BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES DEPARTMENT MATTERS | September 30, 2019

Dear all,

Welcome back everyone for the rest of this teaching session – only 6 weeks to go! I hope all S2 teaching staff had a chance to catch their breath and re-calibrate.

This week coming up we have our monthly department meeting on Tuesday and on Wednesday we have a ‘Welcome to new faces’ Department morning tea – please come along and meet our new people and visitors and make them welcome.

Cheers

Michelle

Save the Date

This week 30th September – 4th October

Tue 1st: Department Meeting; 1pm – 2pm; 14EAR(E8A)-280 (Biology Tea Room).

Wed 2nd: Department Morning Tea; 10.30-11am; (Biology Tea Room).

Wed 2nd: Developing Your Five-Year Plan Workshop; 12:30 – 2:00 pm; 12 Wally’s Walk, 801 – Register here.

Wed 2nd: Department Seminar – Laura Jade, Artist; 1pm – 2pm; 14EAR(E8A)-280 (Biology Tea Room).

Thu 3rd: Biology Social Club; 5.00pm – 7.00pm; Biology Courtyard.

Sun 6th: Clocks Forward 1 hour for Daylight Savings; 2.00am; NSW, Victoria and Tasmania.

Following week 8th – 11th October

Mon 7th: Labour Day Holiday.

Wed 9th: Department Morning Tea; 10:30-11am, 205B Culloden Rd.

Wed 9th: Department Seminar – Prof Bernd Meyer, Monash University; 1pm – 2pm; 14EAR(E8A)-280 (Biology Tea Room).

Thu 10th: AARGH: R-Users Group (RUG) Help Session; 3.30 PM – 5.30 PM; Continuum room (75 Talavera road, room 3114); snacks provided, BYO mug).

Weekly Events

Wed: Shut up and Write Sessions; 11.00am – 12.00pm; 6WW(E8C)-212 or 14EAR(E8A)-360A.

Thu: Venture Café; 3–8pm; 58 Waterloo Road, Macquarie Park, NSW (map). Find out what is on each week here – https://venturecafesydney.org/

Fri: Writing Workshops with Prof Ken Cheng – to support HDRs and ECRs with scientific writing; 2–4pm; Ken’s office at 205b Culloden Road, G12.

Fri: Behaviour and Evolution Journal Club; Friday at 12:30pm (bring your lunch); 205B Culloden Rd Boardroom.

Weekly Biological Sciences seminar program is here

Future Speakers:

Oct 16th: Shinichi Nakagawa, UNSW
Oct 23rd: Professor Lin Schwarzkopf, James Cook University.
Oct 30th: Dr Nate Lo, University of Sydney.
Nov 6th: Dr Tatiana Soares da Costa, La Trobe University.

Future Events

Oct 9th: Faculty Safety Fair.

Dec 3rd: Department Formal Exam Meeting.

Dec 5th: Department Research Retreat.

General News and Announcements

New Science Paper Just Out – Aniko Toth has just published a paper from her PhD in Science – congratulations!

You can find it here: https://science.sciencemag.org/content/365/6459/1305

Graduations! Congratulations to our following HDR graduates:

Do You Have a New Visitor or Member of Your Research Group? There are a number of new faces around the place so the Department is planning a general welcome to all newcomers at morning tea on Wednesday 2nd October. Please let Calli Miller know if there is a new member of your lab that you would like to welcome. Everyone welcome to come along and join in of course! As always, there will be cakes.

Senior Lecturer (Teaching & Leadership) – Vertebrate Physiology – The Department is currently advertising a ‘teaching and leadership’ academic position, with teaching responsibilities in our physiology units and leadership within the BMedSci and BSc(Human Biology) programs.

The closing date is Sunday 6th October 2019.

Please pass this on to potential quality applicants. The link for the position is: http://jobs.mq.edu.au/cw/en/job/505381/senior-lecturer-in-vertebrate-physiology

On Your Bike in October! Biketober Business Challenge is on from 1-31 October 2019 and Macquarie Uni really wants to win! There are loads of prizes for riding and encouraging each other and our friends to get involved. If you haven’t cycled for years, don’t worry! You only have to ride a bike for 10 minutes for your participation to count towards our team’s score. And you can ride anywhere, any time during the Challenge.

You already ride? Great! Keep up the great work. If you have Strava or MapMyRide don’t forget to sync it with your Biketober account! Your rides will then be logged automatically.

To register and join the Macquarie University team, visit here.

Be quick – every person who registers in September can win a brand new e-bike courtesy of Sydney Electric Bikes. Other great prizes too (like a sunset dinner flight for two!).

Plant of the Week – click the thumbnails for larger images-

LAST DAY for Free Boxes – The Downing Herbarium has a 100 boxes with lids to give away.  They are new, but not fit for purpose in the herbarium. The measurements are 475 x 310 x 90 x 35 mm.

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These boxes could be handy for storage in your labs or even at home (socks, toys, Lego etc.). Or to package a fragile gift, perhaps.  They will be available until the end of September by contacting either Karen Marais <karen.marais@mq.edu.au> (Mondays and Tuesdays) or Muhammad Masood <muhammad.masood@mq.edu.au> to arrange collection.  Boxes left over by the end of September will be discarded.

