BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES DEPARTMENT MATTERS | March 26, 2021

Message from the HoD

Cheers,
Nathan

Save the Date

This Coming Week

Tues 20th March: Reflecting on Catalysing Gender Equity: One Year On virtual gathering. Register at this link – http://bit.ly/CGE-guest

Thur 1st April: Annual Scavenger (Treasure) Hunt, Biology courtyard (weather permitting).

General News and Announcements

Biology Research Long Lunch
Monday April 12, 12-2 pm in the meeting room on the 8th floor of 12 Wally’s Walk (the big red tower thing).  Join us for a chat about the new opportunities with the Center for Synthetic Biology and the Biodiversity Hub.  Bring some lunch and hang out and brainstorm some research ideas. For any questions, please email andrew.barron@mq.edu.au

Admin notices 

Farewelling staff

Lizzy Lowe – It was Lizzy last day on Thursday 25 March, but we are still collecting farewell messages at the link below and money towards a farewell gift at the Biology front desk. Please follow this link to the Kudoboard webpage – https://MQFSE.kudoboard.com/boards/yDJWRXvM

Annual Scavenger (Treasure) Hunt: Thursday 1st April

Plant of the Week: Grevillea – origins and diversity

Last week’s lant of the week – Rhizanthella slateri – discovery of an extremely rare, cryptic orchid

ASSCR NSW local symposium “From Discovery to Translational Science”

To be held on the 14th of May 2021 at the Westmead Education Conference Centre, J L Auditorium, Level 2 at Westmead Hospital. Don’t miss out – the deadlines for oral abstract submission is this Friday 26^th March 2021.

The symposium is aimed at Early Career Researchers (ECR – PhD Student and postdoc level) to promote networking and showcase their basic and translational science in a wide range of fields. To support ECRs career development, most participants will be given the opportunity to present their research in long (10+5 min) or flash (3+2 min) talks.

Please see the flyer for further details and links to register and submit an abstract or please email victoria.prior@health.nsw.gov.au with any questions.

ASSCR ECR Symposium NSW 2021 (hyperlinked)

The Laura Bassi Scholarship, which awards a total of $8,000 thrice per annum, was established by Editing Press in 2018 with the aim of providing editorial assistance to postgraduates and junior academics whose research focuses on neglected topics of study, broadly construed. The scholarships are open to every discipline and the next round of funding will be awarded in April 2021:

     Spring 2021
     Application deadline: 31 March 2021
     Results: 25 April 2021

All currently enrolled master’s and doctoral candidates are eligible to apply, as are academics in the first five years of full-time employment. Applicants are required to submit a completed application form along with their CV through the application portal by the relevant deadline. Further details, previous winners, and the application portal can be found at: https://editing.press/bassi

Student Fieldwork Volunteers Wanted: Smart Green Cities and Strathfield Council ‘Greening Our City’ Project

Start: mid-April 2021

Hours: 5-6 hours per week for 5-6 weeks (can be split between students)

Expressions of Interest: close 31 March. All EoI to be emailed to Jerusha Beresford, Smart Green Cities (Jerusha.beresford@mq.edu.au)

Tasks;

• Working alongside horticulturists, the Parks Manager and contractors during on-site tree planting
• On-site tree identification and data collection on tree metrics
• Input data into a spreadsheet for reporting to the government on the ‘greening our city’ grant
• Input data into ‘itree’ software for the Council’s tree asset list

Please contact jerusha.beresford@mq.edu.au to register interest and for more details.

David Syme Research Prize – applications open

Nominations are invited for the 2020 David Syme Research Prize. The Australia-wide prize recognises the best original research in Biology, Physics, Chemistry or Geology produced in Australia during the past two years (1 January 2019 – 31 December 2020).

Value: $9,000 (approx.)
Closing date: 28 April 2021
Full details and the nomination form are available at: https://scienceunimelb.smartygrants.com.au/syme

The prize is made by nomination only. Senior members of the academic or research community such as co-authors or co-researchers, or heads of department are invited to nominate eligible colleagues. Self-nominations are not accepted.
Researchers associated with any Australian university or without university connections are eligible for nomination, noting the following:

• Must NOT have attained the position of Professor (or equivalent seniority) by the time the award is made;
• Must have spent the equivalent of at least 5 full years of the last 7 in Australia.

The award is made on the basis of the research quality within the discipline and its likely impact and value in the industrial and commercial interests of Australia.

Enquiries should be directed to: science-awards@unimelb.edu.au

Forms processing – send to below, NOT directly to Nathan, etc.

For timely processing of forms, e.g. enrolment, leave, etc.:
PhD: send pdfs to fse.bio-adm@mq.edu.au – Julian will arrange signature and send it on.
MRes: send to fse.biomres@mq.edu.au – Ajay or Matt Kosnik will sign and send on.

Have You Participated in an Activity for Biology Recently? Don’t forget to fill in the super-quick form here – ACCESS OUTREACH FORM HERE

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Call out for Social Media Content

 

We are looking to feature a different student each week on the Biology Social Media accounts. If you would like to share your research or fieldwork with the public, please send photos and a short blurb about your work to Jenny Ghabache: <jenny.ghabache@mq.edu.au>

 

 

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