Of the day
UTS staff awards are announced
Team teaching: Helena Asher-Chiang, Alex Thomson, Naomi Koh Belic – UTS Careers and Science. Individual teaching: Catherine Gorrie – Science. Early career teaching: Simon Knight – Transdisciplinary Innovation/ Casual/sessional teacher: Amir Armanious – Business
Learning.futures teaching: Ann Reich, Donna Rooney, Nick Hopwood, Gregory Martin, Amanda Lizier, Annie Agnew, Jacqui McManus, Catherine Raffaele, Amy Thomas – Arts & Social Sciences. Learning.futures teaching: Nicole Sutton, Raechel Wight – Business. Strengthening UTS model of learning: Dr Julia Prior – Engineering & Information Technology. Social Impact in learning: Jane Hunter – Arts and Social Sciences
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The feds’ National Data Advisory Council held its inaugural meeting Wednesday. Research community members are, Nicholas Biddle (ANU), Chief Scientist Alan Finkel, and Chief Statistician David Kalisch. Good to see Dr Finkel now has something to work on in his otherwise unoccupied time in the hour before dawn.
Of the week
Craig Emerson is appointed director of RMIT’s Australian APEC Study Centre. Dr Emerson (economics PhD, ANU) knows of what he will direct, being trade minister in the Gillard Government – which will undoubtedly go down well with his new colleagues. He was also higher education minister in 2013, when Labor cut the rate of growth in university funding over the forward estimates.
Francis Campbell will become University of Notre Dame Australia VC in January, joining from Saint Mary’s University in London.
Linda Kristjanson has agreed to extend her second term at Swinburne U. The vice chancellor’s contract expires April 2020 but the university advises she has agreed to continue until later that year.
Jacq Romero and Meru Sheel will split $1m over three years from the Westpac Scholars Trust. Dr Romero (Uni Queensland) will use the money for her work on quantum computing security, to create an encoding system using shapes of light. Dr Sheel (ANU) works on evidence bases for responses to disease outbreaks.
Hannah Wooller moves to the comms team at Universities Australia. She is now a senior adviser on government relations at UA.
Shadow science minister Kim Carr announces that if Labor wins the election there will be a review of government research capacity. Former chief scientist Ian Chubb would chair members, Christobel Saunders (UWA), Emma Johnston(UNSW and president of Science and Technology Australia) Andrew Holmes (president, Australian Academy of Science), Karen Hussey (Uni of Queensland), Phil Clark (lawyer and industry policy expert) and Glyn Davis (former VC Uni of Melbourne).