Apply for an HEA Fellowship

The HEA@UQ program provides aspiring Fellows with the opportunity to gain credit for their practice supporting learning. Through the process of reflecting on past achievements, participants also plan and work towards future development with the support of UQ’s HEA Fellowship community and ITaLI staff.

Successful participants are entitled to use the post-nominals AFHEA, FHEA, or SFHEA, depending on the level of their application.

Applicants are supported to develop a written application reflecting on and evidencing their teaching and/or learning support experience, which includes a philosophy of teaching, an account of professional practice, and statements of support.

If you are interested in participating in the program, please attend a compulsory information session.

Eligibility

The HEA@UQ program is open to all University staff who teach and support learning, including:

academic staff
professional staff who support teaching and learning
casual staff*
PhD students with teaching experience
UQ academic title holders, adjunct and honorary staff.

*There is no expectation for casual academics employed by UQ to undertake the HEA@UQ program as part of their casual academic employment. Casual staff who choose to participate do so at their own expense and in their personal time.

Applicants wishing to participate in the HEA@UQ Program must fulfil the following eligibility:

Hold an academic or professional appointment at UQ (including casual, part time, fixed term and/or continuing positions); or are a PhD candidate; or are a UQ academic title holder,
Will hold this appointment at the time of application for Fellowship,
Have the support of their Line Manager or Work Supervisor to commit the time required to complete an application,
- HDR Scholars should seek the support of their PhD Supervisor. Your Supervisor must indicate that your participation in the program can be accommodated without affecting your progress on your thesis.
Will commit to the HEA Code of Practice if their application for Fellowship is successful,
Be prepared to foster the HEA Fellowship community at UQ (assuming successful application), by agreeing to:
- mentor other staff through the application process,
- present at school, faculty and/or other UQ fora, such as Teaching and Learning Week,
- contribute to the development and delivery of HEA Fellowship support activities in the future, where appropriate,
- contribute to building an ongoing HEA Fellowship community.

Which category of Fellowship is right for me?

How do I enrol?

To join the HEA@UQ Program, you must attend an information session. Once your information session attendance has been formally recorded, you will be invited to submit an enrolment form.

Once your enrolment form has been received by the Program Team, it will be reviewed and you’ll be provided with feedback on your chosen category, based on the details you provide, and on what you might need to consider when putting your full application together.

Typically, you will receive formal correspondence enrolling you into the HEA@UQ Program, along with this feedback, within 3 weeks of the enrolment form deadline. Please note that this timeframe is dependent on the volume of forms submitted.

2026 Enrolment Form Deadlines

20 February
24 April
26 June
21 August
4 December

Enrolment Form Endorsement

If after attending the information session, you are keen to enrol and progress an application, your enrolment form must be endorsed and supported by your Line Manager, Head of School or Discipline, Executive Dean or equivalent (e.g. Head of Division). If you are a PhD Candidate, please seek the endorsement of your PhD Supervisor when completing this section of the form.

This attachment must be uploaded with your online enrolment form; your enrolment cannot be processed without it.

What support is available to me?

HEA@UQ Program support includes centralised learning activities that are scaffolded, to build your capabilities incrementally. The activities on offer include both formal and informal professional learning opportunities, delivered in flexible modes.

Enrolled participants will be provided with access to the following support opportunities:

Introduction to the Professional Standards Framework (PSF2023) Workshop

This workshop provides you with an in-depth introduction to the Professional Standards Framework (PSF2023). These sessions are held online.

HEA application intensive workshop

Virtual and face-to-face application intensive workshops are scheduled throughout the calendar year. These sessions provide applicants with the opportunity to:

workshop writing your Teaching Context and Teaching Philosophy, and how to respond to the areas of activity
share your ‘work-in-progress’ and obtain feedback from peers in a collaborative environment
have dedicated writing time; and
discuss your application with an experienced Fellow.

Please enrol in the next opportunity through Workday.

Senior Fellows Support Series

Aspiring Senior Fellows are encouraged to attend the Senior Fellows Series designed to support you to articulate the key criteria of this descriptor that most struggle with: to identify, evidence and demonstrate the impact of their influence on the practices of others.

