At The Kids Research Institute Australia, kids are at the heart of everything we do.
We’re a values-driven organisation and our team of more than 700 dedicated staff and students are all passionate about discovering causes, cures and treatments for the illnesses and diseases that target our kids and young people.
We bring together community, researchers, practitioners, policy makers and funders to work together to make an impact and translate research findings into action. Our goal is to build on our success and track record and make a real difference in our community, which will benefit children and families everywhere.
A career with The Kids, is a career that makes a difference.
Support for research
At The Kids, we actively encourage and promote excellence in both our research and our researchers.
We offer a range of schemes to support our researchers and believe that the way we reward research excellence is better than anywhere else in the nation. This includes:
- The Plus 10 Incentive Scheme which offers additional funding assistance to researchers that have been successful in securing Category 1 Project Grants as well as funding for NHMRC and ARC Research Centres.
- The Kids Innovation Fund provides a competitive grant funding scheme to encourage creative thinking and foster innovation. There are two streams of grants within the Fund: Blue Sky Grants for high risk / high reward ideas and Proof-of-Concept Grants.
- Supporting research leaders - we provide salary underwriting for leading research talent for five years where they are unsuccessful in obtaining sufficient funding for their salary costs. We also support early or mid-career researchers identified as key emerging research leaders for two years where they are unsuccessful in obtaining sufficient funding for their salary costs.
- Fellowship support including top-ups for Category 1 research fellowships and an annual allowance for research activities.
- Our Salary Support Program provides 12 months of salary support to valued leading research staff who were unsuccessful in obtaining funding.
- Publication Excellence Awards for high quality research journal articles in high impact factor journals (IF>10) or a top 5% journal in the field.
- The Kids provides a broad range of professional services to support and enable The Kids researchers including IT, research governance, research development, finance, communications and fundraising, laboratory management, procurement, risk management and human resource management.
Learning and development opportunities
Our people are our greatest asset, so we work to build their capacity and excellence.
We are committed to giving our people opportunities to learn and grow to maximise their potential. We have a dedicated team that provides staff and students training and development opportunities through varied programs, workshops and research career support.
Our Emerging Leaders and Leading with Purpose programs are specialised leadership development initiatives that represent both a commitment and an investment from The Kids into its current and future leaders for both researchers and professional services staff.
Our Early and Mid-Career Researcher Mentoring Program is designed to support and facilitate the professional development and career advancement of the Institute’s early and mid-career researchers.
We offer a comprehensive professional development program for students at every stage of their candidature which incorporates training, career planning, coaching and mentoring, peer support programs, social and networking events, and an annual student stipend.
We host regular onsite seminars from a range of local, national and international speakers plus skills seminars to improve research skills, publication writing and grant success. We also actively encourage our staff and students to attend conferences.
The Kids culture and lifestyle
At The Kids, we provide a supportive and flexible workplace that is safe, family-friendly, eco-friendly and culturally sensitive.
We encourage our staff and students to contribute to our culture of generosity, sharing and collaboration. We embrace modern ways of working, with a focus on flexibility, adaptability and teamwork.
All staff get four weeks of annual leave each year, plus WA public holidays. As a bonus, staff also get extra paid leave over the Christmas/New Year period and Easter Tuesday to enjoy with family and friends.
The Kids Research Institute Australia is committed to helping promote health and wellbeing across the Institute and offers a range of health and wellbeing initiatives that promote, encourage and assist our people to lead healthy, balanced and active lives. This includes:
- Employee assistance program which provides a professional counselling service for employees with experienced and qualified Counsellors and Psychologists
- Vaccinations
- Access to Corporate Health Insurance
- End of trip facilities
- Weekly fitness classes.
We have an active social club and our staff can also join the Charlie's Social Club which is a great way to get to know other researchers and medical professionals on the QEIIMC campus; joining as a Health & Fitness member also gives you access to the Charlies 24hr gym and group fitness classes!
The Kids staff can access the onsite child care facilities including the PCH child care centre within the building (subject to waiting lists).
World-class facilities
In August 2018, The Kids moved to our new facility at the Perth Children’s Hospital on the QEII Medical Centre campus - the largest centre of excellence in healthcare, research and education in the southern hemisphere.
Our purpose-built facility features more than 7000sqm of work space and 2000sqm of laboratories, as well as dedicated clinical suites, a cryogenics facility and a fun and interactive Discovery Centre for kids.
A significant range of modern research equipment (and the technical staff to support this equipment) is made available to The Kids researchers.
We also have a range of specialised expertise, tools, and technology to undertake cutting-edge science. Researchers can access platforms including bioinformatics, bioresources, biostatistics, clinical trials team, data services, Genome Innovation Hub, consumer and community involvement and our Kulunga Aboriginal Research Development Unit.