21 March 2007
21 March 2007
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| Professor Christina Mitchell and Governor of Victoria Professor David de Kretser. |
Monash University recently welcomed the Governor of Victoria, Professor David de Kretser AC, to the School of Biomedical Sciences during a one-day visit.
Professor de Kretser, who was the foundation director of the Monash Institute of Medical Research (MIMR) and has been at the forefront of reproductive medicine for the past 40 years, was invited to the University on 2 March to hear a presentation about the School.
Head of the School, Professor Christina Mitchell, invited Professor de Kretser to discuss how to position and promote biomedical sciences to improve its profile both locally and nationally.
STRIP 2/3, currently being constructed on the Clayton campus, will house some of the School's research activities. Of the School's 400 research staff and 285 Higher Degree Research students, 540 staff and students will be accommodated in the buildings.
Research and teaching facilities not relocating to the buildings will be consolidated and upgraded within existing buildings.
In 2009, many of the School's research strengths will be brought together in a cohesive structure in STRIP 2 and 3 buildings, including: cancer research; fetal and baby health; infectious diseases; neurosciences; pharmacology/drug design; regenerative medicine; stem-cell research; structural biology/bioinformatics and vascular health.
"Our major research activities will be brought together into two main buildings and with the latest technology and facilities, this will encourage collaborations and strengthen research," Professor Mitchell said.
"The Governor offered advice and suggestions about possible ways of moving forward to integrate the School's research capabilities and promote collaboration. The meeting gave senior academic staff the opportunity to discuss the vision for the new STRIP 2/3 precinct."
21 March 2007
For the sixth year in a row, Monash University has been declared one of Australia's most female-friendly employers.
The University received the 2007 Employer of Choice for Women citation from the Federal Government's Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Agency (EOWA). Monash is among a select few organisations to have received a citation every year since the Employer of Choice ranking was introduced in 2001.
Monash Vice-Chancellor, Professor Richard Larkins said it was pleasing that the University has been included on the Employer of Choice for Women list for the past six years.
"Monash recognises the link between achieving its aims and being a preferred choice of destination for excellent female staff," Professor Larkins said.
"We are committed to attracting, retaining, and developing outstanding women into academic and general staff positions and this puts Monash at the forefront of Australian higher education for both employment and educational opportunities. We continually work to identify and address the traditional disadvantages faced by women in the workplace in order to maximise the opportunities for our female staff," Professor Larkins said.
Ms Barbara Dalton, Coordinator of the Women's Leadership and Advancement Scheme at Monash said, "The University's generous maternity leave provisions and the positive initiatives in place to create an inclusive workplace environment contributed to its success in consistently achieving the Employer of Choice for Women citation."
EOWA director, Ms Anna McPhee, said employers who received citations understood and addressed the barriers to women's full participation.
"Workplace flexibility is emerging as the key issue for organisations with many now offering extended career breaks, more opportunities to work part-time and increased provision of Blackberries and other devices to work remotely," Ms McPhee said.
Other winners for 2007 included NAB, American Express, Mallesons Stephen Jaques, Rio Tinto and EMI Music.
21 March 2007
The University's leading PhD students were honoured this week with presentations of the Mollie Holman Doctoral Medals. The medals have been awarded annually for the best doctoral thesis in each faculty since 1998, in honour of Professor Mollie Holman, a distinguished research scholar and vigorous champion of postgraduate research education.
Professor Max King, Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research and Research Training) and Director of the Monash Research Graduate School, said the calibre of nominations for 2006 was again exceptional.
"I congratulate each of the recipients on their fine achievement," Professor King said.
The awardees for 2006 are:
Dr Wendy Watson - Monash University Accident Research Centre
Thesis title: Of life and limb: measuring the burden of non-fatal injury.
Dr Adrian Paul Martin - Faculty of Art and Design
Towards a synthetic analysis of film style.
Dr Liam Michael Brady - Faculty of Arts
Painting patterns: Torres Strait region rock-art, NE Australia.
Dr Brian James Wattchow - Faculty of Education
The experience of river places in outdoor education: a phenomenological study.
Mr David Brian Menzies - Faculty of Engineering
Modification of nanostructured working electrodes for dye-sensitised solar cells.
