Division of Environmental and Life Sciences

News From the Dean
The weekly update from the Dean of Division, A/Prof Kevin McCracken

What's in an Acronym? ERA Replaces RQF..
Research Quality Framework to become the Excellence in Research for Australia

Opportunities
- Manager - Science Communication - Murray Darling Basin Commission (ACT).

Events
- EPS Seminar this Friday
- Earth Hour 2008 reminder
- UNSW Social Policy Research Centre Lecture: "Families that Work" intro by Maxine McKew
- Genes to Geosciences Seminar this Wednesday
- ELS Seminar Series

News from the Dean

Dear Colleagues

A busy week for all with the start of semester and the submission of ARC Discovery and NHMRC grant applications. Good luck to everyone who has submitted an application.

You may have heard on the news last week of a breakthrough in the study of Motorneurone Disease. The work is published in the most recent issue of Science and one of the authors, Kelly Williams, did Honours on human genetic disease with Jenny Donald in Biological Sciences last year and got a paper from that published in The American Journal of Human Genetics (a top journal in the field). The motorneurone work is research she has been involved with in the short period since she left us. Congratulations to Kelly.

Congratulations also to Rachael Chan, a graduate of GSE currently completing a PGCert prior to starting her PhD in Human Geography. Rachel has won the Department of Environment and Climate Change's Spokeswoman Award for 2008 for her environmental education work with the Chinese community in Sydney and in Guangxi.

Also in the news last week was an announcement from the Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research, Senator Kim Carr for a new research quality and evaluation system. The Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA) initiative, to be developed by the Australian Research Council (ARC) in conjunction with the Dept of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research, will assess research quality using a combination of metrics and expert review by committees comprising experienced, internationally-recognised experts. This replaces the now defunct Research Quality Framework. More information follows in Science News.

Following discussions with OFS, it has been agreed that mail and paperwork for Business Services at 299 Lane Cove Road needs to be sent via E11A and not the ELS Store -- the mail from OFS for Business Services is always collected daily, whereas the collection from our Store is dependant on the Central Store making a delivery. Please ensure that our mail is in the Business Services wallet in E11A by 1.00 pm each day.

With effect from Friday 29th February to the end of 2008, the laboratories on the ground floor of E8A will be closed off for refurbishment and access to the area restricted:-

* The corridors on the East and West sides will be blocked off.
* There will be no access to E8A 1 from the Biology Garden .
* There will be no exit from the lift by the Store onto Level 1 of the building.
* There will be significant disruption in the roadway by the loading bay during the demolition works (late April/May)

The main staircase will be accessible as will the Store.

Science Prizes:-

All nominations by 4 May 2007 and further details are available at:- http://www.dest.gov.au/scienceprize .

Finally, a reminder to all continuing and fixed-term staff in ELS on the training sessions for the new on-line leave booking system for annual and long service leave applications. From the first week in March, staff will apply for leave on-line and leave applications are to be approved on-line by supervisors.

Sessions will be held in the Biology Tearoom, E8A 290 at the following times:
Monday 3 March 1.00pm to 2.00pm
Wednesday 5 March 2.00pm to 3.00pm
Thursday 6 March 2.00pm to 3.00pm
Friday 7 March 11.00am to 12.00noon

Till next week,

Kevin

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Government Announcement of Excellence in Research for Australia initiative

The Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research, Senator Kim Carr, today announced his plans for a new research quality and evaluation system.

The Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA) initiative, to be developed by the Australian Research Council (ARC) in conjunction with the Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research, will assess research quality using a combination of metrics and expert review by committees comprising experienced, internationally-recognised experts.

"Australia is about to embark on a transparent, workable system to assess the quality of home-grown research. Australia is well known internationally for its research strengths.

"For the first time we will be able to measure our achievements against our peers around the world, and plan the future of research investment," Senator Carr said.

"The Commonwealth invests billions each year in research. The ERA model will provide hard evidence that taxpayers are getting the best bang for their buck in this critical area.

"ERA will use leading researchers to evaluate research activity progressively in each of the ARC discipline clusters and several clusters covering health and medical research that will be informed by experts from the National Health and Medical Research Council.

"Each cluster report will detail byinstitution and by discipline those areas that are internationally competitive, together with emerging areas where there are opportunities for development and further investment."

Senator Carr said that ERA would start with those disciplines where the metrics were most widely accepted, for example, in the physical and biological sciences.