OPPORTUNITIES

Postdoctoral Fellowships – Lizard Island Research Station, AU
These enable early-career scientists to conduct research at the Lizard Island Research Station. Fellowships are worth up to AUD 15,000 each towards bench fees, travel costs, freight, field and lab consumables and other field work expenses.

Maximum award: AUD 30,000

Closing date: 11 October

Biological Sciences Seminar – Date/Time: Wednesday, 2nd October, 2019; 1pm – 2pm. Speaker: Laura Jade, Artist. Title: Light, Art and The Brain. Venue:  14EAR-280 (Biology Tea Room). More information on this and all department seminars ON OUR WEBPAGE HERE.

Genomes and Biodiversity: Research and Career Development Workshop – A Theo Murphy Initiative (Australia) – The Australian Academy of Science invites early- and mid-career researchers (EMCRs) and PhD students in the life sciences to apply to attend the Genomes and Biodiversity: Research and Career Development Workshop. Opportunities to hear from research leaders, receive hands-on training in analysis of big data delivered by experts in genomics, phylogenomics, biodiversity analysis, and pathogen biology, and participate in career development sessions. The workshop will be held at the University of Sydney on Wednesday 20 November – Friday 22 November 2019. The workshop aims to create a space for EMCRs and research leaders from a range of disciplines to meet and share their latest research.

Opportunities to present a 10-minute talk and to be considered for a mobility grant are available as part of the application process. For more information about the event and how you can join visit the event website. Applications close midnight AEST Monday 30 September 2019.

Molecular Sciences Seminar – Date/Time: Tuesday, 3rd October, 2019; 11am – 12pm. Speaker: Professor Clemens Richert, University of Stuttgart. Title: Reagents with a Crystalline Coat. Venue: 4WW 322 Seminar room.

and;

Date/Time: Tuesday, 8th October, 2019; 1pm – 2pm. Speaker: Associate Professor Manuel Rodriguez-Concepcion from Centre for Research in Agricultural Genomics (CRAG). Title: Synthetic pathways to make and store carotenoids in plants. Venue: 4WW 322 Seminar room.

Shut Up and Write Sessions – every Wednesday 11am. It’s pretty simple, we shut up… and we write. Using the pomodoro technique we’ll meet at 11am to write, stop 25 minutes in for a 10 min break, then settle down again for another 25 minutes of writing. You’ll be amazed how productive you can be. More details on the concept here: https://thesiswhisperer.com/shut-up-and-write/

Room will be either 6WW(E8C)-212 or 14EAR(E8A)-360A, email <lizzy.lowe@mq.edu.au> to confirm or with any questions.

All welcome!

Lunchtime Litter Collection – The days may be cooler, but they’re also clear and sunny. Lunchtime is a great time to go for a walk and get some vitamin D! It’s also a great time to join the Biology Litter Collection competition! The next event will be Tuesday 8th October, 1pm. Meet in the Biology courtyard, bring a bucket or bag if you can.

We’ll be holding events throughout the rest of the year, every few weeks. At each event you go out to collect litter, between 1 and 1:30pm. Collections will be assessed at the end of each collection and gold stars awarded accordingly. Event results are tallied at the end of the year with a prize for the best collector.

Event dates: Tues 8th October; Tues 12th November; Tues 10th December.

This week: 3.30pm: Office Hours: Rashid Kotwal & Barbra Sauter, Closing Sales Conversations; 4.30pm: Workshop: Connecting Innovators and Early Adopters; 5pm: Info-Session: Discover the EY Foundry; 5.30pm: Workshop: Future-Proofing Your Personal Brand; 6pm: Harnessing the Benefits of the GIG Economy.

The Department’s Annual Report 2018 is now published and available here. It is packed full of news and events and showcases our people and achievements for the year. A cracker of a read! It will be available on the website very soon, so please pass on to your networks, colleagues and friends.

Need to Contact the Biology Admin Team via Email? Please send your email to <fse.bio-adm@mq.edu.au> or drop in and see us. The old google group (sci.bio-adm) email no longer works, if you have this email as a remembered address please delete.

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

Building Name Changes – Cheat Sheet – If you are trying to identify buildings on campus with new names or old names, please use this link to convert them from old to new or vice versa.

THIS AND THAT

Call for Cystic Fibrosis Christmas Markets Volunteers! Cystic Fibrosis Australia is in need of Volunteers for their Christmas markets on December 5^th and 6^th at Martin place. Volunteers are needed to sell Raffle tickets/Merchandise and all funds received support Cystic Fibrosis research and advocacy. All Fixed term and continuing staff are eligible to two days community volunteering leave. Such fund raising events are also great for team building. Please email queries or expressions of interest to Prasanth Subramani <prasanth.subramani@mq.edu.au>.

Volunteers CFA_Markets_Flyer CM_20191

Harvest Hub – great food that doesn’t cost the earth

Do you want:

• To eat with the seasons?
• Have fresh fruit and veg delivered weekly?
• Buy from local growers and support local farmer more directly?
• Access weekly specials and a flexible, easy to use ordering system?
• Have produce delivered to you at work?
• Buy grains and cereals too?

Then try Harvest Hub www.harvesthub.com.au

Hub name: MACQUARIE04 F: @harvesthubau

More information?

• Check out the website
• Talk to Samantha Newton <samantha.newton@mq.edu.au>.
• Orders are delivered weekly, on Tuesdays

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