23 November 2005
23 November 2005
Monash was a hive of activity last week when Chancellor Mr Jerry Ellis, Vice-Chancellor Professor Richard Larkins, deans, senior management staff and researchers attended to a distinguished international leader.
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| His Highness Sheikh Dr Sultan Bin Mohammed Al-Qassimi with Professor Larkins in the foreground. |
His Highness Sheikh Dr Sultan Bin Mohammed Al-Qassimi, Ruler of Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, and his entourage visited the Clayton and Parkville campuses over two days to strengthen and encourage links between the two countries.
The high-profile visit began on Monday morning with the signing of an agreement between Monash and the University of Sharjah for the introduction of an education program. His Excellency Dr Saeed Mohammed Al-Shamsi, Ambassador of the United Arab Emirates, and members of the Victorian Office of Premier and Cabinet were also present.
Professor Larkins said the visit would ensure collaboration with Sharjah, and the University of Sharjah, would remain active in higher education and research and that cooperation would be ongoing.
Monash's Victorian College of Pharmacy and the Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences have helped establish the Colleges of Medicine and Pharmacy at the University of Sharjah in a highly successful collaborative program.
The University of Sharjah was founded by a decree of his Highness Sheikh Dr Sultan Bin Mohammed Al Qassimi, and it commenced its educational programs in 1997.
Sharjah is the third largest of the seven Emirates and is seen as the most cultural and scientific. The Sultan has received several accolades for his commitment to cultural development.
23 November 2005
Eight Monash university staff have put their feet up for a well-earned rest after racking up more than 27 million steps to be declared the winners of an international walking race.
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| Winning walkers: Mr Peter Lausch, Ms Jill Grogan and Dr Bala Balachandran. |
The team won the 2005 Global Corporate Challenge, which involved 1430 teams in Australia, New Zealand, the UK and the US who virtually 'walked' from Arnhem Land to Antarctica between 26 May and 8 November.
The challenge is in its second year and encourages people to improve their health and wellbeing by competing against other teams in a virtual walking race. Monash entered one team.
Mr Martin Doulton, general manager, Monash Sport, was a member of the university's winning team. "Prior to entering the challenge, most of our members each walked about 18,000 steps a day," Mr Doulton said. "Once the challenge started, we thought we would up the ante and see how much we could do."
Team members were pleasantly surprised to find their individual average was 23,065 steps -- about 15 kilometres -- a day. Over the five-and-a-half months of competition, the team walked more than 27.5 million steps.
"Our team should be proud of its contribution to the massive combined event total of more than 15 billion steps in this year's challenge," Mr Doulton said. "We got to within half a million steps of the actual finish line."
Mr Doulton said the team walked mornings, lunch times and evenings to achieve its goal. He said all members enjoyed improved health and wellbeing as a result of their efforts.
Apart from Mr Doulton, who works across all Monash campuses, the rest of the team were Caulfield campus staff. They were Ms Jill Grogan, Dr Bala Balachandran, Ms Margaret Croxford, Ms Louise Oliaro, Mr Peter Lausch, Ms Rosemary Demirtas and Ms Lorraine Foxall.
23 November 2005
As this will be my last column for this year, a little reflection on the past year is appropriate.
One of the real challenges in higher education at the moment is to concentrate on the main game and not to be distracted unduly by the political shenanigans going on around us. We are here to serve the Australian and, indeed, the international community. We will do this by delivering the highest quality education and research and by engagement with industry, business and our communities.
There are a variety of corollaries, including the need to administer the university well, manage our resources efficiently, provide a good general as well as educational experience for our students, achieve our social justice objectives and provide a pleasant and rewarding work environment for our staff. Although we can and must do better in all these aspects, I think 2005 has been a very good year for Monash University, with substantial progress being made in all areas. I will mention a few highlights that indicate we are well and truly on the right track.
Our performance in research using any of the metrics we have available has shown a dramatic improvement. In particular, our researchers were the leaders in two out of 11 of the ARC Centres of Excellence Awards and significant partners in three others. The ARC Centres of Excellence lie at the very pinnacle of the ARC funding system, so this was a stunning performance.
Our performance in ARC Discovery Grants showed a great improvement with an increase in funding of 30 per cent, and the NHMRC Project Grants and Fellowships showed an increase of about 70 per cent over the awards in 2004. After being awarded only one Federation Fellowship in the first three rounds, we were awarded three out of 24 in the 2005 round and, in addition, an existing Federation Fellow currently based at the University of Melbourne is joining Monash early next year. Everyone involved is to be congratulated.
