Great Scot! The evolution of devolution

October 28, 2009 – 1:32 pm
Presiding Officer Alex Fergusson outlines the History of the Scottish Parliament

Presiding Officer Alex Fergusson outlines the history of the Scottish Parliament

The University’s School of Social and Political Sciences (SSPS) recently hosted key members of the first-ever Scottish parliamentary delegation to visit Australia at a roundtable discussion.

The visit marks the 10th anniversary of the Scottish Parliament and members were keen to share their experiences with students and academics from SSPS and to explore some of the issues that concern both countries.

The delegation was led by the Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament, Mr Alex Fergusson MSP (the equivalent of the Australian Parliament Speaker).
The other members of the delegation were Ted Brocklebank MSP, Ross Finnie MSP, Rhoda Grant MSP, and Sandra White MSP.

University academics quizzed the parliamentary delegation about everything from their Gaelic language and domestic violence prevention policies through to the place of the Scottish Diaspora in today’s Scotland – an issue close to the heart of staff member Derek McDougall, who asked the panel what they were doing to develop relations with the Scottish Diaspora.

Established under the Scotland Act in 1999, an act of the Westminster Parliament, the Scottish Parliament has legislative power over almost all domestic issues. Scotland always has had its own separate legal and education systems, but now the Parliament impacts on Scottish people’s daily lives.

The Scottish Parliament was founded on four principles – accountability, equal opportunity, accessibility and the sharing of power, and the Parliament takes this every seriously, creating an innovative engagement program that includes events such as their ‘festival of politics’ which runs concurrently with the Edinburgh Festivals and takes in lectures, song, debate, theatre and has seen over 4000 people visit the Parliament for the event each year.

In its 10 years of operation, over 2.4 million visitors – more that half the population, and 80 000 school children have come through the Parliament’s doors, and engagement with modern technology means that online petitions system means any member of the community can petition the parliament about anything, with over 1200 petitions received so far.

By nikakisz | Posted in Teaching and Learning, University News | Comments Off

Scholarships help elite University athletes combine study and swimming

October 28, 2009 – 1:30 pm
Marieke Guehrer, Arts student and world champion swimmer

Marieke Guehrer, Arts student and world champion swimmer

University of Melbourne swimmers, world champion Marieke Guehrer and World University Games team member Lloyd Townsing, have been awarded 2009/10 Australian Unity Educational Grants.

The grants which provide $6,500 for one year to assist with funding tertiary studies are designed to recognise and reward elite student athletes for their educational pursuits.

Lloyd Townsing is a final-year Commerce and Information Systems student at the University of Melbourne who, since breaking his neck in a snowboarding accident in 2001, has worked hard to achieve his goal of competing at the highest level both in and out of the pool.

The 24-year-old sprint freestyler will compete at the FINA Arena World Cups in Europe and Singapore next month, and as well as London 2012. He also has his sights firmly set on a Graduate Diploma in Environment on completing his first degree.

“Thanks to this grant, I’ll be able to cover the cost of completing my degrees and hopefully achieve my dream of competing at the 2012 Olympic Games in London,” he said.

Fellow Victorian and University of Melbourne student Marieke Guehrer has successfully combined study and swimming in the past 12 months on her way to a World Championship gold medal in Rome and world record at last year’s FINA Arena World Cup.

Ms Guehrer is completing a Bachelor of Arts, majoring in International Politics and also wants to study French or Italian on completion of her first degree.

“The money from the grant will help me to pay the fees for my current degree, and then I’m planning to enrol in a diploma of languages in French or Italian. It really means a lot to receive support for activities outside of the pool,” said Guehrer.

“We understand that it can be hard for athletes to juggle their swimming career with their studies. Our educational grants, now in their third year, are our way of trying to ease that burden,” says Australian Unity’s Group Managing Director Rohan Mead.

By nikakisz | Posted in Students, University News | Comments Off

Comings and goings at the University

October 28, 2009 – 1:29 pm
photo courtesy the Fred Hutchinson cancer research centre

photo courtesy the Fred Hutchinson cancer research centre

Ms Nancy Wells has been appointed Chief Advancement Officer in the University of Melbourne. She will commence in December 2009.

