The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Australian Research Council (ARC), Professor Sue Thomas, has welcomed the Government’s announcement of the findings of the Engagement and Impact Assessment pilot. The Engagement and Impact (EI) Assessment was first announced in December 2015, as part of the National Innovation and Science Agenda (NISA), and the release of the EI Pilot Report marks a key milestone for this initiative. The following information has been provided by the ARC from their Engagement and Impact Assessment webpages.

The report summarises the findings from the pilot, and outlines modifications to the methodology for the Engagement and Impact Assessment 2018. The release of the Pilot Report marks the end of the pilot and the start of preparations for the first full assessment in 2018.

A selection of 10 broad discipline groups (Fields of Research) were tested in the pilot enabling a spread of disciplines across STEM and HASS to be involved with a minimum of burden. Discipline groups that were tested by the pilot included: Chemical Sciences, Medical and Health Sciences, History and Archaeology, and Philosophy and Religious Studies, Environmental Sciences, Agricultural and Veterinary Sciences, Engineering, Education, Studies in Creative Arts and Writing, Language Communication and Culture, and Indigenous research.

Flinders participated in both the engagement and impact part of the pilot. To discuss the Flinders pilot submission, please contact research.data@flinders.edu.au.

The Engagement and Impact Assessment Pilot 2017 Report is now available here.

The opportunity to contribute to The Australian Survey of Social Attitudes (AuSSA), by sponsoring a question or questions relevant to next years theme of "Religion" is now open. The proposed questions to be included in the 2018 survey must be confirmed by 12 January 2018. For more information about the 2018 survey visit: https://www.acspri.org.au/aussa/2018.

AuSSA is run as an annual postal survey using a nationally representative sample (drawn from the Australian Electoral Roll) of at least 1200 adult Australians in total, sampled at four periods over the year: May, August and November 2018 and February 2019. Flinders Researchers may partner with ACSPRI as sponsors of AuSSA entitling them to include additional questions. The fee will be $1,000 (exc GST) per question (i.e. per 'tick') for the full sample of 1200, or $400 to be included in any one of the 4 sub-samples.

AuSSA is an important source of data for the scientific study of the social attitudes, beliefs and opinions of Australians, how they change over time, and how they compare with other societies. This year's survey will include questions about attitudes around religion. Questions include:

• Do we trust too much in science and not enough in religious faith?
• Would you accept a person from a different religion or with a very different religious view from yours marrying a relative of yours?
• Do you agree that religion is just as relevant to life today as it was in the past?
• Do you think that churches and religious organisations in this country have too much power or too little power?
• In your opinion, does your religion treat men and women equally, treat men better than women, or treat women better than men?

If researchers are interested in this opportunity or wish to find out more about it then they should contact ACSPRI via email at surveys@acspri.org.au.

The Defence Science and Technology (DST) Group and Defence Science Institute (DSI) are partnering to identify research experience in fields that are relevant to Modelling Complex Warfighting – including mathematical, computer, and human behaviour sciences. The identified centres of expertise from Australian academic sector may find opportunities for long-term engagements in future research activities and partnerships with the DST Group.

The Modelling Complex Warfighting (MCW) Strategic Research Investment (SRI), led by the Joint and Operations Analysis Division, expressly seeks to revolutionise how we undertake operations analysis in DST Group to better handle the interaction of complex geopolitical, social, technological, economic and cultural factors for design of the future force. Force design is the planning and decision-making process regarding military equipment and future defence operations. Such decisions are often made under conditions of high uncertainty.

The MCW SRI aims to address the force design and future defence force employment problems under four broad research themes: Conquering Uncertainty, Innovative Simulations, Knowledge Synthesis, and Modelling Complexity.

The MCW SRI is a five-year research initiative and is one of a portfolio of strategic research programs sponsored by the Chief Defence Scientist. This initiation has only just begun and you have a chance to influence it. At present there are seven active research areas in this initiative:

• Machine-discovered behaviour,
• Simulation-based concept exploration,
• Modelling complex human systems,
• Capability decision evaluation under uncertainty,
• Concepts for complexity-enabled warfare,
• Force design data culture, and
• Modelling unknowns.

