The Georgina Sweet Awards for Women in Quantitative Biomedical Science were created by Professor Leann Tilley as part of her Australian Research Council Laureate Fellowship program to promote and support female scientists who demonstrate excellence in the area of Quantitative Biomedical Science.

Quantitative Biomedical Science is Biological/Biomedical Research that employs a quantitative approach, particularly in areas such as Computational Biology, Biophysics, Bioinformatics, Biochemistry, Genomics, Structural Biology, Cell Biology etc.

Two new awards were established in 2016:

Georgina Sweet Award for Women in Quantitative Biomedical Science:
Four awards of $25,000 each will be made to Australian female researchers who demonstrate excellence in the area of quantitative biomedical science.
In 2020, an additional two awards of $25,000 each will be made for Excellence in Inclusivity, recognising Women in Biomedical Science who have a strong track record in research and who have demonstrated the importance of inclusion and diversity. Applications for this year’s award will close on 31 May, 2020. The Flinders internal closing date for this Award is 17 May 2020 for a completed final draft application. For application advice and assistance, contact Mary Lyons, Senior Research Grants Officer (IGII).

Georgina Sweet Travel Support for a Female Keynote Speaker in Quantitative Biomedical Science:
Up to five awards of $3,000 each are available each year to support the attendance of a female keynote speaker at an Australian conference. Applications are currently closed for 2020 conferences. Preference will be given to conferences that have not previously received funding.

For more information, guidelines and to apply please visit the website or contact: gslf-tilleyadmin@unimelb.edu.au

Book now at ienrol research to access Flinders’ researcher training and development opportunities.

Upcoming workshops and information sessions include:
   ResearchNow Ethics & Biosafety training session
   Intellectual Property for Researchers
   Using Flinders' research budget estimator tools
plus RDS Connect, one-on-one virtual meetings that you can book to meet and work directly with our RDS teams.

Click on the links below to view the course details.

Connect with Human ethics - one-on-one virtual meeting - Friday 1 May 2020

ResearchNow Ethics & Biosafety training: Human Research Ethics - Friday 1 May 2020

Connect with ARC Grants - one-on-one virtual meeting - Monday 4 April 2020

Research Bite: Intellectual property for researchers - Tuesday 5 May 2020

ResearchNow Ethics & Biosafety training: Human Research Ethics - Tuesday 5 May 2020

Connect with IGII [Industry, government, international and internal research funding & research tenders] - one-on-one virtual meeting - Tuesday 5 May 2020

Connect with researcher training and development - one-on-one virtual meeting - Wednesday 6 May 2020

Connect with a researcher - assistance with commissioned-research opportunities - one-on-one virtual meeting - Thursday 7 May 2020

Connect with NHMRC & Health - one-on-one virtual meeting - Thursday 7 May 2020

Connect with Defence exports and international security - one-on-one virtual meeting - Tuesday 12 May 2020

Connect with researcher training and development - one-on-one virtual meeting - Tuesday 12 May 2020

Using Flinders' research budget estimator tools - Tuesday 12 May 2020

Connect with ARC Grants - one-on-one virtual meeting - Tuesday 12 May 2020

Connect with IGII [Industry, government, international and internal research funding & research tenders] - one-on-one virtual meeting - Wednesday 13 May 2020

Connect with a researcher - assistance with commissioned-research opportunities - one-on-one virtual meeting - Thursday 14 May 2020

Connect with NHMRC & Health - one-on-one virtual meeting - Thursday 14 May 2020

Further courses scheduled for later in the month and beyond are available at ienrol research.

Want to see how your research profile looks to your peers? 

Do a quick five step health check of your Research @ Flinders profile.

1. Happy with your profile photo? 

If not, learn how to add a new photo at ResearchNow guides.

2. Is it time for a re-fresh of your Research Biography or Research Interests information?

See the Edit profile information guide (option 6) for instructions.

3. Noticed any missing, new publications? 

Make sure you have claimed your newest publications from Scopus. 

If your publication isn’t on Scopus, instructions to add it manually are available at ResearchNow researcher guides. 