Dr Gillian Christina Oliver - Faculty of Information Technology
Information in organisations: a comparative study of information cultures.
Dr Patrick Emerton - Faculty of Law
Moral relativism and political legitimacy: an argument for a global social contract.
Dr Rachelle Buchbinder - Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences
Short and long-term effects of a public health media campaign designed to reduce disability associated with back pain.
Dr Natalie Leanne Trevaskis - Faculty of Pharmacy
An examination of biological factors which influence intestinal lymphatic drug transport in the rat.
Dr Jomana Elaridi - Faculty of Science
Metal-catalysed routes to peptidomimetics.
Additionally, Vice-Chancellor's commendations for doctoral thesis excellence were awarded to:
Mr Pieter Andrew Van Dijk - Faculty of Business and Economics
Dr Timothy Francis Scott - Faculty of Engineering
Dr Amee Elizabeth Morgans - Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences
The first recipients of the Vice-Chancellor's commendation for masters thesis excellence awards were also announced recently. The four 2006 awardees were:
Ms Phillipa Haydon - Faculty of Art and Design
Mr Ole Andreas Koksvik - Faculty of Arts
Mr James Wesley Lake - Faculty of Business and Economics
Ms Sarah Jane Pavy - Faculty of Education
Each faculty, and the Accident Research Centre, is invited to submit one nomination for each of the doctoral and research masters awards. Examiner reports, publications arising from the thesis and a case made by the supervisor, head of department and dean are reviewed by a central selection committee of the Research Graduate School Committee.
21 March 2007
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| Caulfield Campus celebrates International Women’s Day. Left to right: Michelle Kiosoglous (Women's Officer, MONSU Caulfield), Suzanne Wolf, (Manager & Head of Counselling, Health, Wellbeing and Development, Caulfield campus), Chief Commissioner Christine Nixon, Professor Gill Palmer, (Dean, Faculty of Business and Economics), Helen Dunne, (Caulfield Campus Manager). |
Feminist writer Margaret Atwood once said, "We still think of a powerful man as a born leader and a powerful woman as an anomaly".
In 2007, this statement may still ring true for some, but for two of Victoria's leading women, the notion that successful women are considered "different" is fast becoming old-fashioned.
Victoria's top cop, Chief Commissioner Christine Nixon and member of the Islamic Council of Victoria, Ms Sherene Hassan were the guest speakers at Monash University's International Women's Day events held at the Caulfield and Clayton campuses.
Commissioner Nixon's presentation to an attendee list of approximately 270, in the Committee Room at the Caulfield Racecourse, was an inspirational account of her rise to the top of her career and the challenges she faced along the way.
Chief Commissioner Nixon spoke openly of lessons she'd learnt over her 35 years in policing. These included respecting others, their background and their views; the need to develop by learning and continuing an education; being unafraid to put yourself forward; and having a belief that anything is possible. She asked the audience, `what stops you doing and being what you want to be?'
Questions were thoughtfully answered and Chief Commissioner Nixon was presented with a beautiful brooch designed and created by staff member Marian Hosking, Studio Coordinator of Metals and Jewellery in the Faculty of Art and Design.
For Ms Hassan, the imbalance throughout her career and life has not been a gender issue, but a religious and cultural one.
In her presentation to more than 180 guests at the International Women's Day event at Clayton's Monash Club, Ms Hassan spoke of the difficulties she experienced while growing up in an Australian society where Muslims were considered different.
"I had my family and some good friends to support me through those teenage years as a Muslim girl trying to assimilate," Ms Hassan said.
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| Sherene Hassan, of the Islamic Council of Victoria was guest speaker for the International Women's Day lunch at Clayton campus. |
"I tried, on many occasions, to hide the fact that I was different to my peers. But it wasn't until I was a little older when a friend said to me; 'Sherene you are so busy trying to be like everyone else, you should just try to be yourself' - and that was a defining moment in my life."
Ms Hassan said there are many changes needed to improve the relationship between religions and cultures in Australia but she remains optimistic. "Maybe, just maybe, we can make a difference together," she said.
And maybe, just maybe the huge differences already being made by Ms Sherene Hassan and Chief Commissioner Christine Nixon will re-shape not only our history books, but our society so that people who are seen as an 'anomaly' are embraced for their differences.