This is a small group mentoring opportunity and numbers are capped at 15 per offering. There are two offerings each year supporting applicants developing both written and dialogue applications.

Consultation sessions

Fortnightly consultation sessions are available for you to ask burning questions that might be related to the PSF, how to submit your application, or whether this program or category of fellowship is right for you. These sessions are held via Zoom and are bookable online.

The consultations are 15 minutes in length. Unfortunately, the team cannot accommodate extensive draft reviews. We suggest that you reach out to a buddy or to your mentor—if this is something you have previously discussed as a need—for extensive draft reviews.

Online resources

An online repository has been established in Microsoft Teams providing:

timetables and calendars
materials from support workshops
recordings of webinars
examples of applications
templates and guidelines
channels for collaboration, supporting commentary and advice from previous applicants.

When your enrolment has been accepted, you will be provided with access to this repository.

Please note, exemplar statements of support are not available. If your advocate has a question regarding the content of their statement, please ask them to get in touch with the program team by emailing professional.learning@uq.edu.au

Administrative support

The ITaLI team will support you by:

facilitating mentoring support on request,
answering questions and providing guidance on possible pathways
coordinating writing sessions
administering review panels.

Becoming an HEA Principal Fellow with ITaLI support

Principal Fellowship is suitable for highly experienced individuals whose practice involves a sustained record of effectiveness in strategic leadership of high-quality learning. Their impact is extensive. Principal Fellows can demonstrate how they provided vision and direction and transformed practice and outcomes. They are able to show evidence that their strategic leadership has had a sustained record of effectiveness and positive impact over a period of five to seven years. Their practice will have made a positive and lasting change at a strategic level on high-quality learning.

Expressions of Interest are closed for 2026.

Applicants for Principal Fellowship may also be identified in consultation with University Leadership.

Please consult the Professional Standards Framework 2023 and the PF Self-Assessment Document as you consider whether Principal Fellowship is right for you.

PFHEA application process

Step 1	Read the PF Criteria Requirements (PDF, 171.6 KB). Use the PF self-assessment document (DOCX, 85.2 KB) to make some notes. Provide at least two examples of instances where you are able to evidence and demonstrate successful engagement with each of the items. If you are able to provide two examples for each aspect, there is a good chance that you will be successful in your application.
Step 2	Complete the Expression of Interest form and upload your Initial Discussion Proforma (DOCX, 49.3 KB). Provide an overview in the Career Overview section, focusing on the leadership aspects in teaching and learning. List some of the key initiatives or impacts that you have had across your career in the Record of Educational Impact table. Copy and paste the relevant items noted in the self-assessment document into the Evidencing Professional Practice grid. The team will review your Expression of Interest to provide you with initial feedback and you’ll be invited to attend a small group mentoring and workshop series for guidance on drafting your application. An introductory workshop for the annual PF cohort is scheduled in April. After this workshop, you will be invited to become a member of the UQ aspiring PF cohort for the year. At this point you will need to seek endorsement from your line manager.
Step 3	Principal Fellowship applications are submitted directly to Advance HE and assessed by international assessors. Funding support is available from ITaLI for three applications annually and will be allocated to the first 3 applicants who have a complete draft approved for submission. Applicants may also choose to seek alternative sources of funding (such as through local professional development schemes).
Step 4	Develop your full application with mentoring support. You should work with your mentor to determine the best pattern of meetings and support for you.
Step 5	Join in conversations with other UQ aspiring and recognised Principal Fellows.
Step 6	Submit the application directly to Advance HE. Contact professional.learning@uq.edu.au for instructions and support.

For more information about the Principal Fellowship, please visit the Advance HE (UK) website .

For additional application guidance, watch the Principal Fellowship Application Guidance video on Advance HE's YouTube channel and contact professional.learning@uq.edu.au.

HEA community at UQ

Contact

About HEA Fellowship

The HEA Fellowship is administered by Advance HE in the UK, whose goal is to bring the higher education sector together to share teaching strategies and practice.

UQ supports staff and HDR students to apply for an HEA Fellowship through the HEA@UQ program.

Get started

If you are interested in participating in the HEA@UQ program, please attend an information session.

HEA@UQ program information session