• Did you know that you can receive an email when new Scopus import candidates are found? See step 6 in the enhance your profile guide to learn how to set this up.

4. Have you linked your ORCiD to ResearchNow and authorised export to ORCiD? 

By authorising export of ResearchNow content to ORCiD you will keep your ORCiD profile updated through your actions in ResearchNow. 

5. Last, but not least, don’t forget to check your Scopus ID recorded in ResearchNow is correct.

Without an accurate Scopus ID your automated searches won’t yield the correct import candidates.

To learn more about enhancing and editing your Research @ Flinders profile, please visit the full list of researcher guides on the ResearchNow website. 

For questions that are not answered by these guides, contact the ResearchNow support team via ServiceOne > Research Services > ResearchNow query.

Digital Research Services (DRS) has commenced five new digital research initiatives for the benefit of the Flinders research community. These initiatives have been prioritised and approved as part of the Flinders capital bid process.

To position the University to get the best possible outcomes for its researchers and HDR students, DRS and Professor Robert Saint, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research), invite you to have input into these initiatives, by completing a survey.

The ethos of DRS is to work closely with its partners, including researchers, the Library, Research Development and Support, Office of Graduate Research and other groups to develop solutions that are pragmatic and timely. Your input is therefore vital to the success of these initiatives.

The initiatives are:

1. Grants Lifecycle Management, for easier management of research grants.
   This project will improve processes and systems in the grants lifecycle, starting from the research certification form through to research project closure and financial acquittal. A key focus of this work is to minimise data entry through integration of systems.
   
   
2. Research Data Management as a Service, to enhance the management of data in the research lifecycle.
   Research funders are increasingly expecting data to be availability for discovery and potential re-use. This project aims to improve the discoverability, management, and accessibility of research data assets through the entire research data lifecycle.
   
   
3. Research Data Storage, to identify appropriate storage solutions and security levels for different types of research.
   
   
4. PhD with a Focus, for engaging Flinders with industry partners early, providing career paths and research opportunities for students.
   This extends the professional development of HDR students into career development that is more clearly targeted.
   
   
5. Evidencing Making a Difference, to make it easier for researchers to define research goals and metrics that can be measured for research impact.
   This project is designed to address how to improve the identification, recording, and promotion of research impact. It will engage with researchers to understand their needs, and pilot an approach for consistently reporting research impact.

In addition, there is ongoing work to further develop the Inspire system - Australia’s first ‘digital doctorate’ for Higher Degree by Research (HDR) students. This work includes: migrating the HDR examination process online; helping supervisors to manage their professional development compliance to meet the Register of HDR Supervisors criterion and national guidelines, and; adding new online forms to manage scholarships.

In the current uncertain climate, where the way we all work is being transformed, it’s even more critical that our digital systems facilitate our researchers working as efficiently as possible. Professor Saint encourages you to spend a few minutes to fill in the following survey - Researcher Survey on Digital Research Initiatives 2020.

The survey is open from Monday 20 April 2020 to Monday 11 May 2020 and takes only 20-30 minutes to complete. If you have any questions about it, please contact Sally Wheldrake, DRS.

The Australia-Germany Joint Research Co-operation Scheme is a joint initiative of Universities Australia and the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), Germany's national agency for the support of international academic cooperation.

It fosters research collaboration of the highest quality between Australian researchers from Universities Australia member universities and German researchers from German universities and research institutes. A significant focus of the scheme is to develop the experience and capacity of early career researchers (ECRs). Projects that do not involve an ECR will not be considered for funding.

The scheme supports exchanges for Australian researchers to spend time at partner institutions in Germany and for collaborating German researchers to spend time at Australian universities. Researchers must be working on a joint research project with their German counterparts, rather than simply furthering their own individual research in Germany.

Each Australian university conducts a pre-selection process and sends the results to Universities Australia, where they will be compiled and sent to the DAAD to inform the DAAD selection panel’s final assessment.

Universities Australia has set the following assessment schedule for this scheme;

• 15 June – Deadline for Australian applications to be submitted to institutional contact officer and for German applications to be submitted to the DAAD. 
• 24 July – Flinders to provide UA with completed ranking spreadsheets including final nominated amount of funding to be sent to UA.