International Women's Day (IWD) is celebrated around the globe each year on March 8 and is a celebration of the achievements of women.
Historically, the day was created as part of the suffragette movement, working to gain the vote for women, better working conditions and in recognition of their achievements.
7 March 2007
In this month's column, I wish to report on two events taking place during February which were particularly significant for Monash University. The first was the Senior Management Summit and the second was the fourth graduation of students from our South African Campus and the associated opening of the new Campus Centre and Learning Commons at the Campus.
The Senior Management Summit was the fourth one held since I became Vice-Chancellor in 2003. It was also the most positive and encouraging. The major theme was how we should respond to the new funding environment. This would hardly seem to be the sort of theme to encourage enthusiasm. But we also looked back on progress made over the last three and a half years and were able to recognise that despite the tendency to be despondent about the current environment, the University has fared very well. We can justly say that we are making good progress towards achieving the objectives and vision described in our intermediate strategic framework, "Excellence and Diversity" and in the longer-term directional statement, "Monash Directions 2025". Our progress in research has been stunning, as reflected by a variety of metrics, and there are indications that our performance in learning and teaching is also improving, as reflected by student evaluations. In addition, more of the top 5 per cent of year 12 students are choosing Monash University as their first preference. Our campuses in Australia are developing their separate identities and each is contributing in a unique way to the progress of the University. Our total revenue is increasing markedly, infrastructure is being renewed and financial performance is sound.
The new funding environment is one in which the fall in public investment in our universities which had characterised the 15 years until 2004 has flattened out and indeed there has been some small increase. However, more and more of the government funding is specifically linked to small and large competitive funds of one sort or another. A list of acronyms, which can, for the curious, be decoded on the internet, will confuse even the most ardent of followers of pronouncements from DEST and the Minister's office -- LTPF, RQF, NCRIS, CDP, WPP, CASRF, VSUTF to give some examples. Each requires a separate submission and some determine the allocation of many millions of dollars. The RQF will determine research infrastructure and research training funding for six years from 2009. In addition, particularly in election years, funds for "strategic" purposes are allocated when compelling cases can be made for them. Succeeding in this environment requires not only impeccable underlying credentials but also the best possible presentation of our case. The attendees at the Summit left with a better understanding of the public funding environment and how to succeed in this environment while at the same time maintaining our focus on performing the best and most relevant research, delivering excellent learning and teaching programs and enhancing the student experience.
The second event I would like to report on is the fourth graduation of students at our South African Campus and the opening of the newly completed Campus Centre and Learning Commons building at the Campus. The Graduation was a far cry from the first one in late 2003. One hundred and nineteen students graduated on this occasion compared with twenty-one at the first graduation. The palpable excitement of the graduands and their families and their expressed gratitude for the opportunities presented by their Monash education were gratifying for the staff who are so committed to the transformational effect of high quality education in Africa. The student population reflected the demographics of Southern Africa and many of the students were supported by bursaries from governments, the corporate sector or Monash University. It is indeed pleasing to see the rapid increase in demand for a place at Monash South Africa, with over 1600 students expected this year. The financial performance of the Campus is also sound, with the deficit falling rapidly and for the last two years falling far below the budgeted deficit. Importantly, the new Campus Centre and Learning Commons building was opened by the Deputy Minister for Education. This was the first time that a representative of government had officiated at an event on Campus and in his speech, the Deputy Minister made clear his support for Monash in South Africa. This is a significant change and reflects the attitude of the Minister and the Council for Higher Education and the South African universities who are now positive about the benefits that Monash can bring to higher education and research in South Africa.
Monash University is an exciting place to be. As a relative newcomer, I can see the benefits that have come from the innovative, ambitious global vision of the University.
21 March 2007
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| Kathryn James will travel to Kyoto later this year after winning a prestigious travel scholarship. |
Monash University Law School lecturer Ms Kathryn James has been announced as the winner of the inaugural IFA Graham Hill Travelling Prize.
The prize is awarded to a postgraduate researcher in the field of taxation and was announced at a recent meeting of the Australian Tax Teachers Association in Brisbane.