"In parallel, we will continue consultation with other disciplines about metrics appropriate to their disciplines, noting that some measures will be appropriate to all disciplines and that for all disciplines expert review of the metrics is essential."

The ERA will build on work done to date in defining areas of strength, and will aid the development ofour ‘hubs and spokes’ model for research infrastructure that is based on all universities having centres of excellence in specified fields.

It will also assist with the Government’s plans to introduce funding compacts for universities.

Senator Carr said that until the ERA was fully developed, the current arrangements for the block grants funding will be maintained and would remain the responsibility of the Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research. Future arrangements will be determined in consultation with the sector.

The ERA will replace the now defunct Research Quality Framework with a streamlined,internationally recognised and transparent research quality assurance system.

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ELS Congratulates GSE Student Rachael Chan

Rachael was recently awarded the Department of Energy and Climate Change Spokeswoman Award for 2008.

Rachael believes the award is in recognition of her environmental education work with the Chinese community, which is also the subject of her current research in the GSE. Rachel has significant involvement in helping build environmental knowledge and activity in Chinese communities. This has included facilitation of a delegation from the Guangxi Province to MQ last year and we understand the award in DECC is richly deserved.

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Opportunities

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Manager - Science Communication - Murray Darling Basin Commission (ACT).
$94,892 pa plus superannuation

For further information on this position, please contact Kirk Coningham, Director Communication on (02) 6279 0129.
For documentation on this position, and other employment opportunities within the MDBC, please visit our website www.mdbc.gov.au or email humanresources@mdbc.gov.au Applications close Friday 7 March 2008

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Events

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EPS Seminar

FRIDAY 7 March
Sedimentology "Testing the Ordovician Larapintine Seaway hypothesis with detrital zircon age data."
by Dr. Peter Haines, Geological Survey of Western Australia
1.05pm in E5A119 on campus

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Earth Hour 2008
Show your support - turn off your lights at 8pm Saturday 29 March 2008. You probably shouldn't need instructions on how to do this however for further info see www.earthhour.com

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Contemporary humanities and social sciences - Inaugural lecture "Families that Work"
Thursday 6 March, 2008
Professor Deborah Brennan, (Social Policy Research Centre, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, UNSW) addresses the topic Families that Work: A New Agenda for Parental Leave and Child Care in Australia. Introduced by The Hon. Maxine McKew, MP, Parliamentary Secretary for Early Childhood Education and Childcare.

Time: 6:00pm-7:30pm Mar 06 Cost: Free - RSVP Essential
Venue: Tyree Room, The John Niland Scienta Building, UNSW, Kensington
Bookings: Social Policy Research Centre http://www.arts.unsw.edu.au/news/publiclectures.html (02) 9385 1307

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Genes-to-Geosciences Research Centre Seminar
5 March 13:00, Biology tearoom (E8A 290)
Dr. Melanie Bishop, Macquarie University
“Too much McDonalds? How changes to the quality of primary producers propagate through detrital food webs of estuaries"

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ELS Seminar Series

Departments in ELS host seminars covering a wide range of topics associated with ongoing research projects and other areas of interest. The seminars are delivered by academics, research staff, and students from within the Division, as well as guest speakers from other institutions and industry. Details of times, dates, locations and topics of seminars to be held over the next few weeks are listed here.

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Snippets

Farmers' pollution goes unreported
A water quality expert in New Zealand has criticized a positive environmental progress report, warning that it underestimates the damage done by farmers.

Car travel must stop, warn experts
Car travel needs to be cut by 80 per cent, and public transport boosted, if Australia wants to prevent a climate change crisis, an engineer has warned.

Rural men believe big is better
Research has found rural men believe being big makes them appear tougher, sparking concerns of diabetes and heart disease risk in the demographic.

Yabbies don't forget a face
The Australian yabby won't forget an opponent's face, and would prefer to fight it again than risk a battle with an unknown foe, reveals new research.

Proof: genes jump between species
Research into the origin of a wheat disease has proven the long disputed theory that a single gene can be transferred from one species to another.

Koalas need more habitat
We must protect more habitat than we have been allowing for for koala survival and biodiversity, according to research across regions.

Expert warns against coal power
Leasing out coal-fired power stations will ensure their continuation and jeopardise the fight against climate change, warned an energy expert.

Internet security now for sale
A commercial product that could revolutionise telecommunication security by producing individual photons of light has been developed by Australian scientists.

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