Celebrating achievement: Future Fellowship Award for Associate Professor Anne-Maree Farrell

Associate Professor
Anne-Maree Farrell

For the first time in its 50 year history, the Faculty of Law at Monash has received a Future Fellowship. Associate Professor Anne-Maree Farrell was one of only three recipients of the fellowship awarded to Law for her project: Regulating Human Body Parts: Principles, Institutions and Politics.

Advances in scientific research and technological innovation have led to a huge growth in the use of human body parts in research and medicine, whether on their own or as part of a range of technologies. Adopting a predominantly legal analysis, this project considers whether a common approach to regulating across a range of human body parts is desirable for the purposes of managing risk, promoting innovation and enhancing legitimacy. In line with such purposes, new regulatory models and strategies will be formulated which will make a significant contribution to theoretical development on the topic in health law and regulation, as well as Australian and international policy and practice in the field.

According to the Australian Research Council (ARC):

The Future Fellowships Scheme was introduced in 2008 to promote research in areas of critical national importance by giving outstanding researchers incentives to conduct their research in Australia.

The aim of Future Fellowships is to attract and retain the best and brightest mid-career researchers. At present many highly qualified mid-career researchers choose to work overseas to further their careers due to lack of opportunities in Australia. The Future Fellowships Scheme addresses this problem and will significantly boost Australia’s research and innovation capacity in areas of national importance. Future Fellowships provides four-year fellowships to outstanding Australian and international mid-career researchers.

In addition, the ARC may award the Administering Organisation up to $50,000 of non-salary funding per annum which may be used for infrastructure, equipment, travel and relocation costs directly related to the Future Fellow’s research. Future Fellowships will encourage proposals from researchers working in areas of national priority. Preference will be given to those researchers who can demonstrate a capacity to build collaboration across industry and/or research institutions and/or with other disciplines. Although international experience is important for Australian researchers, it is also important they have the opportunity to return home to continue their work. Future Fellowships will aim to encourage outstanding Australian researchers currently based overseas to return to Australia.

We congratulate Associate Professor Farrell, particularly as she has only recently joined us here at the Faculty.