It is notable that our increased funding was associated with an increased number of applications, and this trend must be continued as we are still submitting substantially fewer applications than our Group of Eight colleague universities of comparable size. Our performance in ARC Linkage Grants must improve.
In learning and teaching, we ranked 14 out of 39 in the measures used to rank universities in the Learning and Teaching Performance Fund. We will find out at the end of the month whether we qualify for funding in the Learning and Teaching Performance Fund, but whatever the outcome we must improve this performance. The introduction of routine student evaluation of every unit will provide the necessary information to provide short-loop feedback and rapid remedial action for those units that, from the students' point of view, are not delivering a satisfactory learning experience.
Many improvements have been instituted in our management and quality control. An annual cycle of planning, budgeting and evaluation of performance against plan has been instituted across all areas of the university, with the Monash Directions 2025 document being accepted as a directional document at the peak of the planning pyramid. Despite the quixotic and discriminatory demands of the Higher Education Workplace Relations Requirements (HEWRR), we will sign an Enterprise Agreement that has been deemed by DEST to be 'HEWRR-compliant' and which has been overwhelmingly supported by the staff vote. A staff satisfaction questionnaire is being administered to all staff, and its results will be used to improve the satisfaction and professional fulfillment of our most valuable resource -- our staff.
Despite a downturn in our international student numbers in first semester, our financial outcomes for the year will be satisfactory and will be slightly better than budget, largely due to an excellent year for returns on investments. The capital development and refurbishment plan is going to schedule, with the Caulfield Stage 1 building due to be completed in December and work due to commence on the next stages of the Monash Science Technology Research and Innovation Precinct in 2006.
Our two international campuses have had an excellent year, with student numbers growing rapidly in South Africa. There are more than 800 students now and applications for 2006 are extremely strong. The construction of the new campus in Malaysia has commenced, and intake into the Malaysian branch of our medical school has also started.
There are many other highlights, but that is enough for now. We are certainly going in the right direction, and I appreciate the enormous effort that all of you have made to achieve this wonderful progress. 2006 will be another challenging year with the AUQA audit and preparations for the Research Quality Framework, but we have demonstrated over the past year that we are capable of jumping through the hoops that are placed in front of us and also making progress in the main games -- education and research.
Have a great break over Christmas and New Year and come back refreshed to continue your great work.
23 November 2005
Mechanical engineer and distinguished academician Professor Walter Wong has been appointed Monash University Malaysia's Deputy Pro Vice-Chancellor.
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Professor Wong (pictured) comes to Monash from the University of Vudal in Papua New Guinea where he was the inaugural vice-chancellor.
He has spent nearly four decades as a practising engineer, researcher and academic working in Australia, the UK, Norway, the US and Papua New Guinea.
Professor Wong said Monash University Malaysia planned to form further partnerships with industry and leading universities and research centres, both nationally and internationally, to conduct collaborative research.
He said a first-rate university requires a commitment to research that addresses the priority agenda of the nation in which it operates and meets the development needs of industry. Sound financial management practice and good governance were also required.
"Good learning and teaching practices reflect the existence of quality management processes which encourage student focus and continuous improvement," Professor Wong said.
"The use of technology in education, including information and communication technologies, to achieve better learning has now become mandatory."
Prior to his appointment to the University of Vudal, Professor Wong was head of the School of Mechanical, Manufacturing and Medical Engineering at Queensland University of Technology (QUT) from 1982 to 1998.
In recognition of his contributions to scholarship and academic leadership, QUT named Professor Wong an emeritus professor in 1998.
In 2004, the University of Vudal conferred him the honorary Doctorate of Science (DSc) for distinguished services to the East New Britain Province of Papua New Guinea.
23 November 2005
A contingent of 11 staff and students from Monash's South Africa campus has arrived in Australia to take part in a 10-day familiarisation tour.
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| Visiting students, from left: Heather Bangwayo, Bobo Dube, Hans Haupt and Mpho Kubayi. |
The group will visit all of the university's Victorian campuses to look at and learn about the services and facilities on offer.
The visit began on Monday with a tour of the Clayton campus, followed by an afternoon meeting with the general manager of Sport, Mr Martin Doulton, where the students signed up for their sport passes. On Tuesday, the group visited the Caulfield campus.