In line with this, all Flinders applications must be submitted by COB 15 June 2020 to research.grants@flinders.edu.au following which the pre-selection process will take place.

For application assistance and advice, contact Dr Sarah Jay, Research Grants Officer (IGII).

For more information, including the 2020 Terms and Guidelines, visit the Universities Australia website.

In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Graduate Data Network and the Institute for Public Administration Australia (IPAA) have adapted the 2020 Graduate Data Forum A data-based APS: reflections and new directions to a digital format to be delivered free and online.

This forum aims to build data literacy and will enable participants to hear from data leaders across the Australian Public Service. The 2020 forum still promises to be an excellent opportunity for graduates in data and non-data streams alike. The online forum will be released in four segments over April – May, available at the IPAA website.

Sessions currently available include the Keynote Address 1 from Dr David Gruen on "A Data Driven APS, Reflections and New Directions", Panel 1 on Ethics and Data Sharing, and Panel 2 on "Successes and Challenges of Data Driven Service Delivery".

Applications to the Royal Society of South Australia (RSSA) Small Research Grants Scheme is now open. 

The RSSA awards small grants for research work in the following fields: ecology, botany, zoology, geology, geomorphology, palaeontology, geophysics, anthropology, soil science, environmental science, environmental remediation, and archaeology.

The aim of the scheme is to promote high quality natural history research that is unlikely to be funded through larger competitive grant schemes.

You must be a member of the Society to apply, and if you are a student member, one or more of your supervisors must also be RSSA members. 

Applications close 15 May 2020. The Flinders internal closing date for a completed final draft application is 1 May 2020. For application advice and assistance contact Mary Lyons, Senior Research Grants Officer (iGII).

for more information, visit the RSSA website.

Research Development and Support (RDS) is open for business. One-on-one virtual meetings enable a researcher to meet individually with an RDS team member for bespoke advice and support related to any aspect of research that is core business to RDS.

Scheduled regularly, one-on-one virtual meetings can be booked via iEnrol-Research. Our team members will then contact you with individual appointment details.

Book an appointment with one of our teams now – 

Grants and Tenders

• Connect with ARC Grants – one-on-one virtual meeting
• Connect with NHMRC & Health - one-on-one virtual meeting
• Connect with IGII (Industry, Government, International and Internal research funding & research tenders] - one-on-one virtual meeting

Partnerships

• Connect with a researcher – assistance with commissioned–research opportunities - one-on-one virtual meeting

Ethics and Compliance

• Connect with Human ethics - one-on-one virtual meeting
• Connect with Defence exports and international security - one-on-one virtual meeting

Researcher Training and Development

• Connect with researcher training and development - one-on-one virtual meeting

If a one-on-one virtual meeting related to your enquiry is not listed, please contact researcherpd.rds@flinders.edu.au so that we can arrange a meeting for you.

​During the current COVID-19 pandemic, Therapeutic Innovation Australia's (TIA) network of core facilities and screening facilities continue to be accessible by all researchers. These facilities enable therapeutic development projects in support of national and international efforts to combat COVID-19.

In response, TIA is launching a voucher-style researcher access scheme, called Pipeline Accelerator COVID-19. This scheme is designed to respond quickly to the needs of researchers and industry engaged in research related to COVID-19.

The first round of applications closes 15 May 2020. The Flinders internal closing date for a completed final draft application is 4 May 2020. For application assistance and advice, contact Lucy Sheehan-Hennessy, Research Grants Officer (NHMRC and Health).

Download the scheme's guidelines and documentation at the TIA website.​

The second round of applications closes 5 June 2020. 

Pfizer Global Medical Grants (GMG) supports the global healthcare community’s independent initiatives (e.g., research, quality improvement, or education) to improve patient outcomes in areas of unmet medical need that are aligned with Pfizer’s medical and/or scientific strategies.

