The STEM: Women Branching Out group, for women in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) at Flinders University is hosting a breakfast, Pearls of Wisdom with Scientia Professor Veena Sahajwalla, on Wednesday 18 October 2017 in the Studio, Ground Floor, PSB.

Veena is an ARC Laureate Fellow and founding Director of the Sustainable Materials Research & Technology (SMaRT) Centre at the University of New South Wales, Australia. As one of the world's leading innovators in the field of sustainable materials and an international award-winning scientist and engineer, she is passionate about transforming waste produced by modern society into value added green materials. In 2016, Veena was named one of Australia’s Most Innovative Engineers by Engineers Australia.

Her research in partnership with industry partners, including OneSteel – has resulted in a world-first, patented, environmentally-friendly process called Polymer Injection Technology. This technology is for recycling end-of-life plastics/rubber in electric arc furnace steelmaking, resulting in the production of ‘Green Steel’. This work is making a contribution towards creating innovative, green manufacturing, science and technology for the building and construction sectors as well as consumer products.

Veena’s leadership of the SMaRT Centre is resulting in developing a global change in sustainable materials and the how we value and reduce waste in the future.

All are welcome and breakfast will be provided. Please register here.

Flinders University's Medical Device Partnering Program (MDPP), is inviting interested attendees to the following free networking event:  The Future of Surgery - new developments and innovations. Speaking at the event will be Kathy Connell, Senior Director, New Ventures - Johnson & Johnson Innovation, and Professor Guy Maddern, RP Jepson Professor of Surgery, University of Adelaide and Clinical Director Surgical Services, Central Adelaide Local Health Network.

When:  5.30pm-7pm, Monday 23 October 2017
Where: Level 2, Flinders at Victoria Square, 182 Victoria Square (the old Reserve Bank Building), Adelaide  SA  5000
RSVP:   Register by Thursday 19 October 2017. 

Learn from Kathy Connell as she provides insight into Johnson & Johnson's priorities for partnering, outlining the process involved and sharing examples of successful medical device collaborations. Professor Maddern will provide an insight into the future of surgery - outlining new developments and innovations in surgery. The presentations will be followed by opportunity to network with fellow industry colleagues.

The ACSPRI 2018 Summer Program courses are up on the ACSPRI website ready for researchers to get a head start in 2018. They have an array of qualitative and quantitative courses, including a new Applied Longitudinal Data Analysis course developed in consultation with staff from the National Centre for Longitudinal Data, Department of Social Services.

Early bird registration will be open until November 29, book by this day and get a significant discount if you belong to a member organisation, (which Flinders University is). This discount is very beneficial for full time students.

• Week 1 will be held at the Australian National University from January 15 to 19.
• Week 2 will be held at the University of Melbourne from January 29 to February 2
• Week 3 will be at the University of Melbourne from February 5 to 9.

ACSPRI's courses are small group intensives, with no more than 20 in each class. They are hands on, held in a classroom or computer lab and in the more advanced courses attendees are encouraged to bring their project or research data with them.

For more details about the courses on offer, visit the Summerprogram course page on the ACSPRI website or contact them on 03 8376 6496 or email: info@acspri.org.au for more information.

Rene Logan, from Research Professional will be visiting Flinders on Monday 30 October 2017 to present to interested staff and students on what is new and upcoming in the search for research funding opportunities. Flinders holds a site license for Research Professional, which is a powerful funding opportunities search engine and database, which allows users to create and save their own custom searches for national and worldwide funding opportunities. Searches can be filtered by funder, funder type, deadline, discipline, keyword etc. Users also have the ability to set up and receive regular email alerts of new funding opportunities or news in specific areas of interest. All opportunities listed on the system have been eligibility verified for Australian researchers.

Time, Venue, and Registration information is now available on our updated post here.

Research Professional  launched the new interface UX, among other changes, at the Australasian Research Management Society (ARMS) conference in Wellington last month. Flinders has secured Rene to present to Flinders staff so that those who were not in attendance at the ARMS conference can learn about upcoming changes and those who have yet to experience using Research Professional can become familiar with this powerful tool to assist them in finding research funding opportunities.

While a date has been agreed upon, the time and venue are yet to be finalised. Bookmark this post, or check back regularly, as we will update this post with the time, venue and the registration information as soon as it becomes available. If you have any queries on Research Professional, contact your College contact, which can be viewed here. If you do not have a College contact, contact mary.lyons@flinders.edu.au.

The next Research Data and Reporting Team’s monthly drop-in session for interested academic and professional staff will be held on Tuesday 17 October 2017.