The prize will enable Ms James to travel to the 2007 International Fiscal Association Congress in Kyoto, Japan, in September.
She will participate, with a number of other postgraduate researchers, in taxation law in a thesis poster program and in the other scientific and social activities at the Congress.
"It was a great honour to receive the award and I look forward to participating at the IFA congress in Kyoto," Ms James said.
Ms James' PhD thesis, titled "The Politics of Tax Reform: A Comparative Analysis of the Worldwide Trend Towards Adopting Consumption Taxes", analysed the ways in which politics influences law reform outcomes through providing an historical and comparative account of the prolonged and controversial attempts to introduce a consumption tax in Australia and Japan.
The prize was established by the International Fiscal Association to honour the contribution of the late Justice Graham Hill, a former Federal Court Judge, to jurisprudence.
Justice Hill made major contributions to taxation jurisprudence and the teaching of taxation subjects, and was a strong supporter of the International Fiscal Association and patron of the 2003 Congress which was held in Sydney.
21 March 2007
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| Mr Max Coulthard (bottom left), from the Faculty of Business and Economics at Monash Peninsula campus, with some of the students from New Caledonia who are visiting Australia. |
Twenty-two students from the Ecoles de Gestion et de Commerce in New Caledonia are being hosted by the Faculty of Business and Economics at the University's Peninsula campus.
The group of third-year business students are visiting Melbourne for 10 weeks between January and March to learn more about studying and working in Australia.
Mr Max Coulthard, a lecturer in the Department of Management, one of the program coordinators, said the students appreciated the opportunity to learn about life in Australia.
"Four weeks of their visit was spent in work experience with external companies - so the students were also able to see what employment in Australia was like.
"The group is now spending four weeks attending lectures and tutorials in the Business and Economics faculty at the Peninsula campus.
"A lot of the material covered will be similar to what they were studying in New Caledonia, but classes such as those that cover Australian industrial relations will allow them to compare our system with their own national setting."
Mr Coulthard said the students will enjoy experiencing social life on campus, by participating in extra-curricula activities and getting involved in student projects.
"This is the third time Monash has hosted a group of students from the Ecoles de Gestion et de Commerce in New Caledonia, and we hope to continue to build relations with our Pacific neighbour," he said.21 March 2007
The Monash Institute of Medical Research received a welcome boost with the announcement of $6.4 million in Federal Government funding for acollaborative research project into male fertility issues.
Institute scientists Professor Michael Holland, Associate Professor Moira O'Bryan, Dr Kate Loveland and Professor David Jans from Monash University's Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology are chief investigators for the Australian Research Council's Centre of Excellence in Biotechnology and Development.
Working with researchers from the University of Newcastle, the University of Melbourne and the University of Queensland, the group conducts basicresearch to identify the genes and fundamental mechanisms that control how sperm are made.
This information will ultimately provide new approaches for fertility regulation and aid in the diagnosis and treatment of men with reproductive disorders including testicular cancer.
Specific projects within the Centre include:
Dr Loveland said the announcement also means the group has had a three-year extension on the project.
"Since our Centre for Excellence was established in 2003, we have gained insights into how sperm form and how disruptions to this process may cause infertility and testicular cancer," Dr Loveland said.
"This extension to our research represents the high level of support fromthe Federal Government for our innovative, collaborative approach to basic research."
21 March 2007
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| Belinda Giblin stars as Sheila, and Maggie Kirkpatrick as Bridie, in the Christine Dunstan Production of The Shoe-Horn Sonata at the Alexander Theatre on 27 and 28 March, 2007. |
Renowned Australian actresses Belinda Giblin and Maggie Kirkpatrick will be just some of the stars on stage when the Alexander Theatre presents Christine Dunstan Productions' -- The Shoe-Horn Sonata by John Misto.
The Shoe-Horn Sonata is a fascinating look at the history of female WWII POW's in Singapore.
In 1942, 65 Australian Army nurses were trapped in Singapore when the Japanese invaded. They were the first Australian women to serve in battle - and the first to die. The Shoe-Horn Sonata is a powerful and compelling play about those women, their triumph, friendship and survival. More particularly, it's a play about the enduring friendship of two of them, Sheila and Bridie. A shoe-horn and the threads of loyalty and love form their "uncommon bond".