Pfizer’s GMG competitive grant program involves a publicly posted general Request for Proposal (RFP) that provides detail regarding a general area of interest, sets timelines for review and approval, and uses an internal Pfizer review process to make final grant decisions. This open RFP call is for research in long-acting growth hormone (LAGH).

Projects that will be considered for Pfizer support will focus on LAGH research, specifically:

• Morbidities in growth disorders
• Novel strategies including Quality of Life and Patient Reported Outcomes to evaluate and treat growth disorders
• Comparison of clinical effects of daily vs long-acting growth hormone
• Comparative pathophysiology of daily vs long-acting growth hormone
• Innovative methods to evaluate levels of adherence of daily and longacting growth hormone treatment
• Novel strategies to address current unmet medical needs in short stature management which could be addressed with long-acting growth hormone treatment

Individual projects requesting up to USD$50,000-$100,000/year for 1 to 2 years will be considered. Pfizer anticipates awarding up to 2-3 grants.

Applications close on 15 June 2020. The Flinders internal closing date for a completed final draft application is 1 June 2020. For application advice and assistance contact Mary Lyons, Senior Research Grants Officer (IGII)

For more information, see the dedicated RFP from Pfizer.

Pfizer must not be involved in any aspect of study protocol or project development, nor the conduct or monitoring of the research program.

The Library is piloting an extended Systematic Review service to the Flinders research community, from HDR students to chief investigators.

They have now established service guidelines across three tiers.

• Standard service is provided to HDR students undertaking systematic reviews as part of their candidature. It is sensitive to the University’s Academic Integrity policy while also supporting student learning.
• Advanced service is available to support post-doctoral researchers undertaking systematic reviews; credit of the Librarian’s contribution should be made in any publication’s Acknowledgements.
• Premium service is offered as a co-authorship with post-doctoral researchers and will provide a predefined number of hours of service as a professional member of the Systematic Review team.

See the guide for more information, including service guidelines and use Service One to get in touch.

The Office of the National Data Commissioner's approach to public sector data sharing has adopted five Data Sharing Principles. The evolved Data Sharing Principles provide for strategic, privacy, security, ethical, and operational risks to be considered as part of a holistic assessment.

The five Data Sharing Principles provide a risk management framework to help government agencies to share data safely.

When agencies are considering whether data can be shared safely, they need to consider multiple factors, including:

• What project is the data going to be used for?
• Who is going to use the data?
• Will the data be used in a safe and secure environment?
• How detailed is the data?

Can the results of the project be published without identifying the people or organisations that provided the data originally?

The Principles help agencies to think about all of these factors together and better manage any risks associated with data sharing. 

For more information on how government agencies ensure appropriate safeguards around data sharing, read the Sharing Data Safely Framework. More detail on the five principles are available at the Office of the National Data Commissioner website.

The Fondation L’Oréal and UNESCO invite you to nominate eminent women scientists for the 2021 L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science International Awards.

The 2021 Awards will designate five outstanding researchers in Physical Sciences, Mathematics and Computer Science, each working in one of the following regions: Africa and the Arab States, Asia and the Pacific, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, North America.

The five laureates will be selected by an international jury for their tremendous contribution to scientific advancement and will receive their Awards in March 2021 in Paris. Each of the Laureates will receive €100,000.

The candidate must be recognised for her scientific excellence by the international scientific community:

• Be actively involved in scientific research
• Be involved in any field of Physical Sciences, Mathematics and Computer Science

The nomination files must be submitted by Sunday, 31 May 31 2020, France GMT/UTC + 2h. The Flinders internal closing date for a completed final draft application is 22  May 2020. For application advice and assistance, contact Dr Marina Delpin, Manager: Researcher Development, Training and Communication.

For more information, and to nominate a candidate, please visit the For Women in Science platform.

Since 1998, the L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science Program has recognised and celebrated eminent women in science throughout the world. To date, the L’Oréal-UNESCO partnership has distinguished 112 eminent women at the height of their scientific careers and supported almost 3300 promising young women scientists from more than 110 countries at doctoral and postdoctoral levels.

