The Gordon Godfrey Bequest promotes the advancement of theoretical physics within the University by providing limited financial support to assist in the travel and accommodation expenses of academic visitors to the University in this area.

Applications for financial support for visitors in 2013 will be considered shortly by the Gordon Godfrey Committee.

Some background information on the grants and criteria used for ranking applications is below.

Please have applications submitted electronically to Patricia Furst (tel 9385 4566, fax 9385 6060, email p.furst@unsw.edu.au) or to Oleg Sushkov (sushkov@phys.unsw.edu.au) by 5.00pm Friday December 7, 2012.

THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES
Gordon Godfrey Bequest

The Gordon Godfrey Grants Committee makes financial awards to partially support the travel and living costs of academic visitors to the University in the field of theoretical physics. Awards are made on the basis of a ranking of competitive applications.

Each application has a sponsor who would usually be a member of the academic staff of the University and one who is interested in working with the visitor on a specific project in theoretical physics.

There is no application form as such.

Applications should provide:

Details of the visitor's academic position and record including a curriculum vitae or equivalent.

Outline of any previous research collaboration between the visitor and sponsor.

Outline of the proposed research work for the visit.

Outline of a proposed course of theoretical physics lectures suitable for under-graduates or post-graduates, or a proposal for a Gordon Godfrey Public Lecture/Seminar. Some evidence should be provided of the visitor's effectiveness as a communicator of ideas. While such lectures are not mandatory, the committee will tend to rank more highly those proposals which include them.

Duration of the visit and approximate date of arrival.

All other sources of support.

The requested level of support and justification for it.

The committee meets twice each year, generally in November-December and May-June. A reminder notice is circulated about two weeks before each meeting, but applications may be submitted to the Secretary of the committee at any time. The committee makes recommendations to the Dean for financial support for visitors for the following year.

If an award is made, the sponsor remains responsible for all the formalities of arranging the visit. However, the awards themselves are made to the specific visitor and are not transferable to another visitor even for the same project. If the length of the visit has to be shortened awards are rescaled in accordance with tentative funding formula.

The mean award from the Bequest over the past few years has been $4000 and the mean period of a visit 5-6 weeks.

Awards are made on the basis of competitive ranking, with the overall criterion being the promotion of theoretical physics within the University. Specific points considered in the ranking have included :

The visitor must be recognized as a theoretical physicist and the project must be a project in theoretical physics.

Is the proposed project directly related to the Sponsor's currently active research work? (It is quite possible for the Sponsor to be working in experimental physics as long as the proposed project itself is clearly in theoretical physics. Proposals for projects which mainly involve numerical analysis of experimental data have not generally been supported.)

The track record of the visitor in the area of the proposed Project.

Does the proposal include a course of under-graduate or post-graduate lectures in theoretical physics or a Gordon Godfrey Public Lecture/Seminar?

Applications for supplementary support have been favoured, that is cases where the visitor has been partially supported from other sources of funds such as their own travel grants, support from a bilateral agreement, etc.

There have generally not been sufficient funds to support visits by theoretical physicists at the post-doctoral - or more junior - level.

The longest partially supported visits have been six months, and the shortest two weeks. The most commonly approved visits have been from one to two months.

Another area of support are the two prizes per year totaling $400 recognizing outstanding undergraduate performance in theoretical physics.

There are also Gordon Godfrey scholarships of $1800 each per year which can be awarded to outstanding students pursuing postgraduate study in theoretical physics. These scholarships are renewable annually subject to satisfactory performance for a maximum of three years. The usual application procedure is for the student's supervisor, or potential supervisor, to submit a one page nomination on behalf of the student making the case for the award on the basis of outstanding promise. In the past scholarships have been awarded to students of University Medal level or the equivalent.