Key points Download the application form Email your application form, CV and full research proposal to research@charteredaccountants.com.au Applications close Friday, 1 October 2010.

The Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia has announced a new Academic Research Program to support quality research into accounting and related fields.

This initiative will strengthen the Institute’s ties with the Australian academic community and provide essential funding to help develop accounting research.

“Our aim is to provide the necessary seed funding to help academics get a project or initiative off the ground. The Research Program will particularly assist emerging scholars who are just beginning their research career, and may not have access to the traditional large scale funding sources available through the government,” said Professor James Guthrie, the Institute’s Head of Academic Relations.

Projects selected by the Institute research panel will involve those that actively engage with professional practice and address key public policy issues. In particular, the Institute welcomes empirical, case study and applied research on issues such as: accounting education, anti-money laundering, audit and society, carbon accounting, superannuation and sustainability accounting.

“We encourage anyone working on or considering research that benefits the accounting community, to apply for funding so we can help deliver more quality, outcomes driven research,” said Prof Guthrie.

“The Academic Research Program is another step towards the Institute’s cooperative spirit, whereby we collaborate more closely with academia and the profession. These efforts hold the key to influencing government policy and developing accounting education that meets the long term needs of the academy, the profession and the workplace,” Prof Guthrie added.

Research supported by the Institute is well underway. Recently the Institute launched the first in a series of academic thought leadership publications, entitled Accounting Education at a Crossroad in 2010 , which explored the key challenges facing the profession. A second academic research paper has also just been released entitled Continuous assurance for the now economy, providing thought provoking debate on this topic.

To download the application form, please click here. Please email your application form, CV and full research proposal to research@charteredaccountants.com.au

For more details about the Institute’s Academic Research Program, please email the Institute at research@charteredaccountants.com.au.

To receive regular updates about the Institute’s research activities, including its thought leadership initiatives, sign up to the Institute’s educators e-newsletter.