The visit is intended to strengthen staff and student links between Monash's Australian and international campuses. It includes 10 students from the South African student association, whose main focus will be to look at student services.
Vice-Chancellor Professor Richard Larkins said the aim of the visit was for the students to take back ideas to their home university and enable them to contribute to the design of increased student services at Monash South Africa.
Professor Larkins said a new Monash mobility intercampus program, scheduled to start in 2006, would greatly enhance the opportunity for two-way exchange of students and staff between international campuses.
22 November 2005
Monash's Peninsula campus has strengthened its commitment to health research with the appointment of Professor Carol Morse as director, Health and Wellbeing Research.
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Professor Morse (pictured), who took up the position in October, is a health psychologist and psychotherapy practitioner. She previously held a personal chair in women's health at RMIT University and in 1999 was appointed to a personal chair in adult development and ageing at Victoria University, where she was also dean of the Faculty of Human Development.
In her new position, Professor Morse will bring together research groups from across the campus working in health and wellbeing.
The position will target all areas of health sciences as well as information technology, business and economics and early childhood development.
Professor Morse said the position was aimed at raising the activity level in research across the Peninsula campus and focusing on a few key areas seeking to address national and local issues of importance.
"There appears to be considerable energy waiting to be harnessed and utilised across the campus," she said. "People have been engaged in research, but in the past it hasn't been focused on health and wellbeing.
"This is an area of prime focus for the campus, and, rather than having scores of people across the university researching this area independently, I will be helping to build those connections."
As well as bringing together research groups across the campus, the role will help connect the university with the community, including the Frankston City Council, non-government organisations, local hospitals and healthcare providers.
Professor Morse has spent the past five years looking into the experiences of different ageing ethnic groups in Victoria. She has also carried out several studies exploring the transition to parenthood and associated mood disorders in men and women from pregnancy into the first postnatal year.
She is a member of the Australian Psychological Society, the International Menopause Society, the World Association of Women's Mental Health, the Global Ageing Research Network and the Human Research Ethics Committee of the Victorian Department of Human Services. She also serves on the editorial boards of four international peer-reviewed journals.
23 November 2005
The Monash University Library has been presented with a rare engraving of famous 18th century author, poet, political satirist and clergyman Jonathan Swift (1667--1745).
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| Swift presentation: Ms Cathrine Harboe-Ree and Professor Clive Probyn with the rare engraving of Jonathan Swift. |
The engraving was part of the collection put together by Swift scholar and editor Mr David Woolley, who died last month. It was Mr Woolley's wish that the portrait be presented to the library to accompany its collection of Swift's works originally bought from him.
Professor Clive Probyn at Monash's School of English, Communications and Performance Studies presented the engraving to the university librarian, Ms Cathrine Harboe-Ree, at a Friends of the Monash University Library function on 10 November.
Andrew Miller in Dublin engraved the print in 1743 from an oil portrait of Swift painted by Francis Bindon in 1739. The original painting of Swift in his clerical garb hangs in St Patrick's Church in Dublin, where Swift was dean.
Mr Woolley was a world-renowned expert on Swift and edited his correspondence. Over the years he amassed a formidable collection of Swiftiana.
In 1962, the library bought Mr Woolley's first collection of early editions by Swift and his circle. This purchase formed the nucleus of the Monash Rare Books Collection.
The Swift collection has been added to considerably over the years and now includes several manuscript letters written by Jonathan Swift and his contemporaries, as well as a first edition set of Gulliver's Travels published in 1726, accompanied by its even rarer unauthorised sequel, Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World, Volume III, published in 1727.
Monash University Rare Books librarian Mr Richard Overell said he was delighted with the portrait.
"This is a fine engraving and one which will take pride of place in the reading room in the Rare Books section," Mr Overell said.
Mr Woolley was principal oboist at Covent Garden Opera in London for 15 years and also played oboe with the Sydney Symphony, London Philharmonic and Melbourne Symphony orchestras.
He was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Laws by Monash University in 1987.
22 November 2005
Eight staff members from the Monash Institute of Medical Research have received awards for their research in areas including women's health, kidney disease and sleep disorders.
Ms Rachel Chan, a PhD student in the Centre for Women's Health Research, was awarded a $15,000 Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology Schering 75th Anniversary Research Grant for 2006. Ms Chan will use her scholarship to investigate endometrial stem cells using technology she has developed during her PhD.
