8 October 2008
8 October 2008
|
| Executive Director of Oxfam Australia Andrew Hewett and Monash Vice-Chancellor Professor Richard Larkins sign the memorandum of understanding as the partnership’s initial student beneficiaries Neda Monshat and Jessica Malin watch on. |
|
| Jessica Malin and Neda Monshat are the first student beneficiaries of the new Monash/Oxfam partnership. |
Monash is celebrating education this week with a showcase of opportunities for current and future students, the launch of the new education blueprint, the Monash Passport, and the signing of a historic agreement between the University and Oxfam Australia.
Today's Education Expo is a program highlight, enabling students to find out more about the opportunities available throughout Monash.
The Expo, from 3-8 pm in Building H at the Caulfield campus, will allow both undergraduate and postgraduate students to find out more about the Monash Passport, have one-on-one discussions with Monash advisers, speak to faculty staff about course options, and apply for postgraduate study in 2009.
Yesterday Mrs Jan de Kretser, wife of Victorian Governor Professor David de Kretser AC, officially launched a new partnership between Monash and Oxfam Australia, designed to build curriculum, internship and voluntary placement links with the international development agency.
The Vice-Chancellor Professor Richard Larkins AO and Executive Director of Oxfam Australia Mr Andrew Hewett announced the partnership's initial student beneficiaries, Neda Monshat and Jessica Malin.
The two law students, studying with the Castan Centre for Human Rights, will travel to South Africa early in 2009 to undertake internships with Oxfam and their partner organisations working on human rights and HIV/AIDS issues.
Professor Larkins said the Oxfam partnership would provide a rich learning experience for students in a world where traditional boundaries were becoming less relevant.
"This program reaches beyond the confines of the classroom, encouraging students to become global citizens and providing them with a unique opportunity to learn about the challenges facing their own and other communities," Professor Larkins said.
The launch also included a keynote address by Ms Sue Robson, Head of the School of Education, Communication and Language Sciences at Newcastle University in the United Kingdom on 'Making the international local and regional.'
More than 200 people also watched a lively and freewheeling discussion at the Great Alumni and Friends Debate last night.
The debate 'Is it a good thing that I have forgotten more than I have learned?' featured alumna and commentator Dr Sally Cockburn (Dr Feelgood), arts/law student Amit Golder and recent Monash law graduate Jacob Clifton on the affirmative team and alumna and actor Jane Clifton, Professor Peter Sullivan from the Faculty of Education and current student Claire Lindsey for the negative.
MC and moderator Professor Adam Shoemaker, assisted by timekeeper Helen Fletcher-Kennedy, was a creative but fair adjudicator declaring the debate a tie.
The Educate08 program included the awarding of the Vice-Chancellor's Awards for Teaching Excellence and a workshop on strategic Indigenous cultural awareness.
Educate08 runs until Friday 10 October. For up-coming events, including the next 50th Anniversary public lecture on Thursday night, see the Educate08 website.
For more information on the Monash Passport visit the website.
8 October 2008
 |
| Professor Mark Peel |
 |
| Ms Gerrie Roberts |
 |
| Dr Toby Handfield |
Monash has recognised the exemplary teaching of its staff with the awarding of the Vice-Chancellor's Awards for Teaching Excellence.
The awards were presented on Monday 6 October as part of the Vice-Chancellor's Showcase of Teaching Excellence, an annual event to share innovative teaching strategies and approaches.
Nominees are assessed on a range of criteria including their ability to influence, motivate and inspire students to learn, their development of curricula, approaches to assessment, support for students, and their ability to influence and enhance learning and teaching.
Three individual Monash teachers were recognised this year with one team also receiving a special commendation.
Professor Mark Peel received an award for his contribution to student learning and experience within the School of Historical Studies, the Faculty of Arts, and across the broader university community. Professor Peel helps students develop their own voices through imaginative problem-solving tasks that engage students and encourage participation in tutorials.
Dr Toby Handfield from the Faculty of Arts received an award for his initiatives in peer instruction and assessment which have maximised student engagement in the teaching of philosophy. Dr Handfield's teaching approaches have created an atmosphere of enthusiasm, which has been recognised by his students through consistently impressive student evaluations.
Ms Gerrie Roberts from the Faculty of Business and Economics received her award for innovative practice in the teaching of statistics. With her strong industry experience, Ms Roberts draws on interactions within the learning environment between the students and the teacher, engaging her students in valuable collaborative learning and feedback experiences.