A development specialist with more than 15 years of academic fund-raising experience, Ms Wells is currently vice president of Development at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Centre in Seattle.

Previously she was at McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, where she served as vice principal of Development and Alumni Relations and directed the university’s comprehensive fund-raising campaign, which had a goal of more than $500 million.

Prior to joining McGill, she was at Stanford University, where she held the positions of associate vice president and director of University Development. During her tenure at Stanford, she was actively involved in planning and implementation of a $1 billion endowment initiative.

The University’s Academic Board officers for 2010 are President, Professor Geoff Stevens of the Department of Chemical and Bimolecular Engineering, Vice-President Professor Ron Slocombe of the Faculty of Veterinary Science, and Deputy Vice-President Professor Ruth Fincher of the Department of Resource Management and Geography in the Melbourne School of Land and Environment. Their terms of office run from 1 January 2010 to 31 December 2010.

Mr Trevor Green, Managing Director of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra has been appointed interim chair of the Victorian College of the Arts and Music (VCAM) advisory board.

Mr Green will hold the position until January 2010. He will also Chair the VCAM Integration Committee for the rest of 2009.

By nikakisz | Posted in News about you..., University News | Comments Off

Potter museum hosts Text and Textile exhibition

October 28, 2009 – 1:28 pm

Rare Greek papyrus texts and Coptic textiles from Egypt are amongst the exhibits giving a fascinating insight into ancient lifestyles in a new exhibition at the University’s Potter Museum of Art

The Coptic textiles were once part of elaborately adorned items of clothing worn in the time of Christian Egypt, during the fourth to seventh centuries.

“These donated works make important contributions to the antiquities collection at the University of Melbourne benefitting generations of students to come,” says exhibition curator Dr Andrew Jamieson.

Dr Jamieson pays tribute to the philanthropists who bequeath their treasures to the University.”They are outstanding gestures of generosity,” he says.

The ancient texts were donated to the University of Melbourne in 1901 and 1922 by the Egyptian Exploration Society, London UK.

Some of the Coptic textiles were donated to the University in 2006 by artist Yvonne Audette, who purchased them from a bazaar outside the Cairo Museum in the 1950s

Other significant textiles, including an almost complete shawl, form part of the David and Marion Adams Collection donated early this year.

Coptic textiles are notable for the richness of their decorative motifs: geometric patterns, human figures, birds, animals, fish, flora, mythological themes, Nilotic and marine scenes, episodes from the Old and New Testaments, and crosses.

“The works featured in the exhibition offer a dramatic view into the lives of the owners and makers of these garments and texts through the fragile pages of papyrus and delicate woven textiles,” Dr Jamieson said.

The exhibition runs from 17 October 2009 to 18 April 2010

By nikakisz | Posted in Around Campuses, University News | Comments Off

New research gift to further the Oxford – Melbourne Law School relationship

October 28, 2009 – 1:23 pm

Eminent Melbourne QC and University of Melbourne alumnus Allan Myers has presented the University with a generous gift, part of which will go directly towards furthering research links between the Oxford University Faculty of Law and the Melbourne Law School.

This aspect of the gift will see £14 000 ( around AUD $25 000) used to facilitate a collaborative research project between an Oxford and Melbourne Law School research team and will be known as the “Oxford-MLS Research Partnerships”.

Dean of Law, Professor James Hathaway says the Law School is looking forward to taking applications from any and every field of Law research, “perhaps around something so new and cutting edge that it’s not appropriate for the normal grants system”.

“In many ways we want to leave that open to the imagination of colleagues at Oxford and Melbourne,” he says.

The grant is to encourage University staff to seek out other researchers, and to build what might be the beginnings of long-term research relationships.

The Australian legal system evolved from and has a lot in common with the British system, Professor Hathaway explains. Australian cases are cited in British courts and vice versa – but there are “some very interesting differences to be explored, and where there are differences, they’re often differences that we can learn from”.

The two universities have long enjoyed a strong relationship facilitated by Mr Myers’s generosity, including the exchange of research staff, the purchase of Australian legal books for the Oxford library, and the strong support of Melbourne students undertaking graduate study at Oxford.

