First Nations researchers are pursuing work to give back to their people, and learn from First Peoples around the world.

Worimi and Biripi woman Dr Samara Hand's research looks into Indigenous peoples' educational future, and where law, policy and governance influence this.

Dr Hand is also central to self-determination as a co-founder of the National Indigenous Youth Education Coalition, an organisation backing youth to guide design of the education system and tackling inequity.

Torres Strait Islander researcher Dr Shani Crumpen specialises in Indigenous archives through community led, culturally grounded work.

This is to produce accessible scholarly work and supporting local research capability.

Centring yarning and community protocol in her PhD work, on on-Country collections, Dr Crumpen, consolidated archives, cultural heritage collections research, as well as qualitative analysis and academic writing.

Dr Hand's PhD, completed in 2025, 'Beyond Educational Genocide: The challenge of addressing legacies of genocide against Indigenous Peoples in education' was desribed as "a powerful framework for decolonising education systems" and "vital contribution" to work shifting educational discourse towards justice and truth by Professor Larissa Behrendt.

The pair are this year's Wilhelm, Martha and Otto Rechnitz Memorial Fund Grant recipients.

For early and mid-career Indigenous researchers, it offers up to $20,000 in grants awarded by the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia.

The Academy intends to support the program for 10 years across the UN's Decade of Indigenous Languages (2022-2032) having established the fund four years ago.

2026 also presents the inaugural Rechnitz Memorial Lecture, to be delivered by Professor Marcia Langton in Melbourne on July 14.

"As an Indigenous woman and anthropologist entangled in Australian life and scholarship, I have examined the challenges to distinctive Aboriginal ways of being and knowing," Professor Langton said.

"In a world turning to nativist fundamentalism and racism in the midst of growing white anxiety, the question for Indigenous Australia revolves around our existential challenge. What is our future in our own land?"

With the financial aid, Dr Hand and Dr Crumpen will also be provided resources by the Academy for their ongoing research work.

It offers something to Dr Hand personally and professionally, she said, and something further to others.

"As a Worimi / Biripi woman only recently graduated from my PhD, this support comes at a pivotal moment in establishing my research career, and it affirms the value of Indigenous-led scholarship that centres our own knowledge systems and priorities," she said.

"This funding will allow me to travel to Canada, the United States and Aotearoa New Zealand to sit with Indigenous educators, Elders and community leaders and learn directly from their hard-won experiences of building self-determined schooling systems, work that simply cannot be done justice through desk research alone."

Dr Hand's project funded the grant aligns with the M.K Turner Report, a call for the establishment of a First Nations education system.

More than support for her, "being recognised by a fund dedicated to strengthening Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander research leadership is a meaningful vote of confidence for the importance of this work for our communities and for the broader project of educational self-determination in Australia", Dr Hand said.

Community and knowledge-holders are central to Dr Crumpen research ahead — localised exploration and written history Mua (Moa) Island in the Torres Strait, done in partnership with those who call it home and Torres Strait Islander researchers, extending their look further into relationships with surrounding islands.

"Receiving the Rechnitz Grant is such an honour. As a Torres Strait Islander researcher, it's a wonderful opportunity to give back to my people through research that is led by and grounded in our knowledge, priorities and stories. The funding will allow me to work alongside community to create a lasting resource for future generations," Dr Crumpen said.

The Rechnitz Fund Grant intends to support and enable enable innovative and meaningful research projects while also helping lift the next generation of First Nations scholars.

Academy President Professor Kate Darian-Smith said the grants, via the estate of Estate of Dr Wilhelm Rechnitz, helps not only Indigenous excellence in research, but Australia's research future more broadly.

"As we celebrate NAIDOC Week and recognise the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, the Academy is proud to support the next generation of Indigenous researchers through the Rechnitz Fund grants,' Professor Darian-Smith said.

"The Academy is committed to fostering a diverse and inclusive research environment, and these grants play an important role in advancing that commitment. They provide emerging Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander researchers with the resources and opportunities needed to pursue innovative research and contribute to knowledge, policy and practice across a wide range of fields."