Take a big breath and “huzzah!” for Lidia Morawaska

The QUT scientist leads at the new Australian Research Council Training Centre for Advanced Building Systems Against Airborne Infection Transmission

Professor Morawaska was early to warn airborne transmission is the big indoor risk for COVID 19, rather than contaminated surfaces.  TIME magazine made her one of its influential people of the year for ’21.

She’s been working on an air-quality audit for QUT campuses this year (CMM February 14).

There’s more in the Mail

In Features this morning

Conor King (from Tertiary Education Analysis) suggests the issue to address on graduate employment is not are people doing jobs that need a degree. “The more useful question is what could a graduate bring to the role that would be sufficient reason for the higher level of education.”

plus Cathy Stone (Uni Newcastle), Sharron King (Uni SA College) and Chris Ronan (Country Universities Network) on how metro universities can best present to regional students. This week’s selection by Commissioning Editor Sally Kift for her celebrated series, Needed now in learning and teaching, HERE

and Merlin Crossley (UNSW) asks, “do you really need a committee on volcanoes?

 

Uni Queensland picks up the pace on health research

There’s $50m for its own “accelerator”

The funding is for seven programmes, “to address the most pressing health and medical challenges at the same time as creating economic opportunities.”

Research partnerships across the health system plus public and private researchers include, optimising skills mix and healthcare workforce practice, infectious disease control/eradication, AI in healthcare and developing mRNA vaccines.

 

More funding for (very) applied research

The Australian Research Council announces funding for two industry-partnered research and training schemes

There are four new research hubs

Monash U: $5m for carbon recycling into “valuable” products

UNSW: $5m for fire risks in critical infrastructure

Uni Queensland: $5m for med tech and device manufacturing

Uni Queensland: $3m for engineered wood in construction

Six training centres receive $4.5m-$5m

Flinders U: “transform biofouling management strategies for maritime platforms by building on local and international expertise to mentor and train the next generation of interdisciplinary scientists and engineers”

QUT: advanced building systems against airborne infection transmission, “establishing clean indoor air as the norm, with Australian industry being the forerunner in this process”

Uni Queensland: “ new generation of researchers to combat the impact of antimicrobial resistance on agribusiness and the environment”

UNSW: “co-develop the change agents needed to transform the architectural profession”

Uni Tasmania: “materials and inspiration for young researchers to apply novel hyphenated methods to complex environmental and industrial systems”

Uni Wollongong: “train industry-focused researchers in advanced manufacturing of new-generation mining equipment and sustainable mining technology”

 

You gotta love them

There’s help on four legs for people suffering post-trauma stress disorder

At Uni Southern Queensland, Karina Heyworth is researching psychiatric assistance dogs as support for first responders and defence personnel who struggle with PTSD.  Dogs can give people a “sense of worth and performance” in their lives.

Todays Headline Story

Deakin U staff ask for more

On Tuesday the university committed to a 3.75 per cent pay rise

VC Iain Martin told staff, “we are very conscious of the cost-of-living increases across Australia and the resultant financial pressures on you and your families,” (CMM yesterday).

Evidently not conscious enough for the campus branch of the National Tertiary Education Union which has a petition calling for a 5 per cent rise.

“Many Deakin workers are low-income casual teachers, librarians, and administrative and laboratory staff. They don’t have the luxury of high incomes to deal with rising costs,” it states. “Deakin staff moved mountains to keep the university operating through the pandemic. Now we need the university to do its bit.”

This follows the union demand at Monash U for a 4 per cent addition to the long promised 1 per cent pay rise now due (CMM July 11).

The NTEU national leadership is calling for 5 per cent per annum for three years in all new enterprise agreements.

These early arguments will be closely watched by managements around the country as bargaining picks up. So far inflation-focused one-off offers range from 2.6 per cent (plus $1000) at Uni Sydney to 4.6 per cent (plus $1000 for staff earning up to $80 000 at Uni Tasmania).

Committee reporting on research security: gone but not forgotten

A committee report from of the last parliament is still being considered

Liberal Senator James Paterson is not letting being in opposition deter his concerns on cyber security – he’s campaigning on data safety for TikTok users in Australia.

It continues his work as chair of the previous Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security, which exercised universities mightily last year with an inquiry into foreign interference on campus. Its report in March was comprehensive with top-level recommendations requiring work by the Universities Foreign Interference Taskforce (CMM March 28),

But that could have been that, with the election called before the previous government responded.

However  learned readers point to Education Minister Jason Clare referring to the committee’s work in his comprehensive agenda setting speech to Universities Australia, ;as week. “We’re working on our response to that inquiry now, and it will reflect the value we place on the integrity and independence of Australian research and our shared interest in strengthening our nation’s security and resilience,” Mr Clare said.

Achievements

The 2022 Australian Legal Research Awards include, * PhD: Lauren Butterly (UNSW & UWA)  * ECR: Jane Kotzmann (Deakin U), Rebecca Barber (University of Queensland) * general award: Ian Field (Uni Queensland) * book: Ntina Tzouvala (ANU) *non-traditional research – report: Jane Wangmann, Tracey Booth, Miranda Kaye (UTS), non-traditional research – podcast): Katherine Biber (UTS) with 12 named collaborators

Georgina Gurney (ARC Centre for Coral Reef Studies at James Cook U) is Australia’s nominee for the APEC prize for innovation  research and education (ASPIRE).

Michael McNally is re-elected unopposed as Queensland secretary of the National Tertiary Education Union.