Ms Angela Carbone from the Caulfield School of Information Technology and her team Mr Matthew Butler, Dr Alan Dorin, Mr Shane Moore, Ms Mylini Munusamy and Ms Sheelagh Walton received a commendation for their redevelopment of a core first-year programming unit across the University's six campuses. Their work has produced a thriving teaching environment with positive feedback from all students.
The Vice-Chancellor's Showcase of Teaching Excellence, which this year formed part of Educate 08 celebrations, included a keynote address from international guest Professor Susan McCahan, Chair of first year Applied Science and Engineering at the University of Toronto, Canada.
Professor McCahan, who teaches first year classes of 1000 students and is recognised nationally for her exemplary teaching, spoke on the challenge of engaging first year students.
8 October 2008
 |
| TeamMONASH™ celebrates. |
Monash has won the 2008 Australian University Games.
After a week of intense competition, TeamMONASH™took top spot by 13 points over the University of Melbourne. The University of Sydney took out overall third place.
The Australian University Games, held in Melbourne this year for the first time in 10 years, are Australia's largest annual multi-sport event.
This year saw 7000 participants converge on 31 Melbourne sporting venues during the five days of competition. Representing 42 universities across 28 sports, the 2008 AUG included a diverse group of athletes ranging from beginners to elite Olympians.
The games also had a real international feel with competitors representing Monash from South Africa and Malaysia campuses. A team from Papua New Guinea University of Technology competed for the first time.
Monash was Principal Partner University for the games.
Director of Monash Sport Martin Doulton said: "We celebrate our success in the context of the devastating death of 19-year-old Griffith University student Dean Hofstee as he was returning to his Melbourne hotel,"
"Our thoughts go out to Dean's family, friends, and team mates as they come to terms with this terrible tragedy."
Monash hosted six sports -- badminton, squash, hockey, touch football, Australian Rules football and handball. All Monash sporting venues were carbon neutral, waste wise, water smart and resource efficient for the duration of the games to empower participants to take positive environmental actions in their own lives.
"The more than 80 volunteers in areas such as customer service, media, logistics, IT, and sports medicine must be commended for supporting our athletes and ensuring the games ran smoothly," Mr Doulton said.
2009 will see the Australian University Games held on Queensland's Gold Coast.
For full results visit the Australian University Games website.
8 October 2008
 |
| Monash scientists have pioneered a new treatment using a unique population of adult stem cells. |
Melbourne will host the world's first clinical trials of a new medical treatment that could give hope to millions of people suffering spinal neck pain and injuries.
Monash University scientists Professor Graham Jenkin and neurosurgical registrar Dr Tony Goldschlager, together with Melbourne-based biotechnology company Mesoblast Limited, have pioneered a new treatment using a unique population of adult stem cells.
The treatment has significantly increased the success rate and shortened recovery times of neck spinal fusion surgery in preclinical trials.
Marking last month's Monash University's Stem Cell Awareness Day Victorian Innovation Minister Gavin Jennings said that human clinical trials led by the Monash team using Mesoblast's patented stem cells would commence in Melbourne soon.
Surgical fusion of the neck region of the spine accounts for up to 40 per cent of all spinal fusion procedures and there is a growing demand for the surgery, with annual procedures expected to reach half a million in the United States alone within the next two years.
"This exciting development proves Victoria and Monash University are established centres of excellence in stem-cell research and their medical application," Mr Jennings said.
"Victoria is leading the way with ideas that have the potential to revolutionise treatment and improve the lives of thousands of people not only across Australia, but the world."
Under a sponsored research agreement between Monash University and Mesoblast, the proprietary stem cells were placed into a cage-like structure and surgically implanted between vertebrae in place of damaged discs to fuse or connect the two vertebrae together.
"If results so far are anything to go by, recovery times could be increased four-fold. It currently takes up to a year for a spinal fusion in humans to take full strength. We could potentially cut that to three months using stem cells, our new technique, and the body's own repair mechanisms," Professor Jenkin said.
Dr Goldschlager said the process to commence clinical trials with Mesoblast in Melbourne was already underway.
"Clinical trials are the next exciting step forward. If we can get it right in the neck region, which is the most challenging area, then the same idea can potentially be applied to the entire spine," Dr Goldschlager said.
8 October 2008
 |
| Professor James Whisstock |
Professor James Whisstock, from the Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, has been selected as one of two scientists to represent the Asia region at the Science and Technology in Society (STS) forum in Kyoto later this month.
Two scientists were selected from Asia, with seven others selected from other regions around the world.
The forum will enable Professor Whisstock to present his research to scientific, political, and business leaders.
