career support

We are proud to provide a collaborative, stimulating and supportive environment for all those working at the Baker Institute. The Institute offers a wide range of opportunities for staff to develop their skills and expertise, and to progress as leaders in their field.

Gender equity and diversity

The Institute's Gender Equity and Diversity Committee was formed in 2014 to establish initiatives to address the issue of female under-representation at senior levels in science at the Institute and more broadly across the sector. In recent years, the focus is increasingly turning to diversity. The Institute is the recipient of a Bronze Athena SWAN Science in Australia Gender Equity Award. Read more about our initiatives to support staff — including our distinguished five-year Alice Baker and Eleanor Shaw Gender Equity Fellowship.

Mentoring

An initiative of our Gender Equity and Diversity Committee, the Institute’s mentoring program supports students and research staff in their career development by matching mentees and mentors from across the Institute. The program also provides opportunities for professional and personal development through workshops and networking events.

Leadership support

The Institute offers leadership sessions and has provided leadership coaching and other resources to both professional support and research staff in management roles.

Professional development

Professional development is encouraged for all staff across scientific laboratories and support teams. Courses and seminars are provided internally, and individuals are also encouraged to pursue opportunities within their groups.

Baker Institute Learning and Development (BuILD)

Through our online learning platform BuILD, staff and students can access multiple online courses from problem-solving to developing resilience and even improving computer skills. These courses offer a great opportunity for professional development.

Institute seminars

Several times per week the Institute hosts seminars with internal and external speakers. This is an important way of sharing knowledge, and hearing from industry leaders and collaborators from across Australia and internationally. These are Institute-wide events, with all staff and students encouraged to attend.

Fortnightly, we host a combined seminar with the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute and the Heart Research Institute to better connect across research teams working to address cardiovascular disease. We also host weekly information technology seminars and a monthly bioinformatics information group, to encourage uptake of new medical research methods and technologies.

Conferences

We host a number of events throughout the year to showcase our research and clinical work and offer important networking opportunities. These include our annual Health Symposium in Alice Springs and regular GP workshops. Plus symposiums that present our important research partnerships, such as the Cambridge-Baker Systems Genomics Initiative and the Baker Department of Cardiometabolic Health at the University of Melbourne.

We also work closely with a range of professional and advocacy bodies like the Australian Cardiovascular Research Alliance (ACvA), the Heart Foundation, Diabetes Australia and the Australian Association of Medical Research Institutes (AAMRI).

Staff and students are encouraged to attend and present at important local and international conferences, which offer opportunities for vital networking and collaboration. Some internal grants are available to cover the cost of attendance and travel.

Prizes and medals

The Baker Institute offers a range of internal awards to celebrate staff and student achievement.

• Our annual Institute Values Awards are given out to recognise team members whose work has particularly embodied one of our five key values. All members of the Baker Institute community — including staff, students, and volunteers — are eligible for nomination.
• The Sir Laurence Muir Prize is awarded, by competitive application, to a researcher who has demonstrated outstanding achievement relative to career opportunity and who has provided evidence of high leadership potential.
• The Paul Korner Medal rewards excellence in student scholarship.
• Our Best of Baker Awards recognise outstanding research achievement based on scientific publications. They demonstrate areas where scientific discoveries are likely to have significant impact in health and medical research.
• Our Bright Sparks Program aims to attract and retain the very highest calibre of postgraduate students by recognising their achievements and supporting them with financial awards.

Seed funding

Our researchers have access to several internal grant opportunities for project seed funding, including through our collaborations with partner universities.

Research Training and Education Committee

The Institute’s Research Training and Education Committee (RTEC) oversees all aspects of postgraduate studies undertaken at the Institute, as well as the early career scientists (ECS). The major goal of RTEC is to provide guidance to encourage excellence in research and to facilitate the timely completion of research studies. The committee also coordinates applications for the Baker Institute PhD top-ups, travel grants, ECS internal grants and awards for excellence.

Read more about our student research opportunities and support.

Early career scientists committee

The early career scientists (ECS) group was formed to assist in the career development of post-doctoral scientists with less than ten years of research experience.

All ECS are invited to attend bimonthly social events that are designed to encourage collaborations within the group and give members the opportunity to share their research experiences and concerns with one another.

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