The Professor Ronald M. and Dr Catherine H. Berndt Research Foundation

The Professor Ronald M. and Dr Catherine H. Berndt Research Foundation was established from a sum of money bequeathed to the University of Western Australia by Ronald M. and Catherine H. Berndt in 1994.

Its purpose is 'encouraging and supporting research in the discipline of Australian Aboriginal Social and Cultural Anthropology' in terms of the Bequest, and in particular to:-

* Charter
(a) encourage indigenous Australian participation and involvement in the activities of the Foundation;
(b) co-operate with Anthropology in the furtherance of social and cultural anthropological research in the area of Aboriginal Australia;
* Donations
(c) solicit donations, gifts and bequests to the Foundation on behalf of the University;
* Publications
(d) recommend and sponsor the printing of publications consistent with these objects and the issue thereof, and to make a regular subvention to sponsor the publication of Anthropological Forum;
* Lectures
(e) arrange for lectures, exhibitions and demonstrations on the area of Aboriginal Australia;
* Visits
(f) assist in arranging visits to The University of Western Australia by specialists in Aboriginal Australia;
* Grants
(g) recommend grants to Anthropology for the purpose of encouraging research in the discipline of Australian Aboriginal Social and Cultural Anthropology through visiting fellowships, post-doctoral fellowships, and post-graduate scholarships;
(h) recommend cadetships to indigenous Australians including undergraduate students currently enrolled at The University of Western Australia for the purpose of conducting research in Anthropology .
(i) ensure that all researchers funded by the Foundation adhere to established guidelines for ethical research;
(j ) do all such things as are incidental or conducive to the attainment of the above objects or any of them.."

The Foundation is administered according to Regulations approved by the University Senate.

Current Commitments (ongoing)

1. Anthropological Forum;
An annual allocation is made for the publication of the journal Anthropological Forum.

2. Undergraduate Awards
• Second/Third Year Prize of $500 allocated to an Australian Indigenous person completing an Advanced year on the basis of overall assessment in two Anthropology semester units.
• Honours Research Grant of $1,000 allocated to support research by an Australian Indigenous student for an Honours thesis in Anthropology.

5. Biennial Memorial Lecture
There will be a biennial Ronald and Catherine Berndt Memorial Lecture, to be delivered by a distinguished speaker. • The Inaugural 2000 Lecture was delivered by Dr Peter Sutton, Independent Scholar, entitled: ‘The politics of suffering: Indigenous policy in Australia since the 1970s’. The published version is available in the journal ‘Anthropological Forum’ 11, 2: 125-73.
• The 2002 Lecture was delivered by Professor Robert Tonkinson, University of Western Australia, entitled: ‘Spiritual prescription, social reality: reflections on religious dynamism’. The published version is available in the journal ‘Anthropological Forum’ 14, 2: 183-201.
• The 2004 Lecture was delivered by Dr Gaye Sculthorpe, National Native Title Tribunal, entitled: ‘Recognising difference: contested issues in Native Title and cultural heritage’. The published version is available in the journal ‘Anthropological Forum’ 15, 2: 171-92.
• The 2006 Lecture was delivered by Professor Howard Morphy, entitled ‘Rewriting Ron Berndt: Exploring the depths of his Yolgnu ethnography’. The published version is available in the journal ‘Anthropological Forum’ 19, 1: 73-97.
• The 2009 Lecture was delivered by Professor Marcia Langton, entitled ‘Anthropology, Politics and the Changing World of Aboriginal Australians’. The published version will be available in a forthcoming issue of the journal 19, 1: 73-97Anthropological Forum’.

6. From time to time, as funds permit, additional commitments may be made, including:

• Postgraduate Scholarship
A Postgraduate Scholarship may be supported (subject to available funds) for postgraduate study within the Discipline of Anthropology and Sociology on the general topic of the social anthropology of Australian Indigenous society.

• Postdoctoral Fellowship
A Postdoctoral Fellowship may be supported (subject to available funds) for research within the Discipline of Anthropology and Sociology on the general topic of the social anthropology of Australian Indigenous society. The first Postdoctoral Fellow was Dr Katie Glaskin (Katie.Glaskin@uwa.edu.au).

6. Research Grants

• Funds are allocated (subject to available funds) for research relevant to the objectives of the Foundation.


Australian Postgraduate Research Grants 2009

(Applications have now closed for 2009. The next round will be advertised in March 2010.)



INFORMATION SHEET Download Information Sheet

Ronald M. and Catherine H. Berndt
Ronald M. and Catherine H. Berndt established the discipline of Anthropology at the University of Western Australia in 1956. At that time, Anthropology was a Centre within the Department of Psychology but in 1963 it became a separate Department. The Berndt’s unique research collaboration in northern Western Australia, South Australia and the Northern Territory covered almost fifty years and resulted in a wide range of published works and unpublished reports. They were also responsible for establishing the Berndt Museum of Anthropology at The University of Western Australia. The Museum contains one of the largest collections of items from Australia, with a smaller number of items from Papua New Guinea and South Asia. Ronald and Catherine also fostered ‘Anthropological Forum’, a journal that continues to be devoted to the publication of anthropological research in Australian and Pacific settings.

The Ronald and Catherine Berndt Research Foundation
The Foundation was established from a sum of money bequeathed to the University of Western Australia by Ronald and Catherine Berndt. Its purpose is to ensure that funds available from the Bequest are used ’to promote social and cultural anthropological research about Aboriginal Australia‘.

The Research Grant Process
The Foundation has allocated funds to support postgraduate research by any enrolled postgraduate student at an Australian university that will contribute to the collections of the Berndt Museum of Anthropology, and/or to support anthropological research and Aboriginal Studies more broadly. Amounts of up to $8,000 will be awarded to those applications that help to (i) facilitate thesis research, (ii) meet the criteria established through the Foundation’s Postgraduate Research Grant Committee, and (iii) are judged by the Foundation’s Postgraduate Research Grant Committee to warrant financial support.

Applications

Applications for a grant are to be made on the Application Form Download Application Form (Revised version)

Information about the Research Grants Program can also be obtained by contacting Dr John Stanton, Director of the Berndt Museum of Anthropology, at the following address:

Ronald and Catherine Berndt Foundation,
Berndt Museum of Anthropology, M255A
The University of Western Australia
35 Stirling Highway
Crawley, Western Australia, 6009
Telephone: 61 8 6488 3854
Fax: 61 8 6488 1165
Email: berndt.museum@uwa.edu.au

All enquiries in relation to the Foundation‘s activities should be addressed to the Secretary, Dr John E. Stanton (john.stanton@uwa.edu.au) or the Chair of the Berndt Research Foundation Committee, Associate-Professor Michael Pinches (michael.pinches@uwa.edu.au) .