The aim of the session is to provide one-on-one assistance to staff who want either a refresh on the research data systems used at Flinders or to learn some new skills.

Research Data and Reporting staff will be available from 12 PM to 1 PM on Tuesday 17 October 2017. Participants are encouraged to register at ienrol if they are interested in attending.

The first Research Grants and Contracts team drop-in session in October for interested academic and professional staff in September will be held on Tuesday 10 October 2017.

These twice monthly sessions are designed to allow staff to receive one-on-one assistance or advice on any aspect of the services provided by the Research Grants and Contracts team, including: assistance with research grant applications, searching for funding, grant budgets, establishing collaborative contracts and other research related contracts, terms and conditions of award, confidentiality and material transfer agreements etc.

Research Grants and Contract staff will be available from 12 PM to 1 PM on Tuesday 10 October 2017 and Tuesday 24 October 2017. Participants are encouraged to register at ienrol if they are interested in attending either of the sessions and are asked to please email research.grants@flinders.edu.au to give RSO staff advance notice of the nature of the assistance they require.

The 23rd annual ANZORS (Australian New Zealand Orthopaedic Society) Conference will be held in conjunction with the 5th biennial International Clinical RSA (Roentgen Stereophotogrammetric Analysis) Research Network Conference, for what will be the 2017 ANZORS-RSA Joint Conference, in Adelaide, SA, Australia, from 6 to 8 October 2017. The conference will be held directly before the annual AOA (Australian Orthopaedic Association) scientific meeting (Adelaide, 8 - 12 October 2017), providing a great opportunity for those who wish to attend both conferences back-to back.

Flinders is a Gold Sponsor of the conference, and Dr Egon Perilli, as Secretary of ANZORS, has announced that six Flinders PhD/Post doc researchers have been selected to give oral presentations and three will be giving poster presentations (with a number of others chairing sessions).  This is a great showcase for them and the research carried out at Flinders.  Also, based on abstract ranking by three independent reviewers, two Flinders researchers (both members of the Flinders Medical Device Research Institute) have made it to the Awards finals. Dr Melissa Ryan is a finalist in the ECR Awards and Dr Bryant Roberts is a finalist in the PhD awards – a great outcome for Flinders.

Venue: New Royal Adelaide Hospital, corner North Terrace/Port Road, Adelaide, SA 5000, Australia.

Confirmed International Keynote Speakers:

• Prof Stuart Goodman MD PhD, Professor in Surgery and Professor in Bioengineering. Stanford University, CA, USA.
• A/Prof Maiken Stilling, MD PhD, Orthopaedic Research Unit, Aarhus University Hospital, Denmark.
• Prof Rob GHH Nelissen, MD PhD, Chair and Professor in Orthopaedics, Leiden University Medical Centre; Professor at TU Delft, Netherlands. President Netherlands Orthopaedic Association.
• Bernd Grimm, PhD, MEng, Zuyderland Medical Center, Heerlen, The Netherlands. Research director & coordinator. Immediate past president of EORS.

Confirmed National Keynote Speaker:

• Prof Peter Choong MD, Head of Department of Surgery University of Melbourne at St. Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne, VIC, Australia.

To register for the conference and for further information, including the preliminary program, visit the conference webpage.

If you are aware of 16-25 year olds who are interested in all things science, then the 2017-18 IGNITION Series would be right up their alley. The launch of this series will begin with

Getting comfortable being uncomfortable: MY journey and STEM career

Presented by Hannah Scherer
This first event in the IGNITION Series will see Hannah share her STEM journey from high school, through university, and onto her career in the aerospace & defence industry. Hannah will discuss a key pillar of her personal and professional life: getting comfortable being uncomfortable. She will share stories from her career and how she has navigated this constant challenge along with lessons learned, in hopes that it will inspire and encourage others to embrace this mindset.

Hannah Scherer is Technical Lead, Australian Aerospace Programs for USA company Northrup Grumman Aerospace Systems. Passionate about STEM outreach Hannah led the Northrup Grumman High School Innovation Challenge for many years which aims to develop and foster the next generation of engineers and scientists.

Date: Thursday 19 October 2017
Time: 6.00pm – 7.30pm
Location: Hetzel Lecture Theatre, State Library of South Australia, North Terrace

It is free to attend, but bookings are essential via www.slsa.sa.gov.au/ignitionseries or phone 8207 7626

A number of extra special events have been organised by the State Library of South Australia, in partnership with the 68th International Astronautical Congress. All events are free but bookings essential: www.slsa.sa.gov.au/woomeraevents

My time in space

Tuesday 26 September, 6pm
Hear former NASA astronauts Tony Antonelli (Chief Technologist, Lockheed Martin) and Dr Sandra Magnus (Executive Director, The American Institute Aeronautics and Astronautics) talk about their time in space. 3rd panel member to be confirmed. Discussion facilitated by Dr Alice Gorman, Space Archaeologist at Flinders University. Panel discussion held in Elder Hall, University of Adelaide. Presented with the support of University Collections, the University of Adelaide.

