Registrations are now opening for attending the 2017 ARMS conference: Funding Research - drawing on the power of collaboration.

This is the 18th Australasian Research Management Society Conference, and is returning to the shores of New Zealand for the first time since 2009. The conference theme of drawing on the power of collaboration will explore opportunities to bring together professionals in research organisations and funding bodies to create greater efficiencies in the wider management of research and its funding.

The conference will be held on 26 - 29 September at the Museum of New Zealand, Te Papa Tongarewa, Wellington. Flinders is a financial member of ARMS and all staff qualify for the member rate for attendance at the conference. The early bird rate for the full conference is $950 and single day attendance is $550. ARMS accreditation modules are available to attend prior to the conference for $395. The pre-conference workshop cost is $165. The early bird rates are only available until Monday 19 June 2017.

Registration is now open here.

The abstract closing date has been extended until Sunday 23 April 2017. Abstracts can still be submitted online in the overarching categories of oral presentation, poster presentation, or theme leader presentation. Subjects for abstracts should be on: grants support and development, contracts and intellectual property, research ethics and integrity, research intelligence and systems, connecting research with communities, research strategy and planning, research degree matters, or supporting the delivery of research with impact and translation.

For more information on the conference, please visit the website.

Welcome to the new-look Inspiring Research.

The Research Services Office has developed a new delivery format for Inspiring Research with the aim of allowing information and articles of interest to be delivered in an interesting, up-to-date and timely fashion to our readers. In addition to publishing content via an online blog platform, we will continue to distribute a monthly email notification of research news and information (which also has a new look).

We hope you'll enjoy reading and contributing to the new format as much as we've enjoyed developing it and we'd love to hear your feedback and ideas for new articles. Please email research.data@flinders.edu.au with your comments and suggestions or provide your feedback through RePortal.

Although "Blogs" have been around Flinders for a while and commercial publishing platforms such as WordPress and Blogger allow virtually anyone to set up their own web presence, this platform is an experiment in doing things a little differently. We're not experts in communications, design or marketing and developing a platform such as this surely means there'll be bumps along the way - possibly a few Page not found or Server Errors - but what we lack in those aforementioned areas we make up for with our passion for promoting and supporting the ground-breaking research produced by our research community. We've explored our passions and experimented bravely to build a platform to help you make your mark.

The blog can be accessed directly via https://research.flinders.edu.au/RP/Blog/ or via the  system in the News and Events section. The News and Events section within RePortal also aggregates information from a number of different sources - have a look and let us know what you think.

A calcium supplement jelly made out of seaweed and lobster shells. Image sourced from: ABC News: Andie Noonan

Will kids want to eat seaweed jelly? Can the CSIRO ON Accelerate Program help?

A joint team presentation from Flinders researchers, CSIRO staff and Flinders Partners in Melbourne on the 6 April 2017 aimed to show investors just how and why kids should be eating it.

The seaweed jelly has been developed as a new calcium rich source of food to tackle the problem of only one in six people eating dairy. To be marketed specifically for children, the jelly is made from seaweed and lobster shells - a waste product in the lobster processing industry. Other methods of trying to increase calcium intake in children has not been successful in the past, but the researchers have developed this tasty jelly as a more enticing option. By using lobster shells waste product, and seaweed that is an underused resource, the cost effective jelly packaged in a lunchbox style ‘squishy pack’ was a hit on the final day of presentations.

SeaNU team: Dr Michael Conlon, Professor Wei Zhang, Mr Peng Su, and Dr Rebecca Perry
Image sourced from: CSIRO

The SeaNU team, consisting of Professor Wei Zhang (Flinders Centre for Marine Bioproducts Development), Mr Peng Su (Flinders Centre for Marine Bioproducts Development), Dr Michael Conlon (CSIRO Health & Biosecurity), Dr Damien Belobrajdic (CSIRO Health & Biosecurity), and Dr Rebecca Perry (Flinders Partners) took part in the 12 week program that culminated in the presentation day. This Flinders team was the only one out of the ten selected for ON Accelerate 3 that included staff from the CSIRO. The final ‘Demo Day’ included over 200 industry and stakeholder attendees, including from the Department of Industry, Innovation and Science, the Department of Economic Development, Jobs, Transport and Resources, GE, DST Group, AGL Energy, Telstra, Merrill Lynch, and many others from startups, law firms and the education sector.

