15 October 2008
15 October 2008
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| The lives of poverty-stricken South African children are being brightened up by Monash student volunteers. |
An extensive volunteer program at Monash South Africa (MSA) is improving the lives of thousands of poverty-stricken children and instilling a strong sense of social responsibility among MSA students destined for powerful positions in Africa.
The incongruity between the beaming smiles of the young children at the Phumelelo crèche and their extremely disadvantaged lives is not lost on MSA student volunteer Grant Gilburt.
"The kids are so joyful, you can just feel it, and they're so welcoming and loving, even given their circumstances," Mr Gilburt, 22, said.
For the past two-and-a-half years, MSA student volunteers have been regularly visiting and supporting the children at the Phumelelo crèche, which is located in Muldersdrift, near MSA's campus in Ruimsig.
The crèche is housed in three large, ventilated shipping containers that student volunteers have painted in bright colours in an effort to bring the environment to life for the children.
The students have also started planting a section of grass and installing a sandpit and playground.
The Phumelelo crèche project is part of the extensive volunteer program run by the Monash University South Africa Student Association (MUSASA).
Mr Gilburt, MUSASA's Community Outreach Officer, heads up the program, which involves about 200 MSA students who give up their weekends to help thousands of disadvantaged children.
In addition to the crèche, the volunteer program runs the MSA Saturday Weekend Program in partnership with Hope World Wide. This program brings 170 disadvantaged children from the Zandspruit informal settlement to the MSA campus, where staff and student volunteers tutor them in maths, science, computer skills, life skills, chess and the AFL-South Africa Footy Wild Program.
Mr Gilburt said the ultimate aim of MUSASA's volunteer program was to help disadvantaged children lead happier, more prosperous lives - but the program also shaped MSA students, likely future African leaders, into more socially aware and responsible citizens.
Monash South Africa students will also have the opportunity to be involved in a new partnership between Monash and Oxfam Australia. Two MSA students will be selected as student interns to undertake 12-week internship placements with Oxfam working on human rights and HIV/AIDS issues in the country.
See Monash newsline to find out more about the partnership with Oxfam.
15 October 2008
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| Artist Peter Trusler |
Monash University researchers together with a renowned Australian artist have created the images for the latest stamp issue by Australia Post.
Director of the Monash Science Centre and palaeontologist Professor Pat Vickers-Rich worked closely with artist and Monash alumnus Peter Trusler over a five-month period to develop and design the creatures for the megafauna stamp series.
Mr Trusler spent a further six weeks creating the single oil painting from which the stamp images were digitally scanned.
The stamp issue depicts six different species of Australian megafauna that roamed Gondwanaland for millions of years prior to their extinction between 20,000 to 50,000 years ago.
Mr Trusler said the stamps depicted a concept of what he thought the species would have looked like.
"We had no first hand knowledge, photographs, or drawings to work from, however my original concept is very true to historic recordings, fossils and the ideas of experts who have spent their lives uncovering this wonderful era in our country's history," Mr Trusler said.
Professor Pat Vickers-Rich said with the exception of the Tasmanian Tiger, which was still alive last century and is depicted in photographs and film, the only link to megafauna is through fossil records.
"It was a painstaking process, but we believe Peter's brilliant artwork is an incredibly accurate depiction of the large animals that roamed Australia so many years ago," Professor Vickers-Rich said.
The stamp issue release coincides with a world-first display of flora and fossils and other striking images by Mr Trusler at Monash University's Science Centre.
The Wildlife of Gondwana travelling exhibition includes more than 300 original and cast fossils, some of which have never before travelled outside their home institutions.
The exhibition is open to the public from 10am to 5pm weekdays at the Monash Science Centre, Clayton campus until the end of January 2009.
15 October 2008
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| Students Katherine Hoogenboom, Nick McLennan and Tammie Van Exan and staff member Zoe Wall (back), try out the new broadband internet access on the inter-campus shuttle bus service. |
In an Australian first, Monash University students travelling on some regular inter-campus bus services are staying connected to the internet, emails and their education thanks to a new partnership between the University and Vodafone.
Bus services that transfer up to 60,000 Monash students a year between the Clayton, Berwick and Peninsula campuses in Melbourne have been fitted with new in-vehicle broadband internet access.
Vodafone delivers internet services to passengers by creating a free mobile on-board wi-fi hot spot via Vodafone's 3G HSDPA network.
Monash University's Deputy Vice-Chancellor Adam Shoemaker said the initiative demonstrated the University's commitment to embracing the latest e-learning technology for students, as part of the Monash Passport.
"Students already enjoy wi-fi access in most parts of Monash University campuses. Now they can also go wireless as they travel between some campuses as well," Professor Shoemaker said.
