The Australian Code for the Responsible Conduct of Research, 2018 (the 2018 Code) and the Guide to Managing and Investigating Potential Breaches of the Code, 2018 (the Investigation Guide) have now been released.

The clearly articulated principles and responsibilities in the 2018 Code will promote greater consistency across the research sector and build upon the foundation laid by the 2007 Code to ensure that research conducted in Australia is of the highest quality and meets the utmost standards of integrity.

The changes within the 2018 Code and the Investigation Guide are currently being reviewed by Flinders Research Management. The Research Integrity and Misconduct section of the Flinders website will be updated shortly. The majority of the information on the pages relate to the 2007 Code, but the links to the 2018 Code and the Investigation Guide have been included.

The 2018 Code and Investigation Guide are the result of an extensive review and consultation process. The 2018 Code presents eight clear principles of responsible research and 29 key responsibilities for researchers and institutions. The Investigation Guide describes, in detail, processes for managing and investigating potential breaches of the 2018 Code that can be applied to the range of research contexts in Australia—from small medical research institutions to large universities and across all research disciplines. It aims to ensure procedural fairness to all parties.

The 2018 Code and Investigation Guide are only one part of the framework for ensuring research is conducted with integrity and the new Code will be complemented by revisions to NHMRC’s and ARC’s research integrity and misconduct policies, funding agreements and the Australian Research Integrity Committee Framework.

In addition to the Investigation Guide, the 2018 Code will be supported by a number of other supplementary guidance documents. The documents will support implementation of the principles and responsibilities in the 2018 Code and – when published – will establish a robust and coherent framework for research integrity and quality in Australia.

Waste not, want not is a guiding principle between Flinders Medical Centre (FMC) surgeons and Flinders’ researchers, Professor Simon Brookes and Associate Professor Phil Dinning, College of Medicine and Public Health. In a globally unique collaborative partnership, patients can opt for their intestinal tissue removed during elective surgery at FMC to be used for basic research by Simon and Phil's research groups.

The team are looking at nerve function and how to create new effective treatments for a variety of bowel conditions. Professor David Wattchow, a consultant surgeon in FMC, has collaborated with Simon and Phil for many years in a wide variety of research projects. He has made arrangements so that tissue can be picked up from operating theatres and taken to the laboratory within minutes. FMC is one of few places in the world where this occurs.

This unique partnership has now led to Simon and Phil achieving international grant success. The pair were approached to participate in a consortium grant under the Stimulating Peripheral Activity to Relieve Conditions (SPARC) program for the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH). The SPARC program is a new scheme which encourages consortium bids and rewards research designed to lead to new real-world treatments.

"For the last thirty years, researchers have been studying the nerves that control the gut largely in laboratory animals. Professor Wattchow has had a huge influence on our work by making it possible to study human gut tissue that would otherwise go to waste." said Simon.

To understand how nerves in the gut can be activated to lead to new treatments, Simon studies nerve pathways and their actions. Phil studies movement of the colon in both human volunteers and surgical specimens of gut. They work alongside Marcello Costa, Nick Spencer and Taher Omari in a large collaboration based in the Centre for Neuroscience. The combination of theory, experimental and real world testing aims to establish a full picture of types of gut nerves, their location, their dimensions and their function, providing a foundation for effective pain and illness management.

"For the past 15 years, nerve pathways have been stimulated in patients with surgically implanted electrical stimulators to treat urinary urgency, incontinence and faecal incontinence. This technology has also been trialled as a treatment for constipation. Yet, how it works remains unknown," said Phil.

"We want to find out what nerve stimulation can be used as treatment for. We want to know where the nerves are, how far they go, what they do, so that we can work on new methods of stimulation systematically, rather than having one company set up a device for bladder control and another one for bowel problems," said Simon.

The consortium consists of groups from University of California Los Angeles, CALTECH, Universities of Nevada (USA) and Munich (Germany). The groups are looking at different aspects of neural pathways in the colon. The consortium aims to develop new therapeutic treatments, and additionally, are hoping their insights will influence future studies, including a greater understanding of the relationship between animal and human studies.