Ms Jacqui Donoghue, a second-year PhD student from the Centre for Women's Health Research, won the Australian and New Zealand Microcirculation Society Young Investigator Award for her research into uterine lymphatics in endometrial cancer and abnormal uterine bleeding.
Associate Professor Richard Kitching, Dr Michael Hickey and third-year PhD student Mr Michael Kuligowski, from the Centre for Inflammatory Diseases, won the ANZ Society of Nephrology Basic Science Award for their research into the movement of white blood cells through the kidney and the role they may play in abnormal kidney inflammation.
It is the second consecutive year scientists from the Centre for Inflammatory Diseases have won this award.
Mr Kuligowski also received the David Garlick Young Investigator Award for his role in kidney disease research.
Dr Garun Hamilton, a PhD student in the Ritchie Centre for Baby Health Research, won the New Investigator Award at the Australasian Sleep Association Meeting for his discovery that mild infections, causing injury to the heart's blood vessels, could interfere with heart function during sleep apnea.
PhD students Ms Heidi Richardson and Ms Stephanie Yiallourou, also from the Ritchie Centre, received finalists' awards in the New Investigator Award at the Australasian Sleep Association Meeting.
23 November 2005
Emeritus Professor Lance Endersbee AO has launched a new book in which he challenges many accepted scientific beliefs and provides new perspectives about how the Earth works.
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Professor Endersbee (pictured) warns that our planet's deep groundwater -- which sustains half the Earth's population -- is running out because it is not replenished by the trickle-down effect of rainwater, as most experts believe.
The former Monash Engineering dean and pro vice-chancellor also challenges conventional theories about global warming in his book Voyage of Discovery, launched last week at the Clayton campus.
The book questions the assumption that the increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide in the past 100 years has been the main cause of the apparent rise in the earth's surface temperature.
"The major causes of variations in climate are variations in heat flow from the interior of the earth, and variations in solar and cosmic radiation," Professor Endersbee said. "These factors are not included in the present computer models of climate change.
"Carbon dioxide is given undue emphasis because it is one effect that can be included in the computer models of climate. However, increased carbon dioxide is relatively unimportant, compared with the smog caused by particles, chemical pollution and the great increase in water vapour over cities," he said.
"Each city is creating its own pollution and causing its own warming. That means the control of warming should be directed at the source in cities."
Voyage of Discovery is available through the university bookshop.
23 November 2005
Monash students have embraced an internship program that gives them experience in providing legal and humanitarian advice to US prisoners.
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Students from all around the world attend the Reprieve Australia Internship Program program in the south of the US, which provides the advice to prisoners on death row.
To date, 18 Monash students and graduates have been placed as volunteer interns in seven offices in four US states. Four Monash students are currently undergoing internships through the program.
Arts/law student Ms Natasha Stojanovich is one of many Monash students who have participated in the program since its inception in 2001.
Ms Stojanovich (pictured), currently in her fifth year of study, completed her internship two years ago and is now the secretary of Reprieve Australia.
During her internship, Ms Stojanovich was based in a defence office in New Orleans, assisting attorneys and investigators with their cases.
Ms Stojanovich said it was a life-changing experience, although challenging at times.
"The system had given up on these prisoners, so most of them were very grateful we were there to help them," she said.
"Most prisoners spent 23-and-a-half-hours a day locked in a cell, so often we were their only human contact, other than prison guards.
"It was incredible to be able to use my legal skills to make a difference to someone's life."
Much of Ms Stojanovich's time was spent on investigative work, but she also conducted one-on-one interviews with prisoners.
"There were as many volunteers as paid staff at the firm where I was posted, so the extra hands were really needed," she said.
"Many of the prisoners' families were so poor they didn't own a car and couldn't visit their relatives in jail -- so I would sometimes drive them myself."
Participating in the internship has made Ms Stojanovich more intent on a legal career, something she wasn't always certain about.
"I can't recommend this program highly enough to other students," she said. "It's not for everyone -- you have to have a certain level of maturity and be prepared for a lot of hard work and tough times, but it's definitely worth it."
In her role as secretary for Reprieve Australia, Ms Stojanovic helps manage the selection of students, promotes the program to universities and organises events and campaigns.
"I'm strongly opposed to the death penalty, so it's great to be able to continue working on the program and assisting people who desperately need our help," Ms Stojanovich said.
Ms Stojanovich received generous support from the Monash Law Dean's Travel Fund and the Monash Abroad program while completing her internship.