"With the average travel time between these campuses at about 40 minutes, we wanted students to spend their time more efficiently and to take control of their learning by checking emails from classmates or tutors, researching online or downloading lecture podcasts while on the road.
"Monash University is continually looking at ways to take learning beyond the campus and to provide our students with flexible study options in keeping with global trends.
"The wireless buses not only have educational advantages but environmental benefits too. Given the rising cost of petrol, many students use the bus services to get to class and we hope this encourages even more students to get on board."
Students and staff can use not only laptops while travelling but any mobile device that can access wi-fi networks, such as the iPhone.
Behavioural Neuroscience student Katherine Hoogenboom said the wireless internet enabled her to have uninterrupted access to online services.
"I use the bus service everyday to get between campuses and it is fantastic I can now be online and studying while I am travelling. I am making the most of my time to stay on top of my work," Ms Hoogenboom said.
Paul Guerra, Vodafone's General Manager for Victoria and Tasmania said the project marked an exciting development for students and demonstrated the University's willingness to adapt to the changing needs of tertiary students.
"The project offers students the opportunity to make the most of now, and delivers more options for planning how they will structure their study timetables. We look forward to working with Monash on similar initiatives in the coming months," Mr Guerra said.
The wireless bus initiative was part of the Wireless Everywhere project, which aimed to create seamless wireless coverage across every part of every Monash campus within the next 18 months.
15 October 2008
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| Professor Bernadette McSherry |
A $2 million dollar five-year Monash University research project aims to make Australia a world leader in legal protection and entitlements for people with mental illness.
Multiple studies across Australia over the past two decades have found that a lack of access to proper treatment for people with mental illness has led to serious problems, including self-harm, substance abuse, homelessness and family breakdown. A high proportion of people in prison suffer from psychosis, depression or anxiety disorders.
Improving mental health services is an obvious remedy for these problems -- but the development of laws that ensure services can be effectively accessed by those in need is also critical, according to Monash University law Professor Bernadette McSherry.
Professor McSherry, who spoke at the University's 50th Anniversary public lecture last week, said efforts to improve services would only work if there were appropriate laws in place to shape the way people with mental illness could access high standards of care.
"The law governs how hospitals, community services, service providers and other aspects of the mental health system operate and coordinate avenues for mentally ill people to get the treatment they need," Professor McSherry said.
"The major problem with Australia's mental health system has been people not being able to get treatment at all or not getting sufficient treatment, particularly for high-incidence illnesses such as depression."
Professor McSherry's research team will conduct more than 200 interviews in countries including Australia, New Zealand, Scotland, England, Ireland and Canada. They will talk to policy makers, judges, health professionals, consumer representatives, carers and other people involved in mental health systems to gain extensive information on the systems in each country.
The ultimate outcome will be the development of a comprehensive framework of best practice principles that Australia's state, territory and Commonwealth governments and governments overseas could use to create the best possible mental health laws.
"National legislation is great in theory but it's not going to work in practice. A framework is different; it gives governments options in terms of how they actually couch their laws," Professor McSherry said.
For more information on the research project visit the Faculty of Law website.
For more information on the 50th Anniversary Public Lecture Series visit the 50th Anniversary website.
15 October 2008
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| Chancellor Dr Alan Finkel, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) Professor Edwina Cornish and Dean of Engineering Professor Tam Sridhar. |
Eighty high-achieving, final year Monash engineering students celebrated their academic success at the recent launch of the Monash Engineering Finkel Scholarship.
The Finkel PhD Scholarship, provided by the Finkel Foundation and Monash Chancellor Dr Alan Finkel and his wife Dr Elizabeth Finkel, will be offered to three new PhD students in the Faculty of Engineering from 2009.
The scholarship is open to full-time PhD students within biological engineering, biomedical engineering, electrical engineering and general engineering who have received an Australian Postgraduate Award (APA) or the Monash Graduate Scholarship (MGS).
Dr Alan Finkel, a Monash engineering alumnus, gave an inspiring speech to students about why he chose a research path.
"As a PhD student you will prove your ability to tackle and solve complex problems through exercising your own initiative, investigation and critical thinking," Dr Finkel said.
"Upon completion, you will be the world’s number one expert in a particular area of technology, more knowledgeable than even your supervisor.
"Hard work and extraordinary expertise -- these are the nature of a research PhD. I found the journey to be extremely rewarding both personally and professionally."
Engineering dean Professor Tam Sridhar thanked the Chancellor and his wife for establishing the scholarship and wished the students well in their PhD research.
"In your undergraduate course you are taught the current state of knowledge in your discipline," Professor Sridhar said.
"The PhD program is more of a partnership between the student and the supervisor, a journey into the unknown. The answers are often surprising."
Applications for the Finkel Scholarship close on 31 October. For more information visit the Faculty of Engineering website.
For more information on the Monash University Postgraduate Research Scholarships visit the Research scholarship website.