A keen research communicator, Dr Sam Elliott has recently participated in Flinders’ Researcher Professional Development opportunities and produced his own video abstract. Video abstracts are not a set requirement for all publishers as yet, but they are becoming more prevalent across the publishing space. They also provide a clear snapshot of the research that can be utilised by media and other social news networks to create reach beyond a published article.

The team spoke with Sam about the experience and what impact and reach it has had.

What conference did you attended?

The 6th International Qualitative Research in Sport and Exercise Conference 2018, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada. There were 200 delegates from all corners of the globe.

Why a video abstract?

While a video abstract was not required by the conference committee, I decided to create a one prior to attending the conference because I wanted to bring some visibility to my research area and strengthen my profile internationally before Day 1 of the conference.

Did you achieve your aim of increasing your visibility and profile at the conference?

Yes. The video abstract was posted onto my Twitter feed, with the twitter handle #QRSE2018, enabling it to reach the broader community of scholars who may not know of my work. This was two or three days prior to the conference. As a result there were some notable outcomes including an increase in followers, retweets, profile views and video abstract views (650+ views and 2000+ impressions). It was also an excellent medium for meeting new people at the conference. From day 1, I was approached by academics who had seen the video abstract and wanted to know more about my work, which allowed me to encourage them to attend my session. 

Did the Conference Organisers use you video abstract?

The conference had a strong digital media presence so my video abstract was trending on big screens during lunch and break times. The conference organising committee also said that they will look to encourage more of this work for the next biennial conference. 

Sam Elliott on Twitter

Getting excited for @QRSE2018 conference. I'm that excited, I even created a video abstract - take a look! Thanks to @ShapeResearch @Flinders @IanPotterFdn and @andyjstapleton for support! Full paper available now: https://t.co/ix12o6FfKo #QRSE2018 #sportparents https://t.co/WS7KmLbdFT

Dr Sam Elliott

Role: Lecturer in Sport, Health and Physical Activity and Member of the SHAPE Research Centre
College: Education, Psychology & Social Work
Campus: Bedford Park
E: sam.elliott@flinders.edu.au
T: +61 8 8201 3495
W: flinders.edu.au/people/sam.elliott

If you are interested in learning more about the services and support that are provided at Flinders in this area, please contact the Researcher Professional Development team.

Researchers – are you after training in how to interact with the media? Are you looking to become an effective communicator across mainstream and social media channels, understand how it works and what it wants? Are you aiming to increase media interest in, and coverage of, your research?

Join Karen Ashford, Flinders’ Office of Communication, Media and Engagement, and Professor Paul Willis, scientist, broadcaster and social media expert on July 5 as they lead a Researcher Professional Development workshop on Media Training.

Generating and measuring the public impact of your research is becoming an increasingly important requirement for all researchers, and media performance is a key element.

Karen Ashford will cover the basics of identifying what’s newsworthy and why, effective media releases, and fundamental presentation and interview skills. Professor Paul Willis will focus on harnessing social media to promote your research and effectively engaging with audiences to build a following.

Places are limited so book now.

The Bretagne Scholarship provides an opportunity for Flinders University researchers to create new collaborations or develop and strengthen existing relationships between researchers and industry in the region of Bretagne, France.

Engagement is not restricted to particular disciplines and innovative and imaginative proposals are encouraged.

South Australia and have an established MOU within which five key priority areas are identified:

• Defence, cyber-security and advanced manufacturing
• Smart technologies, sustainability and climate change
• Primary industries and regional economic development
• Education, skills, training and research, and
• Culture, arts and sport.

Applications should demonstrate a clear benefit for South Australia.

Funds may be requested for workshops or other joint activities with Bretagne laboratories, universities and industry or for travel, accommodation and living allowance for Flinders researchers to visit Bretagne to build or further collaboration in research.

The amount of the grant is expected to be approximately $10,000 per application and must be expended by 30 June 2019.

For each college, the relevant Dean of Research will review applications for consideration and final determination will be made by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research).

The Expression of Interest (EOI) and Guidelines are available on the RDS website. Please send your EOI to research.grants@flinders.edu.au by close of business Monday, 30 July 2018.