“Australia has a largely untapped resource of renewable seaweed (macroalgae) varieties which has so far been under-explored,” Wei said. “We have the dream here of developing a substantial seaweed; also other ocean-derived nutritional resource processing industry in South Australia based on this new efficient and environmentally friendly processing technology.”

Each team selected for ON Accelerate receives a $15,000 OPEX budget to assist them with participation in the program. SeaNU was awarded a $10,000 bonus at the midway point of the program for high performing teams. This highly competitive program is aimed at increasing the entrepreneurial skills of researchers by pairing them with mentors, hosting face-to-face workshops and ending with the Demo Day. ON Accelerate 4 will be opening later in the year and to register interest in the program, fill in the online form at the ON Accelerate page.

Where: 5.29 Conference room @ Tonsley
When: Wednesday 12 April 2017
Time: 11:30 AM – 12:00 PM

Digital Volume Correlation (DVC), the newly formed Zeiss Global Centre at the University of Portsmouth, UK, and how this relates to the Flinders Medical Device Research Institute will be the main topic at the upcoming presentation by Dr Gianluca Tozzi.

Gianluca, Senior Lecturer in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Portsmouth, is one of five Flinders Visiting International Research Fellows at Flinders this year. He has come to Flinders to help develop Flinders' expertise in DVC, and to create international collaborations with the Zeiss Global Centre. The Centre aims to undertake research into the structural competence of biological structures, biomaterials and bio-inspired engineering materials, through advanced X-ray microscopy, including the use of DVC.

Gianluca will be at Flinders for eight weeks.

All interested Flinders researchers are welcome to attend the half hour presentation. Please RSVP to debbie.cocks@flinders.edu.au

Do you have 3 minutes? In that 3 minutes can you answer the question, “Which are the next walls to fall?”

By sharing your innovative idea/research project or business idea to the Falling Walls Lab, you can win a scholarship and travel to the 2017 finale in Berlin. The Falling Walls Lab aims to foster scientific and entrepreneurial innovations and to promote the exchange between young scholars and professionals emerging from different fields of expertise.

The Falling Walls Lab Australia will take place on 12 September 2017, at the Shine Dome in Canberra, hosted by the Australian Academy of Science supported by the German Embassy in Canberra. Applications for FWL2017 are now open and can be made through the Academy’s website and http://falling-walls.com/lab/apply.

Applications close - 12 June 2017. Dr Brodie Beales can provide advice and assistance on applications. Brodie can be contacted via email brodie.beales@flinders.edu.au or extn: 12275

For more information, see the Falling Walls Lab flyer.

Dr Marina Delpin, Dr Angela Crettenden, and
Dr Ashok Manoharan

The 2017 Researcher Mentoring Scheme was launched on March 31 and welcomed new mentees and mentors to the year-long program.

Hosted by the Research Services Office, the launch provided an opportunity for Scheme participants and senior leadership to meet, mingle and learn more about the Scheme and the assistance it provides to Flinders' early-career researchers (ECRs).  With most mentees and mentors in attendance, the event provided a relaxed environment for many matched participants to meet for the first time.

Professor Robert Saint, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research), welcomed guests and officially opened the 2017 scheme, by passing on good wishes to participants and thanks to all involved.  A speech by Dr Marina Delpin, Project Manager of Flinders' Researcher Mentoring Scheme, followed and outlined the successes of the program to date and plans for the year ahead.

"This scheme aims to build research capacity and capability in our ECRs and those transitioning to mid-career status.  Mentoring has assisted our ECRs by providing guidance on career planning and building successful collaborations and supportive alliances," Marina said.

Dr Jane Fischer, Dr Kendall Corbin, with launch guests.

"Now in its sixth year, the Mentoring Scheme will have cumulatively assisted more than 130 ECRs by year’s end.  It has provided a positive impact on publication output, success from grant applications and vastly improved strategies for leading and managing research teams, while establishing a positive culture of mentoring here at Flinders."

"This year, more researcher development opportunities are being offered to mentees to complement their mentoring experience. These events aim to promote a collegial, supportive environment for mentees and strengthen partnerships amongst their peers, plus upskill them in key areas that will fortify their research career at this critical stage – early- to mid-career.”