Phase 1: Initial call for proposals. Interested organisations are encouraged to identify relevant fields of endeavour or expertise where they would be willing to engage and partner with DST Group’s Joint and Operations Analysis Division on Modelling Complex Warfighting. Organisations are requested to submit short organisational profiles including relevant experience and proposed approaches for addressing the questions of interest. The intent of this call is to enable short listing for Phase 2. No funds will be exchanged for this stage. The call for expressions of interest will be due on 17 November 2017.

Download :

1. Full Expression of Interest document SRI EOI
2. FAQs for EOIs_MCWSRI

Please email the EOI direct to MCWSRI@defencescienceinstitute.com, and copy Tony Kyriacou your response.

For the 2017 Dean Jaensch Lecture, Paul Kelly, Editor-at-Large on The Australian, has been invited to present on The Crisis in Australian Democracy. The Lecture will be held in Room 1, Level 1, Flinders in the City, on Wednesday 8 November 2017. The Dean Jaensch Lecture pays tribute to Flinders University’s notable Professor of Politics, Dean Jaensch, a respected political analyst with particular interests in electoral politics, voting systems and political behaviour, and political parties.

Paul was previously the Editor-in-Chief of the Australia and he writes on Australian politics, public policy and international affairs. He has covered Australian governments from Gough Whitlam to Malcolm Turnbull. He is a regular television commentator on the Sky News program, Australian Agenda. He is the author of nine books including the End of Certainty on the politics and economics of the 1980’s, Triumph and Demise on the Rudd-Gillard era and The March of Patriots, providing a re-interpretation of Paul Keating and John Howard in office.

Paul holds a Doctor of Letters from Melbourne University and in 2010 he was a Vice-Chancellor’s Fellow at Melbourne University. He holds Honorary Doctorates from Sydney University, Griffith University and the University of NSW. He is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia. He has been a Fellow at the Lowy Institute in Sydney, the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and the Menzies Centre, King’s College London.

Refreshments and finger food will follow the one hour lecture - includes question time. Attendees are requested to arrive by 5:30 pm for a 5:45 pm start. To RSVP for the event, Register online.

The next Research Data and Reporting Team’s monthly drop-in session for interested academic and professional staff will be held on Tuesday 21 November 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 November 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 November for interested academic and professional staff in September will be held on Tuesday 14 November 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 14 November 2017 and Tuesday 28 November 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.

From left to right: Dhara Amin and Laura Gell

At the state final of the Present Around the World (PATW) competition, Flinders was represented by PhD students, Dhara Amin and Laura Gell. Dhara’s talk on “Debunking myths about slipped discs” was judged the best talk by the panel of three judges. The event was held under the Joint Technical Program, the Institution of Engineering and Technology South Australia and the Northern Territory Local Network. Dhara will receive a fully funded trip to the national competition, the winner of which will present at Asia Pacific PATW Regional Final later in 2018. The Global competition will be held in London, UK.

Historically, the Flinders Engineering students have participated in the Student Papers Night for many years and have won the vast majority of events. Last year, Benjamin McCarl, who completed his Bachelor of Engineering (Biomedical), Master of Engineering (Biomedical) with a specialisation in the Mechanical Engineering stream in 2017, won the same event, and went on to be awarded second place at the National PATW Competition in 2017.

Laura, a 2017 Fresh Scientist, presented at PATW on her PhD research, “Sleep apnoea and the nightly battle to keep breathing”.

“Laura delivered an excellent presentation and I’m proud of both of our students for delivering such high quality presentations to represent Flinders,” said Associate Professor John Costi, College of Science and Engineering.

PATW is a competition to give young engineers the opportunity to enhance their presentation skills, conveying complex technical information to a mixed audience of technical and non-technical.

Places for Happiness explores two of the most important performance-based activities in the Philippines: the processions and Passion Plays associated with Easter and the mass-dance phenomenon known as "street dancing." The scale of these hand-crafted performances in terms of duration, time commitment, and productive labor marks the Philippines as one of the world's most significant and undervalued performance-centered cultures. Drawing on a decade of fieldwork, Dr William Peterson, College of Humanities and Creative Arts, examines how people come together in the streets or on temporary stages, celebrating a shared sense of community and creating places for happiness.

The first half of the book focuses on localised and often highly idiosyncratic versions of the Passion of Christ. Will considers not only what people do in these events, but what it feels like to participate. The second half provides a window into the many expressions of "street dancing." Street dancing is inflected by localised indigenous and folk dance traditions that are reinforced at school and practiced in conjunction with religious civic festivals. Will identifies key frames that shape and contain the individual in the Philippines, while tracking how the local expands its expressive home by engaging in a dialogue with regional, national, and diasporic Filipino imaginaries.