For advice and application assistance, please contact Mary Lyons, Senior Research Grants Officer.

Can you condense and refine your research project to quickly and succinctly explain it to your peers and the wider community? And can you do it in less than 180 seconds? The 3MT competition can teach you how!

Flinders University PhD students are invited to compete to promote their research, develop their communication skills, boost their career and be in the running to win the 2018 Asia-Pacific 3MT prize of a $5,000 research travel grant.

Flinders University students and staff, and members of the public are encouraged to attend the competition heats and finals, and support our students and their ground-breaking research.

Registrations close on 25 June 2018 and the First Round will commence on 10 July 2018.

For information, registration details and practice session times are available on the Office of Graduate Research website. Contact Dani Milos, Office of Graduate Research for more information or assistance.

Flinders University has partnered with Industry Mentoring Network in STEM (IMNIS) to offer 20 PhDs the chance to receive one year of mentoring from an industry leader in the areas of MedTech-Pharma and Energy-Minerals.

IMNIS is a prestigious, award-winning initiative of the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering (ATSE).

Mentors (industry leaders) and mentees (PhD students) meet face-to-face for 1 hour each month. Guidelines are provided to both mentors and the mentees, and five state-level networking events are hosted by IMNIS to allow mentors and mentees to network and connect more broadly.

10 students will be selected for each program. Student must be enrolled as a PhD student at Flinders University and in the second year of their PhD. They must also be able to commit the necessary time to meet their mentor and attend IMNIS events as a participant in this program.

Completed Expression of Interest (EOI) forms must be submitted electronically to Dani Milos by Monday 16 July 2018. The EOI forms and further information are available on the Office of Graduate Research website. For further information contact Dani Milos or visit http://imnis.org.au

Applications for the 2018 Project Grants Program from the Physiotherapy Research Foundation are now open.

These grants are open to emerging or experienced researchers working on new or established physiotherapy research projects. Replacing the former Tagged Grant scheme, the purpose of these grants is to support research that contributes to the science and practice of physiotherapy.

Application details:

• two grants of $16,000 are available
• applications are considered on the basis of scientific merit and the likelihood of the project meeting its objectives—including preparation of a publishable manuscript within the stated time frames.

Application forms and guidelines are now available on the Foundation's website. The External closing date is Wednesday 25 July 2018. The Flinders Internal closing date is 11 July 2018. For information and application support, please contact Gareth Rees, Senior Research Grants Officer.

Would you like to understand the commercial potential of your research? Do you think you already have the Next Generation Technology or Service in Life Sciences? Then get the know-how to commercialise it!

The College of Medicine and Public Health is calling for expressions of interest from Flinders University and SAHMRI researchers, to participate in an International Summer School on Technology Transfer in Life Sciences.

There is an opportunity for up to five South Australian participants to be accepted into an International Summer School in Dresden, Germany which will take place between the 17 September to the 21 September, 2018.

For further details please refer to: www.summerschool-dresden.de

The Summer School will cover accommodation costs and up to 1200 Euro for travel.

Participants will need to pay for all other costs.

If interested please forward your CV and a one page overview which addresses;

1. What are you currently studying (research focus).
2. What have you achieved during your Masters/PhD (publications, novel research results etc).
3. What are your career aspirations and how will this Summer School help you achieve them.

CV and one page overview to be emailed to Sinead O'Connell, by 29 June 2018, 5 PM. Late applications will not be accepted.

Please note that PhD students and post docs are preferred applicants.

The AusBiotech and Johnson & Johnson Industry Excellence Awards are now open for the AusBiotech 2018 national conference, to be held from 31 October - 2 November.

AusBiotech 2018 will bring together Australian and international life science leaders and stakeholders in Brisbane to exchange ideas, strengthen partnerships across the sector and advance the industry’s standing both nationally and globally. 

Awards are presented at the AusBiotech national conference to recognise the highest achievers in the Australian life sciences. From researchers who successfully translate their discoveries to clinical practice, to companies who pioneer the developments of new treatments and reliable diagnostics, these prestigious Awards recognise the leading lights of Australia’s world-class biotechnology, medical technology and healthcare sectors. Nominations are open until Friday 28 September 2018.