Further information is available at the Reprieve Australia website or email contact@reprieve.org.au.
23 December 2005
Seventy of Australia's leading e-researchers gathered at Monash's Clayton campus earlier this month to discuss their research projects and investigate collaborative opportunities.
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| e-researchers: Professor David Abramson; Ms Anne-Marie Lansdown and Ms Margot Bell from the Department of Education, Science and Training; and incoming e-research director Professor Ah Chung Tsoi. |
The workshop was organised by the Australian Research Council (ARC) and the Department of Education, Science and Training to bring together researchers in the developing field of e-research.
The workshop participants have received e-research funding through either the ARC's e-research support projects or DEST's Managed Environment for Research Repository Infrastructure initiative.
E-research uses high-performance computers (or clusters of these computers), huge databases and massive or multiple scientific instruments, to link research teams and solve previously intractable problems in areas as diverse as aeroplane engine design, climate modelling and drug design through to performing complex queries over multiple social sciences databases.
Professor Ah Chung Tsoi, executive director of Mathematics, Information and Communication Science at the ARC, coordinated the event. Professot Tsoi will join Monash next month as director of the university's $3 million e-research centre.
The workshop's Monash host, Professor David Abramson from the Clayton School of Information Technology, said the event was a great opportunity for e-researchers to become acquainted with each other's research projects and maintain collaborations.
23 November 2005
A Mayoral ball hosted by Darebin City Council has raised $75,000 to further research into multiple sclerosis at Monash.
About 450 people attended the ball, which was held on Saturday night. Money raised was donated to the Diana Asmar MS Research Fund and will be used to further the research of multiple sclerosis researcher Professor Claude Bernard and his team in the Monash Immunology and Stem Cell Laboratories.
Each year, the Darebin Council hosts a fundraising activity to raise money for various projects. This year, Councillor Asmar, who is mayor of the City of Darebin and a MS sufferer, elected to donate the proceeds of the ball to research into potential treatments for MS.
The money will support Professor Bernard's research into the role of stem cells in multiple sclerosis.
Professor Bernard and his team are attempting to isolate immature myelin-forming cells from the brain to examine their ability to repair damage associated with this neurological disease.
They are examining models that mimic the two mains forms of clinical MS, namely a chronic-relapsing disease and an acute form of MS.
Professor Bernard, who joined Monash in August this year, said the ball had helped raise awareness of MS in the community.
Multiple sclerosis affects about 20,000 Australians. It is generally first diagnosed in people aged 20 to 25 and, in severe cases, can cause premature death. There are currently no known cures.
"Functions such as this help us to inform politicians and people in the community that MS is a problem that strikes people who are very young," Professor Bernard said.
"It affects every aspect of a person's life -- their health, relationships with friends and family and careers."
For further information about the fundraising ball, contact the Monash University Medical Foundation on +61 3 9905 0749.
23 November 2005
Issues and challenges facing the global Islamic banking industry dominated last week's International Islamic Banking and Finance Conference organised by Monash University Malaysia.
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| From left: Mr Kamalul Ariffin Yusof, director of Aldwich-Wipro; Professor Bala Shanmugam; and Mr Vaseehar Hassan Abdul Razack, chairman of RHB Islamic Bank Berhad. |
The two-day conference, with the theme 'Islamic finance: the challenges ahead', was opened by Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Dr Ng Yen Yen at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Kuala Lumpur.
Conference chair Professor Bala Shanmugam said prominent speakers and industry leaders discussed regulation and supervision, financial innovation, human capital development, financial architecture, Islamic IT solutions and legal and syariah frameworks.
He said the recent phenomenal growth of Islamic banking underpinned the need for greater innovation and flexibility to facilitate wider acceptance of Islamic products and services.
Professor Shanmugam, the chair of accounting and finance at Monash University Malaysia, said the future of Islamic banking looked promising but that would depend greatly on factors including global standardisation and improved regulation as well as the adoption of best practices in Islamic banking and finance activities.
"This conference is timely as it provides a focused platform for researchers, academics and industry leaders to brainstorm issues affecting Islamic banking," he said.
"A major issue that needs to be looked into urgently is human capital development within the local Islamic banking institutions, as the industry is now facing a shortage of qualified personnel."
Professor Shanmugam said with the entry of foreign Islamic banks in Malaysia, local Islamic banking institutions needed to raise the professional capabilities of their bankers to enable the country to compete globally.