Professor Whisstock said the STS forum would be a wonderful opportunity to highlight his work to an international audience.
"The forum brings together some of the world's leading researchers and the politicians and business people who have the mandate to change how things happen," Professor Whisstock said.
"To be able to represent Monash University at this forum is therefore an exciting prospect."
Professor Whisstock is recognised as a world-leading expert on bio-information and structural biology, with particular interests in protease biology and the Membrane Attack Complex/Perforin-like family of immunity proteins.
He is a National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Principal Research Fellow, heads the NHMRC Program on Protease systems biology, and is a Chief Investigator in the ARC Centre of Excellence in Structural and Functional Microbial Genomics.
Earlier this year Professor Whisstock was named among the top Australian scientists of the year and awarded a Federation Fellowship.
For more information on the forum visit the Science and Technology in Society website.
8 October 2008
 |
| Dr Madhu Chetty |
More than 100 researchers, practitioners and students from across the world are expected to attend the third annual 'Pattern Recognition in Bioinformatics' (PRIB) conference in Melbourne from 15 -- 17 October, 2008.
The international conference, hosted by Monash University's Faculty of Information Technology and the International Association for Pattern Recognition (IAPR), will include participants from 20 countries discussing their research into pattern recognition and computational intelligence methods in the field of bioinformatics.
"Bioinformatics involves two main disciplines, the life sciences and the computational sciences, and the development of technologies for storing and analysing biological information," Dr Chetty said.
Conference chair Dr Madhu Chetty from the School of Information Technology at the University's Gippsland campus said a holistic understanding of biological systems and processes was critical in comprehending around nature's choreography of life.
He said the emerging discipline of bioinformatics was devoted to this understanding and was becoming a promising multidisciplinary research field.
"This conference will allow academics from across the world to present their latest research and share their experiences in this fascinating area."
The keynote speakers are Professor Haruki Nakamura from Osaka University, Japan, Associate Professor Ram Samudrala from the University of Washington, US, and Professor David Sankoff from the University of Ottawa, Canada.
Registration is mandatory for the conference. Further information is available from the PRIB 2008 website.
For the benefit of those who cannot attend PRIB 2008, the three conference keynote speakers will give a free seminar talk on the recent challenges in bioinformatics.
The seminar, organised by the Faculty of Information Technology and the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research and sponsored by Multimedia Victoria, will be held in the WEHI Lecture Theatre Level 7, 1G Royal Parade, Parkville, on Thursday 16 October, 2008.
RSVPs are essential for the talks, to Sara Willhelme Sarah.willhelme@infotech.monash.edu.au by Friday 10 October.
8 October 2008
 |
| Viv Benjamin (right) with Thema Ninjipa from Radio Light PNG. |
 |
| Nick Bearlin-Allardice is welcomed by former child slaves to a Bal (children's) Ashram, located near Delhi, India. |
Monash arts/law students Viv Benjamin and Nick Bearlin-Allardice volunteered for international projects with the Oaktree Foundation, an organisation that aims to empower developing communities through education.
Ms Benjamin, Head of Advocacy at Oaktree, visited Papua New Guinea to help train 25 student leaders of social justice group Voice in advocacy skills and project management.
Papua New Guinea (PNG) faces significant development challenges and members of Voice, from the University of PNG, are dedicated to using their education to advocate and serve their community.
In addition to the training, Ms Benjamin visited the 8 Mile settlement, Port Moresby City Mission Farm and Motupore Island. She also met with Minister for Community Development, and the only female MP in PNG, Dame Carol Kidu and Director Matrix Development Consulting Christopher Dureau.
Ms Benjamin said the trip was an incredible experience with a strong partnership formed between Oaktree and the University of PNG.
"The trip has radically transformed Voice and we are talking with them every day about a continued relationship between the two organisations," Ms Benjamin said.
"Our nightly public lectures about leadership and youth development were packed to the rafters and the visit also had coverage in the major newspapers, both major national radio networks, and national television network EM TV."
Mr Bearlin-Allardice, the Victorian Director of the Oaktree Foundation, was one of 12 young leaders from across Australia who spent three weeks in India and Bangladesh as part of the Our Generations Challenge.
The group met with representatives of the Indian and Bangladeshi government, the UN, and international and national non-government organisations working in the field of development, human rights and disaster relief.
"We met with senior bureaucrats at India's National Planning Commission, India's chief international negotiator on climate change, senior officials from the UN Development Program and UNICEF, and also played cricket with former child slaves," Mr Bearlin-Allardice said.