"We are confident that this scheme, which is constantly evolving based on feedback from mentees and mentors, is delivering great outcomes for all involved."

This year's Scheme will continue to run for the remainder of the year with the program officially concluding in December.

Where: Rm 109, Health Sciences Building
When: Tuesday 2 May 2017
Time: 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM
RSVP: via iEnrol

Dr Peter Wigley, Manager, Research Ethics and Integrity - Research Service Office, will present to interested attendees on Research Integrity and Misconduct. Research integrity involves the responsible conduct of research, and the handling of research misconduct.

In this country, the prevailing guideline for research integrity is the Australian Code for the Responsible Conduct of Research (‘the Code’), published in 2007 by the ARC, NHMRC and Universities Australia (the national Vice-Chancellor’s organisation).

In addition to the general requirement for all researchers to conduct and report their research responsibly, it is a condition of funding from the ARC and NHMRC that institutions comply with the Code. Therefore, the University must ensure that all researchers (staff and students), and relevant research support staff, understand their responsibilities under the Code.

This seminar will provide an overview of the Code and the relevant policies, procedures and support within Flinders University.

For enquiries please phone Peter, ext. 15466.

Flinders researchers are now eligible for a 15% discount on their APCs (article processing charges) with BioMed Central and Springer Open, thanks to the Library becoming a supporter member.

BioMed Central is the open access publisher of more than 290 peer-reviewed journals in biology, clinical medicine and health.

Springer Open publishes across all areas of science, technology, medicine, the humanities and social sciences, in both book and journal formats, with high-level peer-review and production processes.

Your discount is automatically applied when you submit your manuscript on campus; if you are off campus, you will be prompted to choose Flinders on the APC agreement page.

See the Library's support pages for more information, or contact your Liaison Librarian.

How about a new way to monitor and treat irregular heartbeats? Or developing new mobile technologies for intervention in heart disease? Or just work on providing better information so that the right intervention and prevention measures can be selected? The best way might be to attempt all three, and this is what Associate Professor Anand Ganesan, Matthew Flinders Fellow in Electrophysiology, is going to do.

Irregular heartbeats are the most common form of heart disease, with 1 in 4 people showing signs of it during their lifetime. Heart disease is still the number 1 killer in Australia and around the world.

Anand’s team is working on developing advanced computational techniques to analyse and understand atrial fibrillation (AF) – where the heart beats in an irregular fashion, to allow for faster, safer and more effective AF treatments.

The team is also interested in using mobile devices in community health. His team has developed mobile apps to monitor AF symptoms, and is working with Stepathlon, an international employee health and wellness provider (used by some of Australia’s largest companies), to improve large scale mobile health and lifestyle programs. In a previous study, published in the prestigious Journal of the American College of Cardiology, his team demonstrated that these types of large scale mobile health programs can lead to reproducible improvements in physical activity, sedentary behaviour and weight.

A Future Leader Fellowship from the Heart Foundation has been awarded to Anand based upon the three aims. The Future Leader Fellowship supports the best and brightest cardiovascular researchers who are within 10 years post PhD to develop their own research portfolios and become leaders of cardiovascular research groups.

“It is a real privilege to be funded by the Heart Foundation to carry out my research team’s program….we really genuinely hope to make a difference to the cardiovascular health of Australians and people around the world,” said Anand.

Calling female postdoctoral and early career researchers who are interested in an academic career in Engineering. The Monash Engineering Women's Leadership Award is an excellent opportunity for networking and skill development in what can be a challenging career.

The Award will support attendance at the 2 day conference, the networking dinner, and 2 nights accommodation for interstate awardees.

For more details and registration/application, see the conference website. Or contact: Jovana.Ohis@monash.edu, p: +61 3 9902 0538

Applications close 19 April.

Where: Research Services Office - Room B2, Basement, Union Building
When: Tuesday 18 April 2017
Time: 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM

The next Research Data and Reporting Team’s monthly drop-in session for interested academic and professional staff will be held on Tuesday 18 April 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 18 April 2017. Participants are encouraged to register at ienrol if they are interested in attending.

Nine Flinders Research Higher Degree students were recently acknowledged for the excellence of their research and communication skills.