"Liberalisation of the Islamic banking sector to foreign players presents new challenges to the Islamic banking industry, and this is expected to lead to greater competition," he said.
RHB Islamic Bank, the main sponsor of the conference, has been actively involved in the development of Islamic banking since its introduction in Malaysia.
More than 200 participants attended the conference, including Professor Rifaat Ahmed Abdel Karim, the secretary-general of the Islamic Financial Services Board; Mr Peter Casey, director, Supervision, Dubai Financial Services Authority; and A. Rushdi Siddiqui, global director, Dow Jones Islamic Index Group.
23 November 2005
Monash's Peninsula campus has strengthened its commitment to health with the launch last week of its four year Bachelor of Occupational Therapy course.
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| Ms Rebecca Allen (left) and Ms Marilyn Pattison. |
More than 140 people attended the launch, including occupational therapy practitioners, staff from Monash and other universities, professional association members from OT Australia and other community stakeholders.
The course, which will be delivered through the Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, will incorporate more than one thousand hours of fieldwork education, including specialist rural placements.
It will have a strong focus on occupational therapy techniques as well as health promotion and will help develop community links in the field.
Associate Professor Louise Farnworth, who heads the course, said it was the only one specifically serving the educational needs of students from the Mornington Peninsula and Gippsland areas.
"Its location creates opportunities to develop strategic alliances and new partnerships between academic staff and those working in the field that has otherwise not been afforded," Dr Farnworth said.
"The course will also incorporate Inter-Professional Learning as one of its core hallmarks and links will be made with nursing, paramedic studies, physiotherapy and health science/social work programs at Monash Peninsula. Occupational therapy students will also join business students enrolled in the double Psychology/Business degree to learn business skills."
Speaking at the launch Ms Marilyn Pattison, Honorary Secretary to the World Federation of Occupational Therapists, said the new program at Monash offered a great opportunity for students living in Gippsland and Peninsula areas to study occupational therapy and to local clinicians wanting to participate in fieldwork.
"The students undertaking this Monash program are the future of our profession and you hold that future in your hands," she told clinicians at the opening.
"Treat it with all the care and support it deserves."
Ms Pattison also paid tribute to the occupational therapy team at Monash -- Associate Professor Farnworth, Ms Rebecca Allen, Dr. Ted Brown and Ms Pamela Kirke. The team designed the course with input from OT Australia's Victorian branch and representatives from local health service providers.
23 November 2005
The Victorian College of Pharmacy has created a scholarship to help trainee pharmacists develop their management skills.
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Mr Bill Suen, course director of the college's Pharmacy Management Program, said the scholarship meant employers could retain highly motivated staff, and those staff could develop relevant job skills with full financial and professional support.
The scholarship will pay for professional development training at the college or other pharmacy training organisations.
The first recipient is trainee pharmacist Ms Jo Nguyen (pictured), who is employed at a retail pharmacy in Seaford, Victoria.
Under the program, Ms Nguyen will receive full financial support for course fees while she studies next year to obtain her Home Medicine Review accreditation and Wound Care certification.
Mr Suen said the scholarship provided extra opportunities for high achievers to further develop their management skills. "Once her clinical training is completed, Jo will join the Monash Pharmacy MBA program in 2007," he said.
Ms Nguyen said the scholarship would allow her to gain clinical, hands-on experience. "I will be able to apply what I learn in my work in the community," she said.
The scholarship, which is offered to pre-registration trainee pharmacists, was proposed and funded by Melbourne community pharmacist Mr Mark Feldschuh.
23 November 2005
Monash's Arts faculty has presented two postgraduate students with the Faculty of Arts Postgraduate Publication Prize.
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| Dr Adrian Schober. |
This year's winners are Dr Adrian Schober for his book Possessed Child Narratives in Literature and Film published by Palgrave MacMillan, and Mr Simon Burgess for his paper 'The Newcomb Problem: an unqualified resolution', published in US-based philosophy journal Synthese (Volume 29). Each winner received a cheque for $1000.
A panel from the Arts Research Graduate School Committee comprising Monash Asia Institute director Professor Marika Vicziany and Dr Haripriya Rangan, senior lecturer and graduate coordinator, research, in the School of Geography and Environmental Science, selected the winners.
The prize is open to postgraduate students, nominated by their supervisor or school, who were published the previous year in a refereed scholarly journal, an authored book, book chapter or a refereed conference publication.
Dr Schober, who completed his PhD in 2003, said he was delighted with the prize. He was nominated by School of English, Communications and Performance Studies senior lecturer Dr Heather Scutter.