The International Awards are given out in alternate years to women researchers either in life sciences or in physical sciences, mathematics and computer science. Three of their Laureates received the Nobel Prize in their field of expertise: Christine Nusslein-Volhard and Elizabeth Blackburn in Medicine or Physiology and Ada Yonath in Chemistry

The May Royal Society of South Australia (RSSA) lecture will be given by Dr Emma Sherratt (School of Biological Sciences, University of Adelaide) on "More than the ‘third wheel’: an evening with the overlooked major group of amphibians, caecilians", 6.30 pm, Thursday 14 May.

The RSSA hold monthly meetings are currently online via Zoom, and open to the public. All current members will receive an invitation via email containing a link to the meeting. If you are not a member and would like to view the seminar email Alice Clement with your request. 

Say “amphibian” and most people will picture a cute, big-eyed green frog. Those with a passion for amphibians (or a Northern Hemisphere background) might picture a four-legged, lizard-lookalike salamander. Very few people would immediately picture a long, thin, legless caecilian. Caecilians (Amphibia: Gymnophiona) are one the three major orders of modern amphibians, and arguably the most overlooked in science and popular culture. Emma will talk about her experience with these animals, as a PhD student diligently studying their strange compact skulls, and as a world-travelled researcher keen to spread the good word about these enigmatic animals. This talk will cover aspects of their biology, ecology and geographical distribution, which all build to a complex and fascinating picture of evolution, and Emma will explain why these creatures are an excellent model for studying the history of reproductive biology.

For more information please check out their Twitter or their website.

Nominations are now open for the Australian Academy of Science’s (AAS) 2021 honorific awards, and applications are open for their research conferences, research awards and travelling fellowships.

The awards and funding opportunities shine a light on career, mid-career, and early-career researchers who are making outstanding contributions to science and progressing the advancement of science in Australia. The awards recognise remarkable achievements in research fields including Earth sciences, biology, physics, mathematics, chemistry, experimental biomedicine, genetics and more.

According to Dr Lara Malins, one of several funding recipients featured recently in Science Matters magazine, the JG Russell Award she received is more than just extra funding. "It was just really fantastic to have that support. Awards that recognise early-career researchers set them on a trajectory that helps them be more successful." 

The Academy is committed to celebrating and supporting diversity. They seek nominations of outstanding scientists from all career stages, backgrounds and genders, and strongly encourage more nominations of women for all awards, in particular the career and mid-career honorific awards.

Two new honorific awards, the Ruby Payne-Scott Medal and Lecture and Suzanne Cory Medal honour two of Australia’s pioneering women scientists and are open in the Academy’s 2021 award round.

Closing dates

The closing date is now 25 May 2020 for honorific award nominations. The Flinders internal closing date for honorific award nominations for a completed final draft application is 18 May 2020. For application advice and assistance, contact Dr Marina Delpin, Manager, Researcher training, development and communication.

1 June 2020 for research conference, research award and travelling fellowship applications. The Flinders internal closing date for a completed final draft application is 18 May 2020. For application advice and assistance, contact Rupali Saikia, Research Support Officer (IGII).

For more information, visit the AAS website or view the AAS factsheet.

The Australian Academy of Science invites applications from Australian researchers for the APEC Science Prize for Innovation, Research and Education (ASPIRE Prize) for 2020.

The ASPIRE Prize is an annual award which recognises young scientists from APEC economies who have demonstrated a commitment to both excellence in scientific research, as evidenced by scholarly publication, and cooperation with scientists from other APEC member economies.

The theme chosen for this year is Biodiversity for a Prosperous Economy. This theme focuses on scientists’ contributions to biodiversity for prosperous economies across the APEC region by driving research that contributes to local livelihoods, traditional and modern medicines, and economic development.

To be eligible, Australian researchers must be under 40 years of age at 31 December 2020 and be an Australian citizen, or an Australian permanent resident who is a citizen of an APEC member economy and living in Australia at time of application.

The call for applications will now close at 11:59 pm (AEST) on Friday 15 May 2020. The Flinders internal closing date is 11 May 2020. For application advice and assistance, contact Dr Marina Delpin, Manager, Researcher Development, Training and Communication.

For more information and the nomination form, visit the AAS website.