Nominations for the AusBiotech and Johnson & Johnson 2018 Industry Excellence Awards are open on the following categories:

• Industry Leadership Award
• Australian Company of the Year
• Australian Emerging Company of the Year

Nominations must outline why the individual or company should receive the Award and should not exceed 400 words. For more information, visit the Awards webpages.

For advice and support, please contact Marina Delpin, Research Development and Support. The Flinders internal closing date is 14 September 2018.

Do you want to hear 10 minute TED style talks at the Tavern with free food, raffles and discounted drinks? The College of Science and Engineering student clubs and associations, in collaboration with academic staff from the College have set up a monthly STEM at the Tav event at Flinders.

Science and Engineering Researchers will be giving talks on their topic of choice, followed by a panel discussion, in an informal and fun atmosphere. STEM at the Tav is on Tuesday, 19 June 2018 from 5:30 PM to 7:30 PM. This month’s event is loosely themed 'Sustainability and Engineering' and will include the following talks:

Dr Stuart Wildy: Is a $1.60 too much to pay for petrol, when a sun ray could be free?

With rising petrol and energy prices, are electric cars and solar cell technology the way of the future. This talk looks at this issue, while reflecting on the experiences of a Flinders student-lead project who are building a solar car with an aim of road registration.

Dr Kristy Hansen: Improving acceptance of wind farms in rural communities

There are many benefits to renewable energy, which include reduced greenhouse emissions, improved air quality and avoiding the depletion of natural resources for future generations. South Australia is the largest producer of wind energy in Australia and in 2017, South Australia had 17 operating wind farms with a total installed capacity of about 1,789 MW and more than 600 wind turbines. For the future, at least 13 wind farms are under construction, proposed or approved for construction. Despite the clear benefits of renewable energy, the rapid expansion of wind energy has resulted in widespread community complaints regarding noise emission. Therefore, the aim of my research is to determine which noise components contribute most to annoyance and sleep disturbance and to propose suitable limits that will ensure minimal disruption to people living near wind farms. This research has the potential to improve the health and quality of life for people living near wind farms and to improve public acceptance of wind farms, particularly in rural communities of South Australia.

Rahmat Khezri (PhD Candidate): Renewable Energy: Dispatchable and Optimized System by Wind Farms and Battery Energy Storages

Due to air pollution issue (carbon dioxide emission) and high cost of fossil fuels, trend for using renewable energy resources to produce electrical energy has increased rapidly. By exclusion of conventional power plants and inclusion of renewable power plants such as wind farms (WFs), the power system performance characteristics have changed in many aspects. Mitigation of uncertainty and intermittency in the availability of generation from WF is a challenging task for the WF designers and energy market operators. Battery energy storage (BES) is a promising option for mitigating the stochastic characteristics of wind generation availability and enabling the integrated WF and storage system that can be dispatched in the same manner as that of a conventional generating unit. Since BES is an expensive and energy limited resource, an intelligent utilization strategy should be devised to maximize the benefits offered by the BES.

Our task is optimizing the BES size to reach the minimum cost, and planning for most efficient dispatching to have reliable system.

The aim of this event is to foster engagement and interaction between students and staff at Flinders, no matter what College or Professional area they come from, and to make STEM accessible to both the wider student body at Flinders and the general public. 

STEM at the Tav will run on the third Tuesday of every month, from 5:30 PM to 7:30 PM. The events will involve a raffle, free food and discounted drinks for presenters and attendees. Updated information can be found on the facebook event page.

If you’re a researcher in the College of Science and Engineering, and interested in presenting at future STEM at the Tav events, please email Sofie Amos.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS)/Universities Australia agreement allows researchers from our university to apply for access to various confidentialised datasets.

Over the past six months, some new datasets have been released by the ABS and the Department of Social Services. A sample of these are listed below.

Inquiries about the datasets and the application procedures can be directed to Pawel Skuza, Flinders University Statistical Consultant.