His book, which followed his doctorate thesis surveying narratives from films such as The Exorcist and The Omen, and books such as The Turn of the Screw by Henry James, has enjoyed considerable success in the US. He has recently completed postgraduate work at the University of Melbourne and hopes to pursue a career in academia.
"I loved my time at Monash and am glad my work has received such recognition," Dr Schober said. "Too often a doctoral thesis is forgotten. But none of this would have been possible without Heather Scutter's wonderful supervision."
Mr Burgess, who will complete his PhD on moral and political philosophy early in 2006, was nominated by his supervisor, School of Philosophy and Bioethics senior lecturer Dr Dirk Baltzly.
"Receiving the prize was quite a thrill," Mr Burgess said. "The Newcomb Problem raises some intriguing but very tricky issues in decision theory. I first heard about the problem when I was doing my undergraduate degree at Melbourne University and when I came to Monash to do honours, I wrote my thesis on it."
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| Mr Simon Burgess. |
Arts faculty deputy dean and associate dean (graduate research) Associate Professor Denise Cuthbert said the prize was usually presented to one person, but this year two were awarded because of the outstanding quality of the publications.
"The works by Schober and Burgess were simply exceptional and were judged to have made a truly significant contribution to the respective fields of critical studies of children's literature and philosophy," Associate Professor Cuthbert said.
"In the case of Adrian Schober, it is a significant achievement for a recent candidate to have his thesis snapped up by a publisher as a book.
"With Simon Burgess, the journal his paper was published in is simply one of the top journals internationally in this field. This is a really significant achievement for a junior scholar, and his work was assessed by his referees as groundbreaking."
Associate Professor Cuthbert said the prize was one of a number of initiatives by the Arts Research Graduate School to support and reward student publications. This includes the Graduate Researchers in Print program designed to support higher degree by research candidates to commence and develop scholarly publications.
23 November 2005
Four first-year engineering students have won a Monash University Malaysia prize for their design of a convention centre. The students received the Best Design Award for their entry, completed as part of the Engineering Profession subject.
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| The winning team, front row from left: Ms Chuah Pei Ling, lecturer Dr Teoh Kok Soo and Ms Tan Yee Ming; top row from left: Ms Joanne Lim Mun Yee and Mr Lim Yong Hsin. |
The students, Ms Tan Yee Ming, Ms Chuah Pei Ling, Ms Joanne Lim Mun Yee and Mr Lim Yong Hsin, received book vouchers. They operated under the team name Prime Tech Co.
Engineering Profession lecturer Dr Teoh Kok Soo said all 46 students in the subject had to form groups and design a convention centre. The project gave students the opportunity to explore the possibilities of engineering.
"This subject has been developed to provide new engineering students with an overall picture of the engineering profession and an understanding of the environment in which engineers work and interact with the community," he said.
"It uses problem-based learning to give an introduction to engineering that includes issues such as sustainable development and ecology, economics, product life cycle design, quality control and professional ethics."
The Prime Tech Co. students said they had not expected to win and that the experience gained from working on the design project was a prize in itself.
Mr Lim Yong Hsin said the project had taught him construction planning from start to finish. "It is more than drawing plans and starting the construction," he said. "Other factors such as safety and economic assessment are also important areas that should not be taken lightly."
Ms Tan Yee Ming enjoyed the hands-on approach to the subject. "I felt it was a more effective way of absorbing and learning than memorising facts," she said. "I also enjoyed the class field trip to Sunway Convention Center as a guide before we embarked on our project. I was enlightened on the processes of planning a project from both the client's and tenderer's point of view. This created awareness on how projects are carried out in the working world."
Another team member, Ms Chuah Pei Ling, said the project had taught her teamwork, trust, time management, communication and presentation skills.
"Our lecturer, Dr Teoh Kok Soo, delivers his lecture sessions excellently, and he has taught us to experience engineering differently," she said. "He taught us the ethics of being an engineer and other aspects that would prepare us to become responsible future engineers."
Monash University Malaysia Pro Vice-Chancellor Professor Merilyn Liddell said activities such as the convention centre project were important in developing appropriate graduate attributes, with students developing broad-based skills suitable for use in industry after graduation.
"We are very pleased that our students are well regarded by industry, and we have an excellent employment rate," Professor Liddell said. "Eighty per cent of our graduates are employed within two months of graduation."