The strength of the relationship is not just by virtue of funds, however. “There is a good understanding at both institutions of the quality of the people and the high quality of the research undertaken by both law schools,” says Professor Hathaway.

The Law School is keen to have the first research project supported by this new grant ready to go next year, to act as a pilot project and encourage others to consider projects.

“We want the students and staff to see themselves as part of an international intellectual and professional community, and to give both our students and our staff as many opportunities to form good relationships and travel to other top universities, ” Professor Hathaway says.

By nikakisz | Posted in Around Campuses, University News | Comments Off

60 seconds with… Andrew Smith

October 28, 2009 – 1:21 pm

andrew_w

What is your unit?

Burnley campus grounds maintenance

What is your job title?

Gardens co-ordinator

How long have you been with the University of Melbourne?

Since 1988

How did you come to work at the University?

I was a student at Burnley and was offered a job as a gardener.

Describe your typical day.

It varies considerably, from helping and answering queries from the public and students and organising student practical classes, to managing the day-to-day maintenance and development of the heritage gardens.

What is it about your job that holds your interest or is particularly
satisfying?

Being involved in the development of students’ horticultural education. Being responsible for reducing water consumption on the site by more than half.

What is the best piece of advice you have received?

It was from my dad. When I was in my final year of school, I told him I wanted to be a chef and he said ‘remember you’ll be working when everyone else is having fun” It made me think of my second choice, Horticulture, as the better option!

What is something about yourself that most of your colleagues wouldn’t
know?

The fact, once upon a time, I had a beautiful full head of red curly hair!

Where do you buy your coffee on campus?

At Tansy’s, the student canteen, we can’t believe our luck to have a fabulous restaurateur all to ourselves.

What do you like most about the University?

The flexible working conditions available. Over the past 20 years I have been able to take leave without pay to look after my infant children, work part-time when they were in primary school and now that they are in high school, work full-time.

By nikakisz | Posted in 60 seconds with... | Comments Off

Did you know? Collections at the University

October 28, 2009 – 1:18 pm

The University’s Collections are truly exceptional, and include a number of rare, special collections that include:

The Poynton Collection of Rare Books comprises some 15,000 volumes and includes books that cover the history of printing from the 15th to 19th centuries, major English writers and a large collection of private press books. These were the gift of the late Dr. John Orde Poynton and his donation forms the core of the University Library’s rare book collection which has progressively been added to over the years since the original donation was made in 1959.

The Malcolm Fraser Collection at the University of Melbourne comprises documents, photographs, books and other material relating to the life, family and career of the Rt Hon. Malcolm Fraser, Prime Minister of Australia from 1975 to 1983. The collection complements the official records held at the National Archives of Australia as well as a number of other personal and political collections at the University of Melbourne. The collection spans Mr. Fraser’s life and interests.

The McLaren Collection of Australiana now comprises some 50,000 volumes of Australiana. It is particularly strong in the area of Australian literature and also has extensive holdings of very rare pamphlets and other ephemeral material. The collection reflects the wide range of collecting areas pursued by Dr. Ian McLaren during his many years as a book collector. His donation added great depth to the Library’s holdings of Australiana.

The Grimwade Collection, belonging to Sir Russell and Lady Grimwade, was bequeathed to the University in 1973 as part of the larger bequest of the Miegunyah estate. Numbering about 1 000 volumes, the collection consists mainly of works of history, voyages, exploration, anthropology and natural history relating to Australia. It also includes significant late 18th- to early 19th-century editions of fine early plate books.

The Morgan Collection, an extensive collection of children’s books and literature is based around the collection donated by Mr Frederick Morgan in 1954. The collection comprises mainly English works published before 1940 and is being actively developed. The Kingston Collection (a virtually complete set of novels by the author WHG Kingston) forms an adjunct to the Morgan Collection.

The Print Collection comprises some 7 000 individual prints and volumes, dating from the 16th to the early 20th centuries. It is based on a gift of some 3,000 prints made to the Baillieu Library by Dr John Orde Poynton in the 1950s. This has since been augmented by many other gifts and purchases. The collection covers many printmaking techniques including woodcuts, wood engravings, engravings, etchings, mezzotints, aquatints, lithographs and chromolithographs. Artists represented include Dürer, Aldegrever, Rembrandt, the Sadeler family, Claude Lorraine, Hogarth, Goya and Lionel Lindsay.

The Greig Smith Social Work History Collection consists of early works on social welfare and social work. It includes books, journals and pamphlets published from the 1890s to the 1950s, as well as bound sets of serials such as Charity Organisation Review and The Family.

Taylor Collection of pulp and popular fiction is a collection of nearly five thousand paperbacks and pulp digests published in Australia between the 1940s and the 1980s. The collection ranges across all genres of popular fiction and sensationalised non-fiction, including crime, war, science fiction, westerns, romance, and erotica.

The Joyce Thorpe Nicholson Collection is a major collection of books by and about Australian women. It includes rare nineteenth-century material, as well as scarce twentieth-century political ephemera.

The Lonely Planet Collection comprises a complete set of all publications by Lonely Planet, the Australian travel publishers. Consisting of some 1,300 volumes in total, the collection includes every edition of every item published from 1973 until 2006, commencing with Across Asia on the Cheap (1973) and including the various sub-series: city guides and maps, food guides, language guides and phrase books, travellers’ tales etc. Most items are in mint condition and some include annotations for projected revised editions. The collection has considerable research value, particularly for the growth of tourism since the 1970s. Individual volumes are also of interest in researching changes in political and social structure since publication.

By nikakisz | Posted in Did you know? | Comments Off

University helps to grow our future Tall Poppies

October 28, 2009 – 1:04 pm

The University has played a key role in the educational journey of some of Australia’s next science stars through the Growing Tall Poppies Program, which has won a $ 50,000 Schools First Local Impact Award for a partner school, and has also recently been awarded the state prize.

The award recognises the outstanding community partnership developed between the University and Northcote’s Santa Maria College.

Students at Santa Maria College collaborated with the University’s Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coherent X-ray Science (CXS) to design an award–winning program, which aims to increase and retain the numbers of girls undertaking academic studies, including in the physical sciences.

Their program provides a science experience for Year 10 students which requires them to work on projects in teams of six away from school.

Jodi Cryan, head of Schools First says that through its partnership with the University’s CXS Santa Maria College has achieved outstanding work in improving student results.

“We look forward to helping the school utilise the $50,000 to further enhance this partnership in the coming years, and also hope that this will inspire other schools.”

Students’ outcomes are achieved through projects designed to guide, but not limit, students’ participation in the research conducted by CXS physicists, biologists and chemists. Students have four days to research the topic by visiting and working with relevant CXS scientists/labs/members, develop the brief’s objective as well as develop and make a presentation for the final day to be delivered before the hosts, school and parents.

By nikakisz | Posted in Teaching and Learning, University News | Comments Off

University Staff named members of NHMRC committees

October 28, 2009 – 1:03 pm

Professor Loane Skene, Professor in the Melbourne Law School and Adjunct Professor in the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences has been appointed to the Australian Health Ethics Committee. Professor Skene has served on numerous Commonwealth and state advisory committees, especially concerning genetics and the law.

Dr Kylie Cripps has been appointed to the NHMRC Prevention and Community Health Committee. Dr Cripps is an Indigenous research fellow with the Onemda VicHealth Koori Health Unit in the University’s School of Population Health. Her research interests include issues relating to Indigenous family violence, sexual assault and child abuse including policy development and program/service delivery.

Professor Andrew Sinclair and Professor Ingrid Winship have both been appointed to the Human Genetics Advisory Committee. Professor Sinclair is an NHMRC Principal Research Fellow and a Professor at the University of Melbourne’s Department of Paediatrics. He is also Director of the Early Development and Disease division at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute in Melbourne.

Professor Winship is Professor of Adult Clinical Genetics at the University of Melbourne and the Royal Melbourne Hospital. She is also the Executive Director of Research at Melbourne Health. She is a clinical geneticist with an interest in adult onset genetic disorders, especially the inherited predisposition to cancer. As a dermatologist, her area of special expertise in is inherited disorders of the skin.

The National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) is Australia’s peak body for supporting health and medical research; for developing health advice for the Australian community, health professionals and governments; and for providing advice on ethical behaviour in health care and in the conduct of health and medical research.

By nikakisz | Posted in Teaching and Learning, University News | Comments Off

New Director appointed for University’s flagship biotechnology centre – the Bio21 Institute

October 28, 2009 – 1:02 pm

An Australian leader in plant biotechnology, Professor Tony Bacic has been appointed as the next Director of the University of Melbourne’s flagship biotechnology facility – the Bio21 Molecular Science and Biotechnology Institute (Bio21 Institute).

Professor Bacic has been Interim Director since January 2008. His appointment as Director is for five years.

University of Melbourne Vice-Chancellor Professor Glyn Davis congratulated Professor Bacic on his appointment. “We are fortunate to have a scientist of the calibre of Tony Bacic to lead this Institute which is set at the cutting-edge of biotechnology research. I have no doubt we will continue to see significant achievements in biotechnology emerge at the Institute over coming years.”

Professor Bacic says that since joining Bio21 in 2008 he has experienced first-hand the impressive facilities and scientific advances that have positioned the Institute as a flagship biotechnology research centre of excellence.

Now in its fifth year of operation, the Bio21 Institute is the University’s contribution to Victoria’s biotechnology project located in the heart of the ‘Parkville Biosciences Precinct’.

Professor Bacic believes the Institute has cemented its place as a ‘hub’ for bringing together academia, industry and the broader community, and is excited about the Institute’s future.

“The Bio21 Institute has grown and transformed to meet the needs of its research environment and will continue to do so as several new facilities in the Precinct that are either under construction now or just getting underway, come online in the next few years,” he says.

Today, with more than 500 University and industry researchers, the Institute accommodates a range of high-end platform technologies and a plethora of opportunities for developing new teaching, research and knowledge transfer programs.

Recent highlights include the establishment with the School of Botany of the $9.6 million national infrastructure facility, Metabolomics Australia; relocation of the clinical research-based Women’s Centre for Infectious Diseases; expansion of platform technologies in frontier areas of metabolomics and proteomics; and fostering collaborations with industry members including CSL Ltd whose research and development group are now integrated within Bio21.

Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) Professor Peter Rathjen says the Bio21 Institute will continue to play a key role in coordinating and supporting the development of a wide range of biotechnology programs aimed at tackling society’s broader issues.

Professor Rathjen paid tribute to the founding Director of the Bio21 Institute, Professor Dick Wettenhall, who retired in 2007. “Where we are today is due to the outstanding vision, energy and leadership of Dick Wettenhall, who through his foresight from concept to implementation, laid the foundations for establishing the Institute,” he said.

“The Bio21 Institute is a fine example of the effect that critical mass can have on innovation, where the energy and vision of each of the participating facilities in the Parkville Precinct inspires and encourages others, leading to collaborative outcomes greater than the sum of their parts.”

The institute brings the University and industry colleagues together across medicine, science and engineering in a multidisciplinary approach to research, education and training. This enables the Institute’s researchers to work in frontier fields of health-related biotechnology and translate their ideas, discoveries and knowledge into benefits for the community – and economic prosperity for the state.

About Professor Tony Basic

Professor Tony Bacic holds a Personal Chair in the School of Botany at the University of Melbourne and is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Sciences (FAA).

He leads the Australian Centre for Plant Functional Genomics team at the University of Melbourne and is a member of the Executive Management Group of that Centre. He is Director of the Plant Cell Biology Research Centre, Platform Convenor of the NCRIS-funded, Metabolomics Australia, and he is on Management Committees of Bioplatforms Australia Ltd, the Australian Proteomics Computational Facility, and the Integrative Neuroscience Facility Platform.

Professor Bacic is a member of the Board of the Maud Gibson Trust of the Royal Botanic Gardens.

His research is focused on the structure, function and biosynthesis of plant cell walls and their biotechnological application as well as the application of functional genomics tools to abiotic stress and productivity in cereals.

By nikakisz | Posted in Teaching and Learning, University News | Comments Off
FireStats icon Powered by FireStats