How we built Australia’s first satellite, Australis-OSCAR 5

Wednesday 27 September, 5.30pm
Presented by Richard Tonkin and Dr Owen Mace. Hear how two young university students in the 1950’s, fascinated with space, built Australia’s first satellite. Includes a book signing by Dr Owen Mace.
Hetzel Lecture Theatre, Institute Building

Space power for Australia’s security

Wednesday 27 September, 7.30pm
Wing Commander Darin Lovett (RAAF) presents a great SPACE 101 explanation providing an appreciation of Australian space power and how it can be used for Australia’s security. Wing Commander Lovett is an Air Combat Officer with more than 25 years’ experience in strategy and capability for the development in Air and Space domains.
Hetzel Lecture Theatre, Institute Building

In conversation with Dr Chris Boshuizen

Thursday 28 September, 5.30pm
ABC presenter Narelle Graham will talk to Chris about his presentation and why his mission is to make space travel as easy as catching a bus. Founder of Planet Labs (USA), Chris says “a few years ago I began to think that the effort spent getting myself into space could equally be spent making a system to get to space, and that if I did that right, everyone else could get there as well”.
Hetzel Lecture Theatre, Institute Building

What do we know about the Solar System and Universe today?

Friday 29 September, 5.30pm
Learn about the Solar System and Universe with renowned science educator, Dr Jeanette Dixon AM. This visual presentation will highlight exciting recent discoveries and fascinating facts. It will also include explanations of common myths and mysteries about space.
Hetzel Lecture Theatre, Institute Building

Flinders Law and the Office of Indigenous Strategy & Engagement would like to invite all interested attendees to the annual Elliott Johnston Memorial Lecture to be delivered by Justice Darryl Rangiah.

Fifty years on from the 1967 referendum, how could society have tolerated such injustice against Indigenous Australians for so long? Will our society be judged as any better in 20, 30 or 50 years’ time? What will be seen as the injustices of our time? Identifying the problems is not enough. What are the solutions?

Justice Rangiah was appointed as a judge of the Federal Court of Australia in 2013. His Honour is also an additional judge of the Supreme Court of the Australian Capital Territory. Before he was appointed as a judge, his Honour practiced as a barrister in Queensland and was appointed Queens Counsel in 2008. His Honour’s areas of practice at the Bar included administrative law, commercial law and native title. Justice Rangiah was also Chair of the Queensland Fisheries Tribunal for nine years and a Member of the Queensland Anti-Discrimination Tribunal for five years.

The Elliot Johnston Memorial Lecture will be held at Level 1, Flinders at Victoria Square, on Tuesday 17 October 2017, from 5.30pm to 7.30pm. Light refreshments will be provided.

Please RSVP by the 13 October 2017 at the Elliott Johnston Memorial Lecture event page. This Lecture is proudly supported by Johnston Withers Lawyers.

The Connectome Project Adelaide – “It’s all in the mind” is a symposium series designed to connect leading neuroscientists and the next generation of world-class researchers. The Connectome Project Adelaide has been organised by two early career researchers in the neuroscience field, Tessa Mattiske and Matilda Jackson, who noticed a lack of interaction or networking opportunities outside of formal conferences. Together they hope to not only promote neuroscience within Adelaide, but to generate a platform to allow other early-career and senior PhD students the opportunity to present their work alongside leading neuroscientists.

In starting this community Tessa "was amazed at the number of groups involved in research of the mind, brain and its connections. It was obvious that each institution individually harbours amazing neuroscience teams, with expertise skills or technologies, and we hope our initiative will help bridge the institutional gap.” With the official launch on 10 November Matilda would like to encourage, "all undergraduate, postgraduate and early-mid career researchers, as well as heads of neuroscience laboratories to attend”.

The Connectome Project Adelaide aims to:

• Connect: Bringing together the neuroscience community in Adelaide.
• Promote: Provide a platform for neuroscientists to promote their work and events.
• Develop: Foster the development of ECRs and PhD candidates.
• Encourage: Generate future collaborations and encourage awesome science.