15 October 2008
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| Professor Trevor Lithgow |
Professor Trevor Lithgow has joined Monash as an Australian Research Council Federation Fellow in the Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences.
Professor Lithgow's fellowship will support collaborative research in the Departments of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and Microbiology at the Clayton campus.
Professor Lithgow is an international leader in protein targeting and membrane assembly. His lab is working towards an understanding of how pathogenic microbes sense and interact with human tissues and how the outer surfaces of bacteria are built.
"The development of new technologies, and advances in fundamental knowledge of molecular cell biology provide the means to study these pathogens and to look for their "Achilles Heel", the long-term vision being the development of drugs that can better fight infections," Professor Lithgow said.
Professor Lithgow completed his PhD at La Trobe University and then undertook postdoctoral work at the University of Basel in Switzerland. For the past nine years he has worked at the University of Melbourne.
He said receiving the Federation Fellowship was a genuine thrill, and the scientific possibilities it opened up were extraordinary.
"Through several initiatives Monash is poised to change the scientific landscape in Australia," Professor Lithgow said.
"One of the most exciting aspects for my group is the way our work will feed into several of these initiatives.
"Establishing this team at Monash University will also provide an outstanding means for training research students who will go on to be the scientific leaders of tomorrow."
15 October 2008
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| Conductor Anthony Pope leads the Monash Brass Ensemble via video link. |
Academics and students from the Monash School of Music participated in a musical master class with a difference as part of Educate08 activities last week.
In an experiment organised by the Monash e-Research Centre (MeRC) the Monash Brass Ensemble, on stage at the Robert Blackwood Hall, was led by conductor Anthony Pope from another building at Clayton through the use of high definition video technology (HDV). The ensemble performed the 'Fanfare', especially composed to celebrate the University’s 50th anniversary.
MeRC Director Professor Paul Bonnington said the technology had the potential to transform research and classroom teaching.
"We have previously implemented an innovative seminar program in the Faculty of Information Technology that delivered seminars from world experts based at the University of California, San Diego, to our undergraduate and graduate students," Professor Bonnington said.
"The video quality of HDV is so good that audience members often comment that it is just like having the presenter in the room.
"The concepts applied in this musical presentation went one step further, demonstrating how HDV and e-Research technology could be invaluable to the arts/humanities disciplines."
MeRC also unveiled a new 40 megapixel OptiPortal -- a tiled LCD wall that displays complete microscope images at a high resolution.
The screen, the result of an ARC collaborative grant between Monash and Leica Microsystems, allows the user to focus on details at maximum resolution while also allowing them to view the entire image.
Separate and related images can be shown on all or on some screens, or a single image can be displayed across the entire OptiPortal wall.
"A growing world-wide 'OptiPortal collaboratory' could revolutionise cancer research by connecting experts from across the world, enabling them to work together on a single project," Professor Bonnington said.
Visiting Professor Larry Smarr, founding director of the California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology, San Diego, said high-performance internet connectivity in Australia was necessary to ensure a robust public research sector.
15 October 2008
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| Chloe Brien |
The Monash poetry prize for undergraduate students has been awarded to Chloe Brien for her quirky and sensuous love poem Salivary.
Established in 1963 the Monash University Prize for Poetry is awarded annually for the best poem by an undergraduate student.
The prize is an important part of the tradition of promoting literary creativity at Monash. Previous winners include prominent Australian poets John A. Scott and Laurie Duggan.
Competition judge and senior lecturer in English Dr John Hawke said Chloe's poem stood out in a strong field of entrants for its striking and varied imagery, and its reference to French Surrealist poets such as Paul Eluard and Robert Desnos.
"It was especially encouraging to see openness to stylistic experiment amongst this year's entries, which included visual poems as well as performative texts," Dr Hawke said.
Other quite different but equally accomplished poems commended in this year's prize included Pam Ingram's Leaving, a carefully wrought meditative poem, and Inner City by Sam Walsh, which adopts an observational urban style with a deftness of technique and assurance of tone.
"We thank all the 2008 entrants for providing such an engaging and lively range of work," Dr Hawke said.
To view Chloe's poem and for more information on the competition visit the School of English, Communications and Performance Studies website.
15 October 2008
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| Berwick and Peninsula campus Pro Vice-Chancellor Professor Phillip Steele, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) Professor Edwina Cornish, Professor Betty Weiler, Deputy Director TRU Professor Peter Forsyth and Research Coordinator TRU Dr Jim Curtis. |
Monash University's Tourism Research Unit (TRU) has grown substantially over its five-year history.
The unit, which once included a modest number of tourism researchers from the Faculty of Business and Economics, now includes a group of approximately 35 academics, spanning three faculties, three schools, six departments and four Monash campuses.
