Be inspired to apply for an EDI Faulty Grant to support students

Start thinking about EDI Faculty Grant ideas ahead of applications opening in October 2024.

EDI Faculty Grants are available each year for professional and academic staff from all UNSW faculties and UNSW Canberra. 

The grants are awarded to initiatives that enhance opportunities for students from socio-economically and educationally disadvantaged backgrounds, students with diverse gender identities, LGBTQIA+ students, students with disability, and students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.

We encourage you to start thinking early about projects you’d like to submit for an EDI Faculty Grant this year.

Education support to help students shine

One of the latest grants was awarded to a project led by Dr Inma Tomeo-Reyes, Senior Lecturer, Co-lead of the Enhancing the First Year Experience (EFYE) Community of Practice (CoP).

The project, ‘Education support to make students shine’, aims to give students equal opportunities in Electrical Engineering through initiatives that enhance student support and provide more opportunities for practical experience. The project is especially valuable as a wrap-around support for undergraduate students from Gateway schools and low-SES backgrounds.

Peer mentoring through a drop-in centre is a key element of this project. The centre is a place for students to get personalised support from peer mentors and to study with their peers. Initially developed for first-year courses, the centre has been extended to second-year courses following positive feedback from students, who consistently cite the increased learning support as a standout aspect of their learning experience.

Electrical Engineering students consistently say they want more practical hours in laboratories, which isn’t always possible due to the need for supervision. The EDI Faculty Grant has been used to design and develop a prototype smart box that allows students to access open laboratories. These laboratories will offer structural flexibility to students who have ideas about how to learn and work that may not conform to the traditional current structures. They will also give students opportunities for extended access to laboratories to strengthen their knowledge, giving them increased opportunities to engage and collaborate with their peers.

To anyone considering applying for an EDI Faculty Grant, Dr Tomeo-Reyes says, “These grants are a perfect way to start a project that you have always wanted to do, but never could due to the lack of time or resources.

“Sometimes the little things we want to do for our students are not little at all, and can make a huge difference for them. I would encourage you to look at these grants as the little push you have been waiting for to make your idea a reality.”

Start thinking about applications

Applications for the next round of EDI Faculty Grants will open in late October 2024. 

For teams thinking about applying for a grant, there are a few things to keep in mind:

• Ethics approval for your project is essential and needs to be confirmed before the grant application is submitted.
• Teams must include faculty representation. Application team structures can be:
  • members from one faculty 
  • members from two faculties collaborating 
  • combined teams with members from faculties and divisions.
• Grants will not be awarded to outreach programs, due to the variety of existing programs already delivered by UNSW.

There will be an information session in early October where you can learn more and ask questions. EDI will provide more details closer to the date.

We look forward to receiving applications from all faculties.

Learn more about EDI Faculty Grants and past recipients.