The play is set in 1995 where Sheila and Bridie are reunited for the first time, 50 years after the end of the War, for the filming of a television documentary.
On one level, The Shoe-Horn Sonata is about their incarceration by the Japanese in a prisoner of war camp following the fall of Singapore, and the brutality and hardship they experienced during those dreadful five years. However, as the play develops, we discover more about Sheila and Bridie and we realise that this reunion is essential if their emotional wounds are to be healed.
Woven into their half century of separation are a shoe-horn, a terrible secret and incredible loyalty and love which form their unlikely friendship. The Shoe-Horn Sonata is a wonderfully funny and deeply touching play.
The Shoe-Horn Sonata is penned by award winning Australian playwright John Misto, who is also renowned for his work as a writer for television, having been responsible for popular films and mini-series such as Heroes Mountain: The Rescue Of Stuart Diver, and The Day Of The Roses, the story of the Granville train disaster.
The play was named winner of the 1995 National Play Competition and, winner of the 1996 Play Award, NSW Premier's Literary Awards.
The production will run on 27 and 28 March at 8pm, Alexander Theatre (building 7) Clayton campus.
For further information contact the Alexander Theatre box office on 9905 1111 or boxoffice@adm.monash.edu.au
"A wonderfully terrible, inspiring, life-affirming and often very funny tale ... the performers are superb...together they reaffirm faith in humanity"
The Bulletin
"An absorbing, amusing and inspiring evening ... Maggie Kirkpatrick is magnificent....Belinda Giblin is hilariously prissy"
Sunday Telegraph
"Misto interweaves his potent factual research with a compelling fictional drama that rises almost to the level of a love story"
Sydney Morning Herald
"A wonderfully terrible, inspiring, life-affirming and often very funny tale ... the performers are superb ... together they reaffirm faith in humanity"
The Bulletin
"I do not have the power to build a memorial, so I wrote a play instead"
John Misto
21 March 2007
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| Natalie Hannan has been selected to take part in ground-breaking research into female fertility. |
Breakthrough research into human embryo implantation has earned young Monash scientist Natalie Hannan a coveted place in the prestigious Frontiers in Reproduction (FIR) course in the USA.
The PhD student at Prince Henry's Institute has been selected as one of only 20 researchers from around the world to take part in the intense reproductive biology program for her studies into female fertility.
Ms Hannan's recent discovery that the protein fractalkine plays an important role in attracting human embryos to the womb gained her entry into the six week course, to be held at the world leading Marine Biological Laboratory in Massachusetts in June.
Approximately one in eight Australian couples will experience infertility. A large part of this may be due to faulty coordination and guidance of the embryo to the mother's womb. Ms Hannan found that fractalkine, which attracts white blood cells to areas of inflammation, is also produced by the uterus.
"To ensure a healthy pregnancy, the lining of the uterus must produce factors that attract the embryo to implant and begin to grow. Fractalkine may help the placenta to form and tap into the mother's blood supply, by guiding the cells from which it develops to their right destination," she said.
Ms Hannan said the problem for many infertile couples was the failure of the embryo to become properly embedded in the mother's womb.
"A large part of this may be due to faulty communication between the mother and the baby, involving compounds such as fractalkine. This exciting finding may improve IVF success rates by providing new targets for infertility treatment. It also aids our understanding of what makes a healthy pregnancy, which is ultimately a successful start to life," she said.
Ms Hannan said she was excited at the prospect of working with the world's best reproductive biologists to bring new cutting edge techniques back to Australia.
"This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to learn from the pioneers of reproductive research. Students aren't usually selected to participate in the course, so I am extremely lucky.
"This experience will hopefully put me on the map and set the foundations for long term career partnerships with international laboratories," she said.
21 March 2007
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| Jane Burton, I did it for you no. 2 2005, Type c photograph. Courtesy of the artist and Karen Woodbury Gallery, Melbourne. |
The Last Thing I Remember ... an exhibition curated for Switchback Gallery, at Monash University's Gippsland campus in September 2006, is currently pulling in crowds at Sydney University.
Featuring the work of three Melbourne-based artists: Jane Burton, Lily Hibberd and Brie Trenerry, the exhibition focuses on narratives played out in the domestic sphere in a diverse range of mediums including photography, film and paintings.