Please join us at the official connectome launch with presentations by Cedric Bardy and Quenten Schwarz on 10 November 2017, 4:30 pm - 5:30 pm at AHMS building (corner of North Tce and George St, Adelaide). Please rsvp via the Connectome website.

For further information, and to keep up to date, please join the Connectome Community: either via the website: www.connectomeprojectadl.com, on Facebook: @ConnectomeProjectAdl, and on Twitter: @Connectome_Adl

Is social media a tool or a distraction? Bonafide social media science superstar Upulie Divisekera will be joined by data scientist Adam Dunn to reveal how social media can help your research career and open up new opportunities you never knew existed. The seminar will be held at the Science Exchange, 55 Exchange Place, Adelaide from 5:30 PM on Tuesday 10 October 2017.

Presented by RiAus (the Royal Institution of Australia), as part of their ECR Network which offers workshops and networking events for Early Career Researchers, this event is now open for booking.

The event will also be livestreamed at Australia's Science Channel - australiascience.tv.

A session on NHMRC's new grant program with a focus on peer review will be delivered by NHMRC CEO Professor Anne Kelso AO in Adelaide on Wednesday, 4 October 2017. The session will take place from 9:30 AM to 11:30 AM in Lecture Theatre 1059a and 1059b, Health & Medical Sciences Building, University of Adelaide, North Terrace.

The NHMRC is making improvements to its grant funding program to ensure it continues to support the best Australian health and medical researchers. The improvements aim to:

• Encourage greater creativity and innovation in research
• Provide opportunities for talented researches at all career stages to contribute to the improvement of human health, and
• Minimise the burden on researchers of application and peer review so that researchers can spend more time producing high quality research

An important element of the new grant program will be how peer review can help to achieve these objectives. This forum will be an excellent opportunity for the sector to hear more about the new grant program and its peer review from NHMRC CEO, Professor Anne Kelso AO. Her presentation will be followed by a question and answer session and opportunity for the sector to offer it perspectives on peer review for the new grant program.

The NHMRC is currently inviting submissions to its consultation paper on peer review in the new grant program. Submissions close 5:00 pm (AEDT) on Monday 4 December 2017. The consultation paper is now available.

To register for the session, visit the session eventbrite page.

Dr Fiona Utley (University of New England) will be presenting and leading discussions on ARC grants on Tuesday 26 September at Flinders’ Bedford Park Campus.

All Flinders researchers are invited to attend, noting that limited places are available. This session will enable participants to gain insights on successfully preparing and applying for Australian Research Council category 1 grants.

The initiative, sponsored by the College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, with thanks to Professor Melanie Oppenheimer, is the wider dimension of a fully subscribed workshop being undertaken over three days for DECRA applicants in the HASS College.

To join Dr Fiona Utley on Tuesday 26th September 11:30 am – 12:30 pm, please register via ienrol.

The Australian Consortium for Social and Political Research Inc (ACSPRI) are offering a two day Master Class on Mixed Methods Research Design, in Melbourne on 9-10 November 2017. As Flinders is a member of ACSPRI, all staff are able to access the membership prices for attendance at the course. The early bird offer will close on 3 November 2017.

Airbus Defence and Space and Delta-V NewSpace Alliance have partnered up to create a New Space & Innovation Session at this year’s International Astronautical Congress in Adelaide. On the back of the France-Australia Roundtable on Wednesday, 27 September @IAC2017, the session will bring together some of the best in Australian Start-ups and Innovation Scene to come and pitch what they are doing differently. With the combination of start-ups already making waves in their respective industries and some newer start-ups yet to make their mark, the event is aimed at presenting the bright minds Australia has to offer and have them showcase their exciting ideas to all those present. So if you are interested in seeing what some of our most innovative minds have been up to, this is your chance!

The New Space and Innovation session will also feature guest speakers from Delta-V, Aerospace Valley, and Airbus, and will be a hub of new ideas and conversation between Australian and International delegations interested in the future of the Space and Spatial industry.

Venue: Adelaide Convention Centre, West Building, Lower level One, Riverbank Room 6

Time: 2 pm to 5 pm

Attendance: Open event, please spread the word

RSVP: melanie.revellat@airbus.com

Research Development and Support is pleased to invite you to attend the following series of presentations by the Australian Research Council (ARC) at Flinders University on 11 October 2017. These presentations, from Professor Stephen Buckman and Professor Joanne Tompkins, ARC Executive Directors, provide an excellent opportunity for Flinders staff to hear direct from the ARC on ARC Centres of Excellence, the Discovery Early Career Researcher Award and Writing a Successful Grant Application and ARC Assessment and Feedback.