The final draft of this book, much of it written while on a fellowship at the International Institute for Asian Studies at the University of Leiden, was completed shortly after Will joined Flinders from Monash University in 2014.

Earlier this year, the book was shortlisted for the prestigious International Convention of Asia Scholars Book Prize in the Social Sciences category, the most competitive of such book prizes globally. Originally published in hardback in 2016, the book has now been reissued in paperback, and is available for purchase in paperback from the University of Hawai'i Press..

If you have a publication that you would like to promote to the Flinders' community, please contact Nikki Johnson on nikki.johnson@flinders.edu.au.

The South Australian Space Industry Centre (SASIC) will support the State’s emerging space industry by providing funding of up $1 million a year to grow jobs and build South Australia’s space ecosystem through the Space Innovation Fund. In September 2017 the South Australian Government created the SASIC to drive space industry innovation, research and entrepreneurial development. The SASIC will support space entrepreneurs, create an incubator for space projects and an environment where new space technologies can be rapidly developed. The SASIC will build on the work done by the previous Space Industry Office at Defence SA, including the creation of the first space strategy by any jurisdiction in Australia.

The Fund is the first step in establishing a new Space Innovation Hub in South Australia. It will be used to identify and ultimately appoint an organisation to run an intensive program and deliver services for new space start-ups and early stage businesses from around the world to build specialist space related expertise.

The Space Innovation Fund will award $1 million a year, for four years, to support training scholarships, incubation services and an accelerator program.

• Space skills training scholarships

  Young entrepreneurs and engineers will be given the opportunity to take their innovative concept to the next level. Up to five space skills training scholarships will be offered, with a maximum $20,000 for each scholarship per annum.

• Space Incubator Program

  Support for entrepreneurs including business advice, market research, networking and business plan preparation to convert ideas into early stage businesses.

• Space Accelerator Program
  Support for early stage space-tech companies to rapidly develop their technology, build channels to market and pitch for investment by tapping into a global network of mentors, investors, and corporate partners, giving them access to some of the most advanced technologies and research.
     
  In total $900,000 per year has been allocated to the Space Incubation Program and the Space Accelerator Program, including grants to accelerator participants. 

A global call for proposals from organisations to run the Space Accelerator Program and/or the Space Incubator Program is now open.

Key dates are:

• 16 October 2017 – Request for proposals opens
• 10 November 2017 – Request for proposals closes
• 22 November 2017 – Short-listed applicant negotiations commence
• 12 February 2018 – Space Incubator Program and Space Accelerator Program open to global applications

Please download the linked document for guidance on how to apply. For more information please refer to SASIC's Frequently Asked Questions.

Applications must be lodged via email to spaceoffice@sa.gov.au. For advice and assistance in applying, please contact Tony Kyriacou, Research Development and Support.

From left to right: Professor Jennifer Tieman and Ms Kim Devery

Over $60 million for new projects that will help improve quality and access to palliative care has been announced by the Minister of Health, the Hon Greg Hunt MP. This funding includes $45.4 million through the National Palliative Care Projects grants initiative for 12 projects that will help people on their final journey, and their families, with end-of-life care. This equated to an average of $3.78 million per project, but Flinders has secured over $4 million for our part in the National Specialist Palliative Care and Advance Care Planning Advisory Services project, $3.6 million for CareSearch, and a further $743,061 for End of Life Essentials for Acute Hospital Clinicians project.

The National Specialist Palliative Care and Advance Care Planning Advisory Services project, which is separate from the 12 projects, received a $15 million over three years from 2017-18, whereby Flinders share of $4 million will be split between two streams of work, under Professor Jennifer Tieman, (Dean Research, College of Nursing and Health Sciences and Matthew Flinders Fellow).

Jennifer has also brought in $3.6 million to continue CareSearch under her directorship. CareSearch is also partnering with three other projects to deliver outcomes for the sector and for the community. This will result in a further $250K in total. 

• Hammondcare - Advance Project
• St Vincent’s Hospital (Melbourne) - Australian carer toolkit for advanced disease
• Metro South Hospital and Health Care: Caring Safely for Australians at Home package

In addition to these two successes, Ms Kim Devery, Palliative and Supportive Services, and her research team have been awarded $743,061 for End of Life Essentials for Acute Hospital Clinicians.