The winners of the Flinders 2016 Best Research Higher Degree Student Publications were awarded at a ceremony in late February. Winners received $1,000 and were presented with a certificate at the ceremony. To be eligible for the award, the student must be enrolled in a Research Higher Degree at Flinders and the publication published in the current year or year before.

The winning papers and supervisors were:

Faculty of Education, Humanities and Law

Selim Reza - Law
"Hyper-individualized Recruitment: Rural-urban Labour Migration and Precarious Construction Work in Bangladesh." Migration, Mobility, & Displacement 2 (2): 40-61.
Supervisors: Dr Maria Giannacopoulos and Associate Professor Marinella Marmo

Susan Arthure - Humanities and Creative Arts (Archaeology)
"Being Irish: The Nineteenth Century South Australian Community of Baker’s Flat." Archaeologies, 11(2), pp169-188
Supervisors: Associate Professor Heather Burke and Dr Alice Gorman

Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences

Leena Baghdadi - Medicine
"The Impact of Traditional Cardiovascular Risk Factors on Cardiovascular Outcomes in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis" PLoS One. 2015 Feb 17;10(2):e0117952. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0117952. eCollection 2015. (Baghdadi LR, Woodman RJ, Shanahan EM, Mangoni AA.)
Supervisor: Professor Arduino Mangoni

Antonio Inserra - Medicine
"Inflammasome signaling affects anxiety- and depressive-like behavior and gut microbiome composition." Molecular Psychiatry 2016 Jun;21(6):797-805. doi: 10.1038/mp.2016.46. Epub 2016 Apr 19. (Wong ML, Inserra A, Lewis MD, Mastronardi CA, Leong L, Choo J, Kentish S, Xie P, Morrison M, Wesselingh SL, Rogers GB, Licinio J.)
Supervisor: Professor Julio Licinio

Faculty of Science and Engineering

Christopher Brauer - School of Biological Sciences
"Riverscape genomics of a threatened fish across a hydroclimatically heterogeneous river basin." Molecular Ecology, 25,  5093–5113. (Brauer, C. J., Hammer, M. P. and Beheregaray, L. B.)
Supervisor: Professor Luciano Beheregaray

Gholamreza Kefayati - School of Computer Science, Engineering and Mathematics
"Lattice Boltzmann Method for simulation of mixed convection of a Bingham fluid in a lid-driven cavity." International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, 103, 725-743 (H.R. Kefayati and R.R. Huilgol.)
Supervisor: Professor Raj Huilgol

Max Worthington - School of Chemical and Physical Sciences
"Sulfur-Limonene Polysulfide: A Material Synthesized Entirely from Industrial By-Products and Its Use in Removing Toxic Metals from Water and Soil." Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 55, 1714-1718 (M. P. Crockett, A. M. Evans, M. J. H. Worthington*, I. S. Albuquerque, A. D. Slattery, C. T. Gibson, J. A. Campbell, D. A. Lewis, G. J. L. Bernardes, J. M. Chalker.)
Supervisor: Dr Justin Chalker

Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences

Jamie-Lee Pennesi - School of Psychology
"A systematic review of the existing models of disordered eating: Do they inform the development of effective interventions?" Clinical Psychology Review, 43, 175–192. (Pennesi, J.L., & Wade, T.D.)
Supervisor: Professor Tracey Wade

Benjamin McLean - School of Psychology
"Association of the jumping to conclusions and evidence integration biases with delusions in psychosis: A detailed meta-analysis." Schizophrenia Bulletin. (McLean, B.F., Mattiske, J.K., & Balzan, R.P.)
Supervisor: Dr Ryan Balzan and Dr Julie Mattiske

What to do after holding a well-attended international workshop at Flinders? Get a grant so that papers from the workshop can be shared with the rest of the international community, of course.

3D model and hologram of maritime archaeology
on show at the UNITWIN workshop

This is what Jonathan Benjamin and Wendy Van Duivenvoorde, School of Archaeology, have been successful in achieving. They have been awarded $12,208 from the Honor Frost Foundation (HFF) Maritime Archaeology Research grant for the production of an international, peer reviewed monograph.