Monash University Museum of Art Assistant Curator, Exhibitions, Dr Kyla McFarlane, said the works depicted subjects who were, "trapped in familiar environments, the air about them heavy with the weight of expectation and anxiety."
"The artists render a sequence of oblique and unsettling psychodramas, employing theatrical and filmic modes of storytelling to suggest moments of tension and intrigue – illicit night encounters, domestic entanglements and menacing bedroom scenarios," Dr McFarlane said.
The protagonists of Ms Hibberd's paintings I want to break free 2006, are held in the clutches of a series ofdomestic dramas. Entangled in the garden hose or stranded at the security screen door, they struggle to maintain their dignity against the forces of the banal, and dread of their daily routine.
Jane Burton's I Did it For You 2005 is a drama set in Melbourne's outer-suburban fringe. Burton's series of black and white photographs present a cinematic sequence that evokes the work of Hitchcock, Lynch and film noir.
Ms Trenerry's projection Sleep Paralysis hovers between reality and dream, and suggests an unspecified psycho-sexual event. This sinister scene unfolds in a bedroom, accompanied by a quietly throbbing, ominous soundtrack.
"Like Burton and Hibberd, Trenerry explores what it might mean to give ourselves over to the shadowy, claustrophobic realm of the interior," Dr McFarlane said.
The Last Thing I Remember ... opened on 9 March and will run until 20 April at the University Art Gallery, University of Sydney. Hours: 10am -- 4.30pm, Monday to Friday, and 12pm -- 4pm, first Sunday of each month.
21 March 2007
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| Michael Leach from the Faculty of Engineering. |
Name: Michael Leach
Department: Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering
Job Title: Manager, Geomechanics Lab
When did you join the Monash University team?
October 1989
In your job just prior to Monash where were you working and what were you doing?
I was working for CSIRO in underground mining research, and had been part of a joint research project with the Monash Civil Eng Dept. This had involved working on an experimental rig at Monash, Clayton. When my position at CSIRO was made redundant, I was offered the position at Monash. The job offer was conveyed to me via a phone call to my sister, while I was relaxing in the Greek Islands. I said that I wasn't sure when I'd be back -- the reply was that the job would be waiting for me.
Describe your role as Manager of the Geomechanics Lab and how did your career develop?
When I started at Monash I was supervising three labs, assisting two postgrads with their research work, and setting up equipment for undergrad lab classes. Over time I gradually took a more active role in the lab classes, refining them and developing multimedia aids. The area of Geomechanics has blossomed, leading to seven labs, about 16 postgrads, expansion into environmental research, and specialist consulting work for industry. I also assumed the position of departmental Safety Officer about six years ago, and this role has grown significantly.
What has been a highlight of your career?
Winning a General Staff Award last year. Just being nominated was a pleasant surprise, and very rewarding to realise that my work was being noticed and appreciated. I couldn't attend the award ceremony because my son Nathan had been born just three days earlier, making last year incredibly special.
Are there any environmental issues you see as needing urgent attention?
Melbourne's transport system needs a complete overhaul, and a focus away from cars to improving public transport. Instead of spending billions on new freeways, serious consideration should be given to making public transport free, to reduce traffic congestion. I'd also like to see a tax on large four wheel drive vehicles -- they are environmentally unfriendly in every respect.
When you are not reading engineering/environmental related material, what do you enjoy reading?
I've always enjoyed good science fiction, but historical novels also fascinate me. A recent favourite was "Warriors of God", about the main combatants in the Third Crusade, which has particular relevance to the Middle East today.
Of all the places in the world to visit (or re-visit) where would be your favourite destination and why?
The Greek Islands will always be a special favourite -- I've been there three times. In 1989 just prior to starting at Monash, I spent 3 ½ blissful months island hopping with no timetable. The incredible weather, picturesque villages and relaxed, friendly atmosphere made it very memorable, and very difficult to adjust to returning to the workforce.
What is something about yourself that most colleagues would not know?
That I'm half Greek, from my mother's side, and very proud of it. My grandmother was born on Ithaca, an island in the Ionian sea, and the birthplace of Ulysees.