ARC Centres of Excellence

Presenter: Professor Stephen Buckman, ARC Executive Director, Physical Sciences, Engineering, Mathematics, and Information Services

When: 9 – 9.55 am, 11 October 2017

Discovery Early Career Researcher Award

Presenter: Professor Joanne Tompkins, ARC Executive Director, Humanities and Creative Arts

When: 10 – 10.45 am, 11 October 2017

Writing a Successful Grant Application and ARC Assessment and Feedback

Presenters: Professor Stephen Buckman, ARC Executive Director, Physical Sciences, Engineering, Mathematics, and Information Sciences and Professor Joanne Tompkins, ARC Executive Director, Humanities and Creative Arts

When: 11 – 11.55 am, 11 October 2017

Please indicate which presentation you would like to attend by selecting the relevant session when enrolling via ienrol. You can enrol for more than one session, if you wish.

If you have any enquiries regarding the presentions, please contact Maya Roberts via email: maya.roberts@flinders.edu.au, or phone: 8201 7698.

Flinders University, the University of Adelaide and the University of South Australia invite all higher degree by research (HDR) / research by higher degree (RHD) students at any of the three institutions to a 1 day workshop. If you are a supervisor of a RHD/HDR student who you feel could benefit from this workshop, please forward the information to them.

The workshop aims to give participants:

• an understanding of the ethical issues that may arise in research involving human participants (across the full spectrum from biological samples to whole populations);
• tools to analyse and address these issues;
• an understanding of what constitutes good practice in research; and
• information on how to prepare an ethics approval application to the Universities' Human Research Ethics Committees. 

WHEN: Monday 25 September 2017 – 9 AM to 5:30 PM (Registration from 8:30 AM)

WHERE: Flinders in the City, Victoria Square, Adelaide

Current HDR/RHD students who have research projects which require human research ethics approval are strongly encouraged to register to attend this workshop. Non-HDR/RHD students whose current program of study requires an application for ethics approval may be eligible pending confirmation from the student's supervisor.

Attendees are required to nominate one of the following concurrent sessions of Ethical Considerations for Specific Research Methods or Fields to attend

• Qualitative (social sciences and humanities)
• Clinical Research (interventions, therapies; including clinical trials)
• Laboratory Research with Humans (human tissue samples, genetics, stem cells)

RSVP: by Monday 18 September 2017 by filling in the form here.

From 4 to 8 September, the 'United by Research' Health research at Flinders, Flinders Medical Centre and other biomedical centres in southern Adelaide (including the Flinders Centre for Innovation in Cancer) will be on show. The Flinders Health Research Week - open to all interested attendees be they general public, staff, students or industry - is a showcase from the Southern Adelaide Local Health Network, Flinders University, and Flinders Foundation. The Research Week will offer a range of lectures, masterclasses and workshops, panels and professional development opportunities.

The program is available for viewing here. Speakers' bios, links to the registration for sessions, and a link to the facebook page for the showcase are also available at that link.

The CEO of the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC), Professor Anne Kelso will present the 2017 John Chalmers Oration on Thursday, 7 September 2017 as part of the Southern Adelaide Local Health Network Flinders Health Research Week. Professor Kelso will present on 'Crisis or Opportunity? A new era for medical research funding in Australia'.

The NHMRC is implementing a restructure to improve their grant funding programs due to recent concerns about the future of medical research funding in Australia. In 2014, the Federal government established the Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF), established in order to provide the opportunity to strategically fund research and address national priorities in a cohesive and coordinated way for medical research. The MRFF was set up to complement existing medical research and innovation funding to improve health outcomes by distributing new funding in more diverse ways to support stronger partnerships between researchers, healthcare professionals, governments and the community.

The background to Professor Kelso's oration includes the upcoming changes and how they will provide new opportunities for the sector and government to reinvigorate and reshape Australia’s research endeavour.

Bookings are not required for the Oration to be held from 12:30 PM to 1:30 PM in Room 1.01, Flinders University Health Sciences Lecture Theatre Complex. If you have any queries about the Oration, contact the College of Medicine and Public Health on (08) 7221 8200. After the Oration, the College of Medicine and Public Health invites attendees to the Launch of the Flinders University College of Medicine and Public Health, to be held in rooms 3.06-3.09, Health Sciences Lecture Theatre Complex from 1:30 PM.

The John Chalmers Oration commemorates the work of John Chalmers AC, who was the first Professor of Medicine at Flinders University and the Flinders Medical Centre.

The Research Services Office are in the process of updating the webpages around the NHMRC schemes. Keep an eye on the pages to see what changes are happening and how they might affect any current or future grants under the NHMRC schemes.