HFF is aimed predominately at supporting maritime archaeology in the eastern Mediterranean. They also offer small grant awards that support the development of regional research, regional capacity building, and developing the discipline. The creation of a peer reviewed monograph from papers based upon, but not limited to, the workshop held on 24 and 25 November 2016 at Flinders.

“The papers presented will form the core of an international, peer reviewed edited volume. Other international specialists who were not able to make the workshop have been invited to contribute to add to the quality papers from the workshop,” said Jonathan. 

The workshop included speakers from France, South Korea, UK, Egypt, and Australia (local and interstate) and was a UNESCO UNITWIN workshop. UNESCO is the United Nationals Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, with UNITWIN being the abbreviation for the University Twinning and Networking Programme under UNESCO.

The aim of UNITWIN is to build university networks and encourage inter-university cooperation through the transfer of knowledge across borders. Flinders is the current Chair Holder of the UNITWIN Maritime Archaeology network.

The deadline for paper/chapter submissions is 1 April 2017 to john.mccarthy@flinders.edu.au. The aim is for the book launch to be held by late 2018.

Entries and nominations are now open for the 2017 Australian Museum Eureka Prizes. There are 15 prizes on offer this year including one NEW prize.

These prizes include:

Research & Innovation

• NSW Office of Environment and Heritage Eureka Prize for Environmental Research
• University of Technology Sydney Eureka Prize for Excellence in Data Science **NEW**
• UNSW Eureka Prize for Excellence in Interdisciplinary Scientific Research
• Australian Infectious Diseases Research Centre Eureka Prize for Infectious Diseases Research
• Johnson & Johnson Eureka Prize for Innovation in Medical Research
• ANSTO Eureka Prize for Innovative Use of Technology
• Defence Science and Technology Eureka Prize for Outstanding Science in Safeguarding Australia
• Macquarie University Eureka Prize for Outstanding Early Career Researcher
• UNSW Eureka Prize for Scientific Research

Leadership

• 3M Eureka Prize for Emerging Leader in Science
• CSIRO Eureka Prize for Leadership in Innovation and Science
• University of Technology Sydney Eureka Prize for Outstanding Mentor of Young Researchers

Science Engagement

• Department of Industry, Innovation and Science Eureka Prize for Innovation in Citizen Science
• Department of Industry, Innovation and Science Eureka Prize for Science Journalism

For more on the Australian Museum Eureka Prizes, including the full prize line-up, FAQs and tips from the judges, visit the Eureka Prize website. All nominations close on 5 May 2017.

To assist you in preparing your nominations for these particular prizes, the Research Services Office provides support for the review, editing and submission of applications.

Should you wish to indicate your interest in applying for any of the listed awards please contact Brodie Beales in the Research Services Office on 8201 2275 or via email (brodie.beales@flinders.edu.au) to discuss your application support needs.

Guided by the belief that every life has equal value, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation works to help all people lead healthy, productive lives.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is inviting proposals for the latest round of Grand Challenges Explorations. Grand Challenges Explorations fosters early-stage discovery research to expand the pipeline of ideas for solving our greatest global health and development challenges. Launched in 2008 with an initial $100 million commitment from the foundation, Grand Challenges Explorations grants have already been awarded to more than 1200 researchers in more than 65 countries.

Applicants can be at any experience level; in any discipline; and from any organization, including colleges and universities, government laboratories, research institutions, non-profit organizations, and for-profit companies. Initial grants will be US $100,000 each, and projects showing promise will have the opportunity to receive additional funding of up to US $1 million.

The Gates Foundation are accepting applications on the following four topics until May 3, 2017:

• Health Systems Strengthening: Ensuring Effective Health Supply Chains;
• New Approaches for Improving Timeliness of Routine Immunizations in Low-Resource Settings;
• Wearables and Technology for Maternal, Neonatal and Child Health Behavior Change;
• Innovations for Integrated Diagnostics Systems;

Applications from Flinders Researchers should be submitted to the Research Services Office by 19 April 2017.

Full descriptions of the new topics and application instructions in English, French, Korean, Portuguese, Chinese and Spanish will be available very soon on http://www.grandchallenges.org.

The Foundation invites researchers to check these two blogs: Innovation for an Interconnected Laboratory System and Improving Timeliness and Completeness of Routine Immunizations in Low-Resource Settings Will Save Lives. For details and application instructions, please visit the Grand Challenges website.