With its main strengths in tourism, economic modelling and visitor management research, TRU's external funding has tripled in its lifetime, now exceeding $1.3 million.
"TRU is about people," Director of TRU Professor Betty Weiler said.
"We don't have a lab, we have very little research equipment but we do have great people."
TRU reached an important milestone two years ago when it established a high-level advisory board made up of representatives from national and Commonwealth government bodies, state-based and state-wide organisations including Tourism Tasmania, Tourism Victoria, VECCI and Tourism Alliance, as well as local councils and several tourism operators.
City of Melbourne Tourism Manager Jane Foley said researchers from TRU were well-known for their support of industry through applied research and project identification as well as the encouragement of postgraduate/industry research collaboration.
For more information visit the TRU website.
1 October 2008
I trust that everyone is now aware of the Monash Passport model, to be launched formally during the Education Expo on October 8 as part of the Educate08 celebration of excellence in learning and teaching at Monash, which will be held from Thursday October 2 to Friday October 10.
The Monash Passport offers students a broad menu of opportunities, combining degree programs with international exchanges, leadership programs, work training programs and volunteer and research opportunities as a grounding for outstanding careers.
The hallmarks of the Monash Passport are embedding opportunities for students to:
Details of the exciting Educate08 program and the Monash Passport model are accessible through the Monash website.
Participation in sport is, for many students, a highlight of their university experience and nowhere is this better supported than at Monash. On Sunday evening, September 28, I officially opened the 2008 Australian University Games (AUG) at the Melbourne Town Hall. Monash University is the Principal Partner University for the Games. These Games will encompass approximately 7000 participants competing in 28 sports making it the biggest University Games to date. There will be more participants than in the Melbourne Commonwealth Games. Monash University has 520 students taking part and of course many other students and staff are involved in the organisation of the Games and as volunteers.
Monash University was placed second in the AUG in 2007 and taking into account the non-AUG sporting events was placed first overall in sports in 2007.
Importantly, it is not only in sport that Monash students are taking part in activities that add to their university experience in areas other than academic achievement. Our debaters again performed outstandingly well at the World Championships and Monash is the fourth ranked university in the world in debating. Student theatre, the Monash Philharmonic and the many other Clubs and Societies provide opportunities for students to pursue a wide range of interests. Many other students are active participants in volunteer organisations such as the Oaktree Foundation, Engineers without Borders, AISEC, Students in Free Enterprise and Golden Key as well as many others within the University and in the community. Other students play leadership roles in student associations.
Monash University is strongly committed to giving students the opportunity to undertake a range of activities outside the classroom that help them to develop personal and life skills beyond anything that can be achieved through academic studies alone. Lifelong friendships are commenced, often crossing national boundaries. Organisational, leadership and communication skills are developed and personal interests are fostered outside work that enrich the lives of our students and often form the basis for lifelong activities.
Such activities well and truly prepare students to "Adopt as your fundamental creed that you will equip yourself for life, not solely for your own benefit but for the benefit of the whole community" as exhorted by Sir John Monash.
15 October 2008
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Name: Bryley Sadler
Faculty: Occupational Health
Title: Wellbeing at Monash Coordinator
Org Unit: Health Wellbeing Development and Monash Sport
How long have you been with Monash University?
Five months.
Prior to working at Monash, where were you located and what was your role?
I worked briefly in marketing at Deakin University. Prior to that I was the Health and Wellbeing Program Coordinator at the City of Melbourne, which allowed me to work on staff events and projects with a variety of work areas including the Lord Mayor’s Office.
What challenges are ahead in your current role?
My role is an exciting new position for the University. Within the next few weeks we will celebrate the end of the 10,000 Steps Challenge. This year we have 2000 staff eagerly counting their steps - a record! Following that my focus will turn to developing a five-year Health and Wellbeing Strategy. This will include a program of events and activities for each campus with the aim of improving the physical and mental health of the University community.
What is it about your job that holds your interest or is particularly satisfying?
Making just a small amount of difference to one person’s life. If I can provide the incentive, motivation and information to help just one of our staff to make improvements to achieve a healthy work/life balance then I will feel satisfied.
What is your favourite place in the world and why?
Phu Quoc Island, a small island about a 30 minute flight from Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. There is a great place there that has no bells and whistles - just beachfront huts that overlook the stunning turquoise water.
What is the best piece of advice you have received?
Where ever you are in this moment is exactly where you are meant to be, no matter how things may seem to appear.
What is something about yourself that most of your colleagues wouldn’t know?
My family and I puppy-walked two guide dog puppies. Sadly, but good for us as we got to keep them as our family pets, they both failed. One of them was too excitable and chased peacocks around a women’s prison during testing!
15 October 2008
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Almost 380,000 trips have been made by people using the free Monash University inter-campus shuttle bus service so far this year.
For more information on the service visit the Facilities and Services website.