Frequently Asked Questions

Got a question? Get your answer.

Below you’ll find answers to the questions we get asked the most about applying for a Churchill Fellowship.

If you have a question that you can’t find the answer to, please use the contact us page.

Pictured: Churchill Fellow Petah Cavallaro, 2019

No. Fellowships are not awarded to enable an applicant to gain or contribute towards any tertiary qualifications.

No. A Fellowship will not be awarded to enable an applicant to work overseas.

Financial support can be provided to cover the cost of tuition or a specific course applicable to your project. Limited support can be provided for you to attend a conference applicable to your project.

Final selections will be announced mid-September. Successful applicants can travel from 1 November in the year that they apply.

Fellowships are awarded to individuals only.

Joint Fellowships can be awarded to applicants who have a project in issues that affect First Nations peoples that is justifiably strengthened by having at least one Indigenous perspective on the topic. You can read more about our alternative Fellowship types here.

Late applications are not accepted.

You may only submit one application per year. If you are not successful you can reapply in future years.

No academic or tertiary qualifications are required in order for you to apply for a Fellowship.

Not on initial application but you will be required to provide this if you are successful.

A Churchill Fellowship is designed first and foremost as an international travel experience, however there can be some exceptions in certain circumstances, such as:

  • If international travel is not possible (eg. during a pandemic) virtual research may be approved on a case-by-case basis
  • If a disability or caring responsibilities prevent international travel virtual research is an alternative that will be considered
  • Applicants living in remote parts of Australia may be able to apply for domestic travel where the benefits to the individual and community are strong.

You can read more about our alternative Fellowship types (including hybrid/virtual Fellowships and domestic Fellowships) here.

You do not need to provide your vaccination status to apply for a Churchill Fellowship, however you should be mindful that you will need to meet any government requirements relating to international travel that are in place at the time you undertake your Churchill Fellowship, including visas, vaccinations, etc.

You will receive a confirmation email when your application has been submitted. 

The duration of a Fellowship is four to eight weeks. Additional time spent overseas is permitted but will be at the applicant’s own expense.

The amount of money awarded for every Fellowship is different as it is calculated based on the number of countries visited, the duration of the approved Fellowship and an estimated airfare.

No. Interview schedules are set by each State and Territory in advance and are fixed. If you can’t make an interview, provision for attending interviews using video interview alternatives will be considered on a case by case basis.

Yes, you can still study at a tertiary institution provided that you can demonstrate that your proposed project is not directly related to your current tertiary studies.

If successful you should depart during the 12 months after the award of your Fellowship.  Successful applicants can travel from 1 November.

The Trust provides support tailored to the needs of the applicant. More information can be found here.

Yes. However, you must be available to attend an interview (or interviews) in Australia at any time in June and July. If successful, your Fellowship should commence from Australia, and you must return to Australia upon completion of your Fellowship.

If your Fellowship application was unsuccessful, we encourage you to read through the following advice and consider applying again in a future round.

Every year varies slightly but nationally the Trust typically receives close to 1,000 applications per year and awards around 100 Fellowships per year.

A sponsored Fellowship carries the same conditions as any Churchill Fellowship except that the topic is usually confined to a specific field of endeavour eg. The Dame Roma Mitchell Churchill Fellowship for excellence in the performing arts. Some sponsored Fellowships are only for award in a particular State, Territory or region and the number of sponsored Fellowships offered changes each year.

Applications open 1 March and close 1 May 2024. Find out more  here.

Any Australian Citizen or permanent resident of Australia over the age of 18 can apply.

Use the categories below to filter the search results: