2 November 2005
2 November 2005
Monash University Malaysia has launched its Higher Degree by Research (HDR) programs, which are aimed at building the campus's research and development capabilities.
From 2006, PhD programs will be offered by the academic disciplines of arts, sciences, business, engineering and information technology. A Master of Philosophy is being offered by the schools of Business and Information Technology.
The HDR programs were launched last month by Malaysia pro vice-chancellor Professor Merilyn Liddell and pro vice-chancellor for research and research training Professor Max King.
A suite of scholarships for suitable candidates has also been devised.
Professor Liddell said the offering of the HDR programs was a major initiative by the university in its efforts to stimulate and promote research and scholarly activities.
The key research strengths of Monash University Malaysia include Islamic banking and finance; corporate governance; ASEAN economic development; plant genetic engineering; agricultural biotechnology; electronic design and testing; system modelling, simulation and control; pervasive computing; grid computing; and postcolonial and postmodern literature and film in Asia.
2 November 2005
Monash University has been ranked 33rd in the world in a global survey of universities.
London's The Times newspaper produces the list of the world's top 200 universities. It is based on surveys of more than 2300 academics, and examines the research produced, student-to-staff ratios, international students and the number of internationally-recognised academics.
Monash also ranked 33rd in 2004. However, this year the university has improved its performance in several categories including:
Overall, Monash ranked third highest of the Australian universities, behind the University of Melbourne (19) and the Australian National University (23). Three other Australian universities ranked in the top 50 -- University of Sydney (38), University of NSW (40) and University of Queensland (47).
Vice-chancellor Professor Richard Larkins said Monash's ranking confirmed the work of the university's researchers was highly regarded.
"The ranking is testament to the esteem that Monash's research enjoys internationally across a range of disciplines," he said.
2 November 2005
Two Faculty of Information Technology staff will join the Australian government delegation to the United Nations Second World summit on the Information Society in Tunis, Tunisia, later this month.
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| Professor Don Schauder (left) and Dr Graeme Johanson. |
Professor Don Schauder and Dr Graeme Johanson, as chairman and director of the Centre for Community Networking Research in the faculty, have been invited by the Australian government to take part in the week-long summit.
The pair will represent the views of Australian civil society on Internet governance and digital inclusion.
In 2003, the centre formed the Roundtable on Australian Civil Society to elicit the opinions of Australians about the impact of information and communications technologies on their lives.
The centre formulated a statement for the first World Summit in Geneva in 2003.
This year, with the help of the federal Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, the centre consulted groups across the country to form a strategy for civil society input to the global discussions.
In Tunis, Professor Schauder and Dr Johanson will liaise with associates from other countries, attend official functions and participate in debates.
2 November 2005
A delegation of Chinese government officials met with vice-chancellor Professor Richard Larkins last week to encourage further academic collaborations between Monash and China.
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| Professor Larkins meets with the Chinese SAFEA delegation. |
The group, from the Chinese State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs (SAFEA), followed their visit with the vice-chancellor with a trip to the Caulfield campus where they met with senior Monash staff to discuss further staff exchanges and projects with Monash.
SAFEA is an administrative department of the Chinese government in charge of international professional exchanges. It is responsible for introducing foreign experts to work in China as well as sending high-level technical and managerial personnel for overseas training.
Professor Larkins welcomed the delegation and discussed possibilities for the sharing of expertise and knowledge between Monash and China .
"We would like to ensure the collaboration with SAFEA remains strong and encourage ongoing cooperation between Monash and China," he said.
To date, SAFEA has established relations with more than 300 government agencies, research institutions, universities and enterprises in more than 60 countries and regions.
2 November 2005
Diploma of Education student Mr Andrew O'Connor has received a national literary prize for his first novel.
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Mr O'Connor (pictured), who lives in Warragul in Gippsland, has won The Australian/Vogel Literary Award for his book Tuvalu.
He wrote the prize-winning novel while studying by distance education through the Gippsland campus and living on the family farm in Warragul.
Previously, Mr O'Connor studied Arts at the University of Melbourne, taught English in Japan and worked and travelled in central and northern Australia.
Mr O'Connor said the $20,000 prize would help accommodate his writing aspirations, as he plans to split his time between teaching and writing when he moves to Sydney next year after graduation.
"The prize gives me a fantastic opportunity to move forward with a career in writing," he said.
The Australian/Vogel Literary Award, which is in its 25th year, is awarded annually to an unpublished manuscript by a writer aged under 35 years.
Tuvalu will be published by Allen & Unwin next year.
2 November 2005
Monash's Department of Management, in conjunction with the Police Association of Victoria, will offer a scholarship in memory of Inspector Paul Carr from next year.
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The $15,000 Paul Carr Memorial Scholarship, open to members of the Police Association of Victoria, will provide the opportunity to undertake Monash's Graduate Diploma in Management.
Inspector Carr (pictured) passed away in May 2003 while climbing Cho Oyu in Tibet -- one of the world's highest mountains. The expedition was part of a two-year campaign to climb Mt Everest and raise money for the Make-A-Wish-Foundation.
Inspector Carr served with the Victoria Police for 25 years and had been a member of the Police Association executive since 1999.
Secretary of the association Mr Paul Mullett said Inspector Carr was a devoted member of the Police Association, with the best interests of all members at heart.
"We are delighted to be able to offer this scholarship in Paul's memory," Mr Mullett said. "It is a fitting way to remember a fine policeman and association executive member."
The head of Monash's Department of Management, Professor Julian Teicher, said the university was pleased to be involved in the Paul Carr Memorial Scholarship and to continue its work with the Police Association.
"Although very sad circumstances have led to the establishment of this scholarship, it provides a great opportunity for an association member to further their personal and professional development," Professor Teicher said.
2 November 2005
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The dean of the Faculty of Education, Professor Sue Willis, has been appointed head of the peak body representing education deans throughout Australia.
The Australian Council of Deans of Education Incorporated represents the deans of faculties of education and heads of schools of education in Australian universities and other higher education institutions.
Professor Willis (pictured) was elected president of the council earlier this month at its annual conference in Canberra.
She said the appointment was a privilege, and an opportunity to present ideas, plans and comment to the media and the public on behalf of Australia's education sector.
2 November 2005
Monash-trained engineers exceed the national average in securing employment in their chosen field, a survey has revealed.
The survey, by the Association of Professional Engineers, Scientists and Managers Australia, found that just over 87 per cent of Monash engineering students who graduated in 2003 and 2004 had found suitable employment -- well above the national average of 82 per cent.
Association chief executive officer Mr John Vines said Monash's reputation helped graduates get jobs.
"The Monash engineering degree is recognised as a good, practical degree," Mr Vines said. "The high employability of Monash-trained engineers reflects the fact that the university's graduates are job-ready."
Dean of Engineering Professor Tam Sridhar said the demand for Monash engineering graduates was welcome recognition of the contribution the university's young engineers could make to national prosperity.
Mr Vines said industry demand for women engineers was growing, with female graduates being generally better paid than their male counterparts.
The survey found annual starting salaries for women engineers ranged from $38,000 to $56,000 compared with $36,697 to $53,000 for men.
"There is a strong level of demand for women engineers in numerous sectors including environmental, chemical and civil engineering," he said.
"It is a very positive sign that should encourage more women to consider engineering as a career choice."
The study showed that environmental engineers had the highest employment rate -- just under 96 per cent -- of all other engineering disciplines including civil/structural and electrical engineering.
2 November 2005
Australia's industrial relations experts came together last week to discuss the Howard Government's planned industrial relations changes, in a seminar organised by Monash and the University of Western Australia.
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| President of the Australian Council of Trade Unions, Ms Sharan Burrow. |
Monash's Faculty of Law and the Australian Centre for Research on Employment and Work in the Faculty of Business and Economics arranged the seminar which was attended by more than 80 industrial relations practitioners, researchers, union representatives and teachers.
The head of Monash's Department of Management, Professor Julian Teicher, said the seminar had been a success.
"Attendees got to hear all angles of the debate," Professor Teicher said.
"The Federal Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations, Mr Kevin Andrews, and the director of Workplace Relations Policy of the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Mr Peter Anderson, argued that the proposed changes to Australia 's industrial relations system were necessary for Australia to compete in the global economy.
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| Director of Workplace Relations Policy of the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Mr Peter Anderson. |
"On the other hand, president of the Australian Council of Trade Unions Ms Sharan Burrow and theologian and senior policy analyst with UnitingCare Dr Ann Wansbrough strongly disputed the fairness of the new system."
Professor Teicher said the proposed industrial relations changes were the most far-reaching since Federation. People should be accorded fair treatment in their working lives, he said.
"By treating the labour market in the same manner as other commodity markets, the government has missed a fundamental point," Professor Teicher said.
"Labour markets are about people; work is not just about profit but about personal development and social interaction.
"The new system threatens to undermine the creation of a productive workforce and competitive environment.
"No one will benefit from hostile workplaces – not the employer, employee or the national economy."
2 November 2005
An exhibition exploring human existence and the processes of disease is currently on show at the Switchback Gallery at Monash's Gippsland campus.
Sickle Cell features the work of Melbourne artist Scott Campbell. His new work is a sculptural installation that includes moulded blood cells, sickled red blood cells and large organic molecules.
On the walls of the gallery, haemoglobin, sickled blood cells and white blood cells cluster as they might under a microscope but are enormous, dwarfing the viewer.
Sickle cell anaemia is a genetically inherited disease predominantly found in the African community.
The 'terrible beauty' of disease processes has been an enduring theme in Campbell's work and is again present in this installation.
Campbell says Sickle Cell has evolved into a mediation of the relationship between science, nature and culture.
"My work refigures conventional modes of decorative art to reveal the disturbing power of amassing and grouping seemingly benign objects into configurations that suggest invasion, colonisation and the horror of infection," he says.
In the exhibition, Campbell connects drawing to the three-dimensional plane. The grouping of objects plays with form and structure and works to engage the viewer with the lustrous, shapely and larger-than-life installation.
Sickle Cell is on display until 10 November. The Switchback Gallery is open weekdays from 9 am to 5 pm.
2 November 2005
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| The Frankston mayor, councillor Rochelle McArthur (left) presented the Primary Teacher of the Year award to Carrum Downs Primary School teacher Ms Rosemary Holden. |
Monash's Peninsula campus hosted an annual Teacher Appreciation evening recently at which a local educator was named Primary Teacher of the Year.
The award was part of an annual Teacher Appreciation night, organised each year by the Frankston Baha'i community, to highlight excellence in teaching in the local area.
Eighty guests including principals, teachers and Monash education staff applauded as several local teachers were presented with certificates of recognition by Professor Phillip Steele, academic director of the Peninsula and Berwick campuses.