Mr Bearlin-Allardice said despite the challenges, people in the developing world had tremendous optimism.
"I saw so many examples of the triumph of human spirit over adversity. I think that if people in developing countries are supported initially through education or micro-credit then they have the capacity to lift themselves out of poverty."
For more information about international volunteer projects with the Oaktree Foundation visit the Oaktree Foundation website.
8 October 2008
 |
| Radha Maganti |
Monash University postgraduate student Radha Maganti from the School of Chemistry is in Japan on a ten-day study excursion at the Cheiron Synchrotron School -- one of only ten Australian students selected for the privilege.
The Cheiron School aims to provide basic knowledge as well as perspectives of synchrotron radiation science and technology to PhD students, young scientists and engineers who wish to pursue their career in a field involving synchrotron radiation.
The comprehensive curriculum will include lectures by leading scientists and experts in medical uses of synchrotrons and detector development.
Director of the Monash Centre for Synchrotron Science (MCSS) Professor Rob Lewis, who will conduct lectures at the Japanese school, said he was delighted that a Monash University student was selected to attend.
"Radha will gain invaluable experience and kick-start her scientific career in synchrotron radiation," Professor Lewis said.
"With the Australian Synchrotron adjacent to the University's Clayton campus she will have this amazing technology at her doorstep when she returns, enabling her to put what she has learnt in Japan into action."
Ms Maganti said she was excited about studying in Japan and learning about synchrotron radiation at the world's largest synchrotron radiation centre.
"It's such an amazing opportunity to learn about synchrotron radiation and how I can make the most of this great technology in my own research," she said.
The school is held annually under the auspices of the Asia-Oceania Forum for Synchrotron Radiation Research (AOFSRR).
For more information on the Monash Centre for Synchrotron Science visit the MCSS website.
8 October 2008
 |
| Elana Welsh and Paul Barton from the Office of Environmental Sustainability with FiRM's Yvonne Kumar and Song Ng. |
Monash University's Financial Resources Management Division (FiRM) is celebrating a 70 per cent reduction in energy use following an upgrade of office fixtures at its Clayton office.
With advice from the Facilities and Services Division, more than 50 old-style fluorescent tubes used in the office, foyer and staff facility areas have been upgraded to more efficient, low-energy lighting.
Control switches were also rewired to provide more efficient zone lighting.
Director of the University's Office of Environmental Sustainability Paul Barton said it was important staff were acknowledged for their willingness to "think green".
"There are always opportunities for us to review what we do and how we do it in an effort to reduce our energy consumption and impact on the environment," Mr Barton said.
FiRM's 21 staff are committed to reducing their environmental impact and have successfully implemented many initiatives including using environmentally preferred paper for the division's printers and photocopiers, reducing use of disposable plates, cups and cutlery; and recycling paper, cardboard, printer cartridges, bottles, cans, plastics and old IT equipment.
Staff will also contribute to further energy reduction by switching off lights in unoccupied office areas and switching on energy saving options on all IT and other equipment.
Further information about green initiatives is available at the Greening up our act website.
8 October 2008
 |
Name: Professor John Nieuwenhuysen AM
Faculty: Education
Title: Director
Org Unit: Institute for the Study of Global Movements
How long have you been with Monash University?
Since July 2002.
Prior to working at Monash, where were you located and what was your role?
I was Chief Executive of the Committee for Economic Development of Australia.
What challenges are ahead in your current role?
Maintaining an inflow of funds for projects as the long period of government and private sector prosperity ceases.
What is it about your job that holds your interest or is particularly satisfying?
Combining ideas for projects with donors willing to back them and matching these with Monash University’s excellent research scholars. That and capitalising on the University’s outward-looking vision to integrate work with international scholars, especially through our international campuses.
What is your favourite place in the world and why?
London. My days at the London School of Economics opened my eyes to a new world of intellect, literature, diversity, history, architecture, parklands, pubs, restaurants, theatre, art and music which I have never tired of.
What is the best piece of advice you have received?
At the University of Natal, a high school principal Stanley Osler, in an address to students, threw his hands up in the air and declared: "You must always grab new opportunities with open arms."
What is something about yourself that most of your colleagues wouldn't know?
I would willingly exchange the thirteen books and umpteen reports and articles I have written in a long academic life for authorship of a successful novel or autobiography.
8 October 2008
 |
Monash aims to boost the number of undergraduate students undertaking an Honours degree from three per cent to five per cent within the next two years as part of the new Monash Passport model.
The enhanced Honours program includes the creation of an additional 50 scholarships, plus improved mentoring and a wider range of research options.