BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES DEPARTMENT MATTERS | May 21, 2015

Dear all,

This is it everyone, the last chance to buy Eurovision sweepstake tickets from the HOD office!!!!! The blog is now also complete with all countries reviewed by our panel of experts: https://thescienceofeurovision.wordpress.com/

cheerio

Mariella

General News and Announcements

Grant success

Congratulations to Phil Taylor who’s application for an Industrial Transformation Training Center, worth 3.7 Million dollars, has been successful! More details here.

Support for building domestic collaborations (Academics and post-docs only) – Deadline 31st May

As one of the Research Initiatives that was funded this year we have some money available to help people develop new collaborative opportunities. The money can only be used for domestic travel (airfares and accommodation costs only). The idea that it will help you bring someone to you, or for you to go somewhere else and meet with someone.

We have $10k to award and ideally this will be used to support multiple people (i.e. don’t get too ambitious with your plans). Priority will be given to those wishing to build new collaborations rather than just visiting existing collaborators.

Applications need to be submitted by close of business on 31st May. To apply please submit a short email with 1. The funding requested (ie. how much you need, what it is for, when will it be used); 2. the names of the people involved (with a link to their webpage); 3. a short paragraph outlining what the opportunity will achieve and how that will help your research. Please submit these applications to Anne-Marie with ‘Building Collaborations’ in the title of the email. Decisions will be announced in the first week of June.

Friday drinks – 4:30 in the E8 tearoom!!!

With special guest, Scott Fabricant

Plant of the Week

Plant of the week is is back!!!

Acacia podalyriifolia, Queensland Silver Wattle

Scientists in Schools

Congratulations to Rachael Gallagher who has just become a scientist in school. If you are interested in joining check it out: http://www.scientistsinschools.edu.au/

Genes-to-Geosciences Outlook

Outlook will be on Tuesday and Wednesday the 21st and 22nd July. Please mark your calendars!

New travel policy

If you are planning to add a holiday to a conference or research travel, please be aware that any holidays can not be longer than the research/conference travel and in total not exceed 7 days.

Travel Policy Key Points v2 copy

Blinded observer

Here is an interesting analysis about the lack of blinded observers in ecology, behaviour and evolution.

Kardish et al. Blind Observation

Sydney Plant Ecophysiolgy Group – June 9th 4pm UTS

Our next meeting is coming up shortly, to be held 4 pm – 6 pm on June 9th at UTS in the city.

We have three speakers this month, Dr Dave Marvin visiting from Greg Asner’s lab at the Carnegie Institution for Science (USA), Dr Geertje van der Heijden-Corr visiting from Northumbria University (UK) and Dr Paola Corneo from Sydney Uni (abstracts below).

The venue has kindly been arranged by Dr Andy Leigh and Alicia Cook at UTS. It is level 5 of the Science Building — building CB04 on this map. The seminar room is room number CB04.05.01/CB04.06.506.

The building is close to Central Station. Access it via Harris St, opposite the ABC. When approaching from Central/Broadway, take the second entrance down Harris St.  That is, take the entrance on the corner of Thomas/Harris streets, not the first entrance accessed by a ramp.

Take the lift to level 5; when you get out of the lifts, go through the glass doors and veer left through the tea area to the seminar room in the opposite corner.

Rekha

If you missed Rekha’s brief appearance today, here is a photo, with her newly decorated brace!

Grant success

Congratulations to Leanne who has won Australian Antarctic Division support for her 2017 voyage on the RV Investigator to the Southern Ocean at a value of almost $150,000.

Keast Lecture

FROM MUTATION TO MACROEVOLUTION – PROFESSOR LINDELL BROMHAM

FRIDAY 29 MAY 2015

1:00pm – 2:00pm, free lunch to follow

DT Anderson lecture theatre

Heydon-Laurence Building A08

University of Sydney

RSVP Via email to biorsvp@sydney.edu.au or by phone on 02 9351 4543.

Have you heard of the r-index?

This one measures effectivenss as reviewer: http://rsos.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/2/2/140540

http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2015/05/20/passing-review-r-index-to-improve-peer-review-system/

Seminar UTS: Professor Pat Glibert

Changing nutrient loads and ratios and effects on phytoplankton communities: from a global to a cellular perspective

Friday, 29th May 2015

Time: 14.00 – 15.00h

Location CB07.02.025

Climate Change Cluster, University of Technology Sydney

New process for disruptions

We have been having some issues with which documentation we are and and not accepting for disruptions. 

One of the main issues coming up at the university level is that when a student puts in an ‘unfit for study’ medical certificate (which we are supposed to reject under the policy) either the convenor often wants to know about it, or there is a more serious issue at hand for the student and we should not really rejecting thiis. 

The upshot of this is that it is often problematic to reject disruption applications which have unfit for work/study medical certificates. 

While the university is looking at this, we are approving and sending them through so can you please let your convenors know. 

If there any cases which convenors think this is inappropriate please tell them to get in touch with myself or Nanette. 

When we get towards the end of the semester I will be asking for a lot more feedback from convenors about how disruption is working for them, and we will feed that into the University working group.

Jamie Gabriel

Student Administration Manager

Reconciliation Week

May 27 – June 3…see attached flyer

Reconciliation week flyer

Job – postdoc in Melbourne

A fixed term full-time Postdoctoral position (Level A) is available at the School of BioSciences (Faculty of Science), University of Melbourne.

The Research Fellow will be responsible for designing, executing, and analysing field and laboratory experiments, as part of the research project “The dark side of night: species and community impacts of night lighting”, which is funded by an ARC Discovery grant.

The research is part of an international collaboration between the University of Melbourne (Dr Therésa Jones and Prof Mark Elgar), the University of Exeter (Prof Kevin Gaston) and the Netherlands Institute of Ecology (Prof Marcel Visser).

The position is located at The University of Melbourne and reports to the Chief Investigator.

0039113 Postdoc Position

Post-doc opportunity (Level A) – Department of Biological Sciences

The Department of Biological Sciences has a postdoctoral position available from 1^st July, initially for 12 months with the possibility of extension. The person appointed will be responsible for teaching BIOL349 Biodiversity & Conservation and will join Michelle Leishman’s lab to undertake ecological research as well as assist with day-to-day running of the lab. Send applications including research plan and CV to michelle.leishman@mq.edu.au. Applications close 15 June 2015. Enquiries: Michelle Leishman tel. 9850 9180, michelle.leishman@mq.edu.au

Australian Entomological Society Conference

27 – 30 September, 2015

http://www.aesconferences.com.au/

New Publications

In the Media

Recent Completions

PhD – Marine Desprez: Southern Ocean sentinels: demographic insights into the declining population of Southern elephant seals at Macquarie Island

Supervised by Rob Harcourt

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