP Fellowship Program
and ARENA’s Skills Development Programme, for example, by participating in media interviews and
providing presentations to relevant stakeholder groups.
Successful candidates must acknowledge ACAP and ARENA funding in all public representations of their
research, using the words, “This Program has been supported by the Australian Government through the
Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA). Responsibility for the views, information or advice
expressed herein is not accepted by the Australian Government.”, and it is desirable that they alert ACAP
to impending public representations of their research.
Each successful candidate must provide to ACAP a photograph of the candidate relevant to his or her
research, which ACAP can use together with the research summary provided in the application, for
knowledge sharing and marketing purposes (for example in brochures and fact sheets).
Candidates should be aware that parts of progress reports will be used by ACAP to carry out its
knowledge sharing functions.
4. Payment of ACAP funds
Funds are paid directly to the Fellow’s host institution, in instalments. The first instalment is paid
on commencement of the Fellowship to the value of 50% of the Fellowship grant. The remaining
50% will be paid upon ACAP’s receipt and approval of progress reports on 2020 activity, due 31
January 2021.
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R3 Fellowship Guidelines 23 Aug 2019Payments are not made subject to any condition of becoming an employee of ACAP or entering into a
contract for labour.
The ACAP funds are awarded for the following legitimate expenses to be approved by Node Leaders:
• Salary of the Fellow, including salary on-costs;
• Access to research equipment or services (e.g. microscopy);
• Research equipment and materials;
• Academic travel.
5. Employment conditions
The Fellowships will be awarded, on fixed term contract basis, with an expiry date no later than 31
December 2022, unless otherwise agreed between ACAP and the host institution, and approved by
ARENA. [For example, maternity leave and leave without pay may, in certain circumstances, extend
the contractual period]. Note that the period of employment is not determined by ACAP, but by the
host node, considering the quantum of funds.
Employment should begin by 30 April 2020 at the latest.
The Fellow will be an employee of the host institution under their employment conditions. If the
Fellow for any reasons leaves the employ of the host institution, the institution must return the
unspent funds to ACAP within 60 days of the termination.
6. Application
Applications are now sought for ACAP Postdoctoral Fellowships. Applicants are encouraged to discuss
their proposal and its alignment with ACAP research program with the ACAP Node Leader at the
proposed host node.
The ACAP Postdoctoral Fellowship Application is to be submitted by upload to ACAP
(ACAP_R3_Fellowship_Applications) 2 by the time specified in the Timetable.
Each application is to be submitted in a single pdf file, including all attachments, named in the
following format: FamilyName_GivenName_ACAP_R3_Application. The submitted application must
bear the signatures of the applicant and the leader of the Host Node.
Applications for each host node will be ranked by the relevant Node Leader and ranking submitted to
ACAP by the Node Leaders by email (acap@unsw.edu.au) by the date specified in the Timetable.
Then then each compliant application will be assessed on merit by ACAP’s Management Committee
with the help of at least two expert reviewers in each case.
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ACAP_R3_Fellowship_Applications: https://www.dropbox.com/request/DSOGjC9UmXBPlNOWOnuC
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R3 Fellowship Guidelines 23 Aug 20197. Referee reports
Applicants will arrange for three referee reports to be submitted directly by upload to ACAP
(ACAP_R3_Referee_Reports) 3using ”Confidential Report on ACAP Postdoctoral Fellowship Candidate
Form” which will be made available. If more than three are received, only the first three will be
considered. IT IS THE APPLICANT’S RESPONSIBILITY TO ENSURE REFEREE REPORTS ARE SUBMITTED,
USING THE REFEREE REPORT FORM PROVIDED, BY THE TIME SPECIFIED IN THE TIMETABLE.
8. Timetable
Activity Date
Announce opening of Fellowship Grants Round 3 Wednesday 18 September 2019
Applications Close. by 5pm Sydney time on Monday
Each applicant uploads application to ACAP 21 October 2019 (closing date)
https://www.dropbox.com/request/DSOGjC9UmXBPlNOWOnuC
Referee reports (three per application) to be uploaded by by 5pm Sydney time on Monday
referees in confidence to ACAP 21 October 2019
https://www.dropbox.com/request/g9pCkw1nSEvJpTpuCVg0
ACAP checks compliance and emails applications to host Node by Tuesday 29 October 2019
Leaders
Node Leader committee checks compliance and ranks all the To be received at
provided applications and emails the ranking to ACAP acap@unsw.edu.au by Monday 4
(acap@unsw.edu.au). November 2019
ACAP provides valid applications and rankings to reviewers by Thursday 7 November 2019
Reviewers email scoring to ACAP (acap@unsw.edu.au) by Friday 22 November 2019
ACAP emails normalised scores to Management Committee by 5pm Sydney time 29 November
2019
Management Committee meeting held for discussion and TBA
decision (if required)
Announce successful applicants Tuesday 10 December 2019
Offer letters and contracts to successful applicants’ host Friday 20 December 2019
institutions.
The views expressed herein are not necessarily the views of the Australian Government, and the
Australian Government does not accept responsibility for any information or advice contained herein.
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ACAP_R3_Referee_Reports: https://www.dropbox.com/request/g9pCkw1nSEvJpTpuCVg0
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