Current Opportunities

Travel Grants

The Bushfire CRC has three grants a year of up to $3000 to support end-users of the organisation’s research to attend major international conferences to discuss and promote the use of the research.

This is in recognition that the people who can best demonstrate the effectiveness of the organisation’s research are the members of the end-user fire, land management and similar agencies.

Support of up to $3000 is being made available to support conference attendance by end users from member agencies who can demonstrate that they have utilised the Bushfire CRC Research to make effective improvements to the business of their organisation.

Up to three applications will be supported each year. Conferences with a high international profile will be preferred. 

The funding can be used to support travel and conference registration. End-user agencies are expected to provide additional support  such as accommodation costs.

Applicants will be required to have had a paper accepted for verbal presentation at the nominated conference. An outline of the paper or its abstract should be included with applications.  Presentations should be made available for subsequent publication on the Bushfire CRC website.

A brief report will be required to be submitted within one month of return, indicating  the reception of the paper by the audience and perceptions of how their work compares to related work at the international level. Any comments, advice or feedback about potential new partnerships gleaned from the conference experience would also be welcome.

Apply now

Applications for the Travel Grants are open NOW! To apply simply send an email to Noreen.Krusel@bushfirecrc.com with the following information:

• Name, position and agency. Indication of support by head of agency (or appropriate senior manager)
• Conference selected – when, where and why this conference was chosen.  Conferences with a high international profile will be preferred.
• Indication of acceptance of abstract and copy of accepted abstract.
• Proposed travel itinerary – funds can be used to support travel (airfares) and registration – include these details.

Note – you should indicate that you agree to the following criteria:

• the focus of the paper is on how you/your agency has utilised Bushfire CRC research to make effective improvements to the business of your organisation
• recognition of Bushfire CRC support through use of Bushfire CRC presentation template with your agency logo
• agreement to include presentation on the Bushfire CRC website
• your agency will cover other expenses
• submission of a brief report within one month of your return addressing the matters outline above
• submission of invoice to the Bushfire CRC should be made on return with the above report.

PhD in ecology and fire risks

IRSTEA ( the French national research institute of science and technology for environment and agriculture) is funding a PhD in ecology and fire risks. The PhD will be in collaboration with CSIRO and Melbourne University.

Title: Contribution to the modelling of the fire behaviour of ornamental vegetation in wildland-urban interface (WUI)

Summary: Several studies have shown the importance of interface fuels at the urban interface. Findings from post-bushfire surveys have highlighted that elements in the immediate surroundings of a house, such as fences, adjacent houses, outbuildings, ground cover, ornamental vegetation and vehicles, can either increase or reduce the risk of house loss, by acting as a source or attenuator of flames, radiant heat flux (RHF) and firebrands (Ramsay et al. 1987; Leonard and Blanchi 2005; Leonard et al. 2009). When fire approaches, the specific details of fuels within the interface can be important in determining the nature of the exposure an asset receives. Albini (1997) noted that, once ignited, surrounding elements and structures play a role in fire spread. There is significant work in order to predict the behaviour of ornamental vegetation fuels in WUI fire scenarios. Owing to the fact that a fuel key approach is emerging as the preferred community engagement method in Australia and US, a linkage between fuel key characteristics and expected combustion behaviours should be developed.

The main objective of the PhD is to contribute to fire risk understanding in the WUI by studying fire behaviour of ornamental vegetation. The studies will involve experimental work and data from post-bushfire studies. The knowledge developed will directly used to improve the 3D model (developed by CSIRO).

For information and application : www.irstea.fr – Section “PhD” before 25 May 2013 or contact Raphaele Blanchi at Raphaele.blanchi@csiro.au