"These projects will help support health professionals deliver palliative and end of life care in aged care and primary care. Access to evidence and information will make sure that families and carers are more aware and able to be involved in decisions and planning," said Jennifer. "The palliative care team will also be involved with other project groups across Australia providing education, developing carer resources and building digital supports." Jennifer noted that by working together with other researchers and services, Flinders has the opportunity to achieve more and provide better care for Australians who are coming to the end of  their life.

This success showcases the leadership in Palliative Care research at Flinders. The ongoing impact CareSearch has been offering to a whole range of evidence based information about palliative care for patients, families, carers, residential aged care facilities, general practitioners and health care professionals, was key for the the success in the National Palliative Care Projects grant round.

A comprehensive, experiential Technology Transfer Workshop will be delivered by local, national and international academic and industry experts, 20 – 24 November 2017 at Flinders Tonsley.

Flinders University are pleased to offer this FREE intensive workshop to selected participants to explore investment in, or commercial opportunities for, your research. We will then guide you in formulating a presentation for potential investors. Researchers at all career stages, including late-stage PhD students are encouraged to apply.

Are you passionate about making a difference with your research? Do you want to gain real business skills, professional networks and the confidence to give you a professional edge? Have you got an innovative program or product idea that needs some fine tuning to bring it to life? This workshop may be for you…

The five-day intensive program will focus on how to:

• articulate the business potential in their research
• choose a business model and identify funding alternatives
• build a business case for one of their current research projects
• map out their own commercialisation path from ‘concept’ to ‘commodity’
• formulate a persuasive business presentation for potential investors
• understand the patenting and licencing process

This practical intensive course will teach you everything you need to know about commercialisation by:

• Demystifying the commercialisation process;
• Exploring new investment markets;
• Presenting practical and interactive sessions on legal, IP, business model development, market identification, presentation skills and networking;
• Honing your skills using real time practical exercises relevant to your project;
• Providing you access through interactive mentoring sessions with business coaches, industry leaders and innovation mentors.

The workshop will focus on the background work required to build a strong business case. This includes developing a network, understanding intellectual property law, sourcing practical support, and choosing the funding option that is aligned with the prospects of the research.

Applications close 6 November 2017.

More information and applications can be accessed via the Workshop webpage.

This is a call out for expressions of interest from potential mentees and mentors to participate in the Flinders University Researcher Mentoring Scheme, February – December 2018. EOIs are due Monday 27 November 2017. This initiative is a strategy to support our researchers who are early-career and those transitioning to mid-career status, defined as one to ten years post PhD conferral. Each mentee is assisted in developing and maintaining a one-on-one mentoring partnership with a mentor, who is a senior Flinders academic and matched based on a mentee’s requirements.

The Flinders Scheme has positively impacted on ECRs’ well-being and research profile, including grant income, publications and engagement. Mentees have reported that the scheme has enhanced their ability to plan their research career, set goals, lead, manage and collaborate.

My mentor’s research area is very niche and she has built an international reputation in the area – so I have some great insights into strategy to get research noticed, build capacity, and identify strategic opportunities to take advantage of.  

I got some great mentoring on strategic networking both within and outside the university, which I had no idea about. I think the best part is having someone to talk to about whatever is going on… someone who can be objective.  

Scheme coordinator, Dr Marina Delpin, is available to discuss any questions that you may have about the mentoring scheme and can be contacted on 8201 3873 or marina.delpin@flinders.edu.au.

The eligibility criteria and application documents to participate as a mentee or mentor are available via RePortal, which can be accessed by Flinders staff via the Okta login page, or directly from Marina.

The Stronger Systems for Health Security call for research has been developed under the Australian Government's Health Security Initiative for the Indo-Pacific region. The program will be managed by the Indo-Pacific Centre for Health Security.

Under this new research program, up to $16 million will be invested over three years, commencing 2017-18. The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) invites proposals from eligible applicants for proposals to a maximum value of $3 million over a maximum of three years.

DFAT invites proposals from eligible applicants for health policy and / or systems research in relation to health security. The call will close at 5 pm AEDT 6 December 2017. The objectives of this call for research are:

• To support high quality and collaborative health systems and / or policy research that contributes evidence to strengthen regional health security, in particular in Southeast Asia and the Pacific;
• To promote translation of that research into health policy and / or practice in the region;
• To increase the capacity and expertise of research institutions in the region in health systems and / or policy research related to health security; and
• To contribute to the growth of Australian researchers' experience of, and expertise in, health security issues in the region, for the benefit of Australia and the region.

