Education agents from 60 countries have a year to get excited about visiting Perth

The city will host an April ’23 conference that will, “connect education providers from Australia and New Zealand with top international student recruitment agents from around the world.”

The win was secured by a “collaboration” of the state government, StudyPerth and Business Events Perth. Perhaps it included funding from the “massive boost” in international education funding in the state budget – by “massive” the government meant $42.5m (CMM May 13)

It’s recruitment season when universities are readying to pitch to students, just like they always have

Tim Winkler (Twig Marketing) has been to a bunch of open-days to find that they present what managements like to see,  which isn’t necessarily what prospective students want to find out.

New in CMM Expert Opinion, Tim talks about where open days are and where they need to be.

In Features this morning

Victorian Unis: good, different. Keith Houghton (Higher Education and Research Group) on  what distinguishes them and how they compare with the rest of the country on research productivity.

plus we need a curated open access repository of learning and teaching research. How fortunate there is a pilot, report Tracy Creagh (QUT) and Pru Mitchell (Australian Council for Educational) Research). New in Commissioning Editor Sally Kift’s celebrated series, Needed now in learning and teaching.

That Victoria and NSW will provide an extra year of pre-school is very well received, problem will be finding the teachers

The National Skills Commission reported a year back that there was a shortage of pre-school teachers, with “around half” of vacancies unfilled. And while Universities Australia reports 13 000 students in early childhood education courses the Media Centre for Education Research reports a 39 000 shortfall of staff by 2029.

The NSW Government is matching Victoria in $25 000 scholarships for students in degree courses but that won’t cut it in expanding the workforce fast, especially upskilling diploma qualified people to degree standard. Flexible study and assessment arrangements – the sort of things that all women balancing work and small kids need – will help.

Holmesglen TAFE leads for customer service with prospective students

The college is number one in the 2022 survey for the Association of Tertiary Education Managers, again.

The result is based on the experience of researchers posing as prospective students on 30 “customer focused behaviours.”

Holmesglen won, ahead of Western Sydney U, Deakin U, ANU and Uni Newcastle.  RMIT and Federation U were in 11^th and 12^th places respectively of the 12 participants.

The learned Andrew Norton (via Twitter)* suggests fully-funding research project grants by abolishing the Australian Research Council

Peter Bentley from the Innovative Research Universities, reports the IRU suggested a version of this back in 2018,  “re-distributing Discovery Early Career Research Award funding to universities to administer. External peer review remains the ‘gold standard’, but the negative effects are greatest in this scheme. Universities are also well placed to identify high potential postdoctoral researchers aligned with institutional strengths, while maintaining external competition.”

Sadly, it was interred in the ossuary of good ideas that are submissions to parliamentary inquiries, in this case to the House of Reps 2018 inquiry into research funding – which was full of ideas (CMM November 27 2018) which were never acted on.

* For those with access, apparently Times Higher reported Professor Norton.

of the day

The Association of Australian Medical Research Institutes and the Victorian Endowment for Science, Knowledge and Innovation announce winners of their “near-miss” researcher funding pilot. It provides $74 000 to “best eligible but unfunded” researchers, people who missed out on National Health and Medical Research Council emerging leader grants.  They are, * Sarah Bendall (Uni Melbourne) * Richard Birkinshaw (the MRI formerly known as Walter and Eliza Hall) *  Karen Caeyenberghs (Deakin U) * Laura Hart (Uni Melbourne) * Eliza Hawkes (Monash U) * Kathryn Hayward (Uni Melbourne) * Anne-Marie Laslett (La Trobe U) * Alisa Pedrana (Burnet Institute) * Bridgette Semple (Monash U) * Sheena Sullivan (Melbourne Health) * Nicole Van Bergen (Murdoch Children’s RI)

Shane Ellis (Uni Wollongong) wins the inaugural Jochen Franzen Award from the International Mass Spectrometry Foundation

The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation appoints Brajesh Singh (Western Sydney U) to the Intergovernment Technical Panel on Soils.

of the week

Jennifer Luke (Uni Southern Queensland) receives an outstanding career practitioner award from the Asia Pacific Career Development Association. Her USQ colleague, Peter McIlveen receives a lifetime achievement award.

The Australasian Cognitive Neuroscience Society announces its 2022 awards. Lifetime contribution: Young investigator: Trevor Chong (Monash U). Lifetime contribution: Frini Karaayandis (Uni Newcastle). Emerging researcher: Kelsey Perrykkad (Monash U), Angela Renton (Uni Queensland)

Chie Adachi becomes dean of digital education at Queen Mary University of London. She moves from Deakin U.

Craig Baillie is the inaugural head of Uni Southern Queensland’s School of Agriculture and Environmental Science.

Neal Menzies will be PVC Sciences at Griffith U, moving from Uni Queensland.

Murdoch U freshwater ecologist Robyn Paice is the new chair of the Busselton Water Board.

AC and AOs in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List were in CMM for Tuesday, HERE .

The Royal Australian Chemical Institute announces the Medicinal Chemistry & Chemical Biology (MCCB) Division Awards. Christopher Burns (biotech company MycRx): Adrien Albert Award (“the premier award”). Tristan Reekie (UNSW Canberra) and Elizabeth New (Uni Sydney): medical chemistry/medical biology award). Charlotte Franck (Uni Sydney) best thesis.

Clare Wright becomes La Trobe U’s professor of public engagement.