Australian Bureau of Statistics

• Australian Census Longitudinal Dataset, 2011-2016
• Patient Experiences in Australia, 2016-17
• Personal Safety, Australia, 2016
• Preschool Education, Australia, 2017
• Management and Organisational Capabilities of Australian Business, 2015-16
• Characteristics of Employment, Australia, 2017
• Work-Related Training and Adult Learning, 2016-17
• Barriers and Incentives to Labour Force Participation, Retirement and Retirement Intentions, 2016-17
• Labour Force Status and Other Characteristics of Families, Australia, 2015
• Australian Priority Investment Approach to Welfare Research Dataset, 5 percent sample, 2001 to 2015
• Household Expenditure, Income and Housing, 2015-16
• The second round of data from the 2016 Census of Population and Housing

The full list of all datasets available can be found here.

Department of Social Services

• waves 1-9 of Longitudinal Study of Indigenous Children (LSIC),
• waves 1-7 of Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC),
• waves 1-4 of Longitudinal Study of Humanitarian Migrants (BNLA)
• and waves 1-16 of Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey.

The full list of the longitudinal datasets available from DSS can be found here.

Are you an early- and mid-career researcher (EMCRs) looking for an opportunity to discuss the latest advances, tools and technologies in cutaneous biology?

The Theo Murphy Initiative (Australia) through the Australian Academy of Science is offering travel bursaries to support a diversity of EMCRs to attend the 2018 Cutaneous Biology Meeting in University of Queensland Research Station at North Stradbroke Island.

The Travel Bursaries are designed to offset the travel expenses associated with attending the event for those EMCRs who may not be able to attend without support and/or people from traditionally underrepresented demographics.

The event will take place at the University of Queensland Research Station at Stradbroke Island from 29 October to 1 November 2018. The event offers an exciting and comprehensive program that incorporates both basic and clinical research on tissue repair and regeneration as well as photobiology and skin cancer.

As part of the conference program, the Theo Murphy Initiative (Australia) will be sponsoring events dedicated to supporting early- and mid-career researchers (EMCRs) in their careers and ultimately furthering scientific discovery. Visit the conference site for information about the program and registration costs.

Visit the travel bursary page for more information about the opportunity.

Applications close on Sunday 12 August 2018.

For advice and application information, please contact Mary Lyons, Senior Research Grants Officer (IGII).

The Australian Synchrotron New User Symposium for 2018 will be held on 11 July at the National Centre for Synchrotron Science, Clayton, Melbourne – see the attached flyer below for further details.

The Australian Synchrotron New User Symposium is a day-long workshop and networking event that will encompass all of the capabilities and techniques currently available at the facility, and in addition will highlight capabilities that will become available with the new BRIGHT beamlines that are currently under construction.

The Symposium is ideal for those who have not previously undertaken research at the Australian Synchrotron, or just want to have a look at other possibilities to support their research activities.

The facility’s beamlines have undergone substantial upgrades in recent years, so even if you have used the facility previously, it may be worth coming along to see what new capabilities are on offer to support your research.

Australian Synchrotron New User Symposium flyer

Applications are now open for up to six individual gambling harm-related early career researcher projects, with a total funding pool of $300,000 GST excl. from the Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation.

The funding will be awarded under the Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation’s Grants for Gambling Research Program, which supports projects that aim to broaden and deepen our understanding of how the Victorian community is affected by gambling.

Up to six $50,000 (excl. GST) grants for projects conducted over an 18-month period will be awarded to early career researchers to explore issues that relate to the following research priorities:

• Lived experience
• Gambling harm and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer (LGBTIQ) communities
• Gambling in regional Victoria
• eSports
• Fantasy sports and daily fantasy sports.

All applications will be judged on merit. Where applications are of comparable quality, preference will be given to applicants from Victorian institutions to support the Foundation’s aim of building research capacity in Victoria.

The external application closing date is 2:00 PM AEST on Monday, 16 July 2018. The Flinders internal closing date is 2 July 2018. For advice and information, please contact Mary Lyons, Senior Research Grants Officer (IGII).

For more information visit: Early Career Researcher Grants Round 2018.