DFAT has established an arrangement with the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) to manage an application and assessment process that will enable applicants to apply for funding. Applications must be submitted through NHMRC's Research Grants Management System (RGMS). Supporting documentation including NHMRC Advice and Instructions 2017, NHMRC Funding Rules 2017, and Guide to Peer Review 2017 are available on the NHMRC website.

If you have any queries regarding this opportunity, please contact Research Development and Support on nhmrc@flinders.edu.au.

Research into identifying muscle activity that can stabilise breathing by Laura Gell, Medical Device Research Institute, and Katherine Morel's, Flinders Centre for Innovation in Cancer, research into protecting healthy tissue from radiotherapy has ensured that both have been named as 2017 Fresh Scientists from South Australia. Fresh Science is a national competition helping early-career researchers find, and then share, their stories of discovery. The program takes up-and-coming researchers with no media experience and turns them into spokespeople for science, giving them a taste of life in the limelight, with a day of media training and then the opportunity to showcase these new skills to school kids and the general public via two events.

About 200 SA school students will be invited to a free, one-hour forum at the South Australian Museum on 8 November to hear from the Fresh Scientists. Pub night will be held at the Lion Hotel in North Adelaide on 8 November. A crowd of around 90 science enthusiasts will be able to enjoy a beer and hear the 2017 Fresh Scientists reveal their discoveries, presenting their work in the time it takes a sparkler to burn down. Tickets are free, but bookings are essential – get yours here.

Over a million Australians suffer from sleep apnoea, repeatedly stopping breathing during sleep. Laura has found that by studying breathing effort and muscle activity around airway collapse and reopening, there is evidence of key changes in upper airway muscle activity that is considered to be important in stabilising breathing. "Understanding these mechanisms is vital in creating new, desperately needed treatment options for Obstructive Sleep Apnoea," said Laura.

Katherine is working on ways to limit the radiation-induced damage to near-by healthy tissues, which can result in significant side effects, for patients undergoing radiotherapy cancer treatment. "My work shows that a naturally occurring compound can protect healthy tissues from radiation-induced damage, while at the same time, doubling the cancer killing ability of radiotherapy," said Katherine.

Past Flinders scientists who have been selected include Dr Mona Awadalla and Stephanie Shepheard in 2016, and Dr Justin Chalker in 2015.

The Royal Society and the National Research Foundation Singapore (NSF) have established a Post-doctoral International Collaborative Fellowship for Commonwealth citizens. Up to ten Post-doctoral Fellowships will be awarded up to S$250,000 for salary support from one to three years to do research in either Oceans or Sustainable Cities at a Singapore institution.

Find out more about the Fellowship and how to apply here. Read more about potential supervisors and projects for Oceans and potential supervisors for Sustainable cities at the links. Applications close at the NSF on 30 November 2017 with the RDS closing date of 16 November 2017.

Are you ready for the future of healthcare in Australia? Do you have an innovative idea for an inter- and/or multidisciplinary solution? The InnoHealth Australia initiative 2017-2019, from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (Germany) and Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, is looking for innovative proposals and solutions for the challenges of the Australian and German healthcare sectors. Australian researchers, postdocs and entrepreneurs are invited to apply to attend a 2-day InnovationPlatform in Melbourne, and/or a 1-week InnovationTour through Germany visiting top research institutions and SMEs in the healthcare sector.

Up to 30 experienced researchers will be selected for the InnovationTour, in November 2018 and the InnovationPlatform, which will be held in Melbourne during April 2018. The Australian Call for Ideas & Innovation entry deadline is 28 February 2018. The Application form which covers both is available here Call for Ideas & Innovation Australia | Application form (interactive) - or can be downloaded from the InnoHealth Australia 2017-2019 website.

The topics ro be considered in this call are: eHealth and integrated care models, precision healthcare/individual health, antibiotic resistance and antimicrobial research, nutrition.

Questions can be directed to the InnoHealth Australia Project Team at Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft on inno-health@fraunhofer.de. Further information is also available in the Call for Ideas & Innovation Australia | Guidelines.

Research Development and Support can also provide advice on this new opportunity.