From 24 February 2020, researchers have access to view and update their profile information in Sapphire, the new online grant management system for the NHMRC.

On Friday 6 March, Flinders' Grants and Tenders team, Research Development and Support (RDS) will hold an information session, "NHMRC Ideas grants and Sapphire launch". Register now at ienrol-research.

RDS will provide further hands-on training to support Flinders’ researchers’ transition to Sapphire:

• Tuesday 10 March - Lecture Theatre 1, Flinders Medical Centre 12.30-1.30 pm
• Monday 16 March - Level 4 Seminar Area, Flinders Medical Centre 12.30-1.30 pm
• Wednesday 18 March - Room 1300, Physical Sciences Building, Bedford Park 10:00-11:00 am

These "Sapphire Training" workshops will include a demonstration of Sapphire and time for researchers to access, navigate and step through Sapphire in-session. There will be plenty of time for questions as well as information about how to access further advice and support. Register now at ienrol-research.

The NHMRC has released the following news and advice:

NHMRC copied RGMS users’ CV/Profile data from RGMS for migration into Sapphire on Wednesday 12 February 2020 after 5.00pm (AEDT). Any changes made to an RGMS profile after this date has not been replicated in Sapphire. The NHMRC has advised that it is the responsibility of researchers to confirm all Profile data is complete and up-to-date prior to submitting an application. Information on how to access Sapphire is available on the NHMRC Website.

A summary of the key changes for Sapphire Profile and NHRMC’s recommendation for checking your profile data is available on the NHMRC website. If you have any questions or concerns about your migrated profile data, please contact the Sapphire Help Desk. 

Current Applicants using RGMS - All grant opportunities that are currently open will continue to accept applications through RGMS. Applicants to these grant opportunities should continue to update their profile and applications in RGMS in accordance with the relevant grant opportunity grant guidelines. 

Peer Reviewers and active grants - Until further notice, RGMS will continue to be used for peer review processes and post-award management of active grants, including grant variations, reporting and payments. 

Next Steps - The launch is stage one of Sapphire and it includes functionality to support user profiles and applications. This reflects NHMRC’s staged approach to the development and implementation of Sapphire. Sapphire will continue to be updated and improved over the life of the system.

The first grant round to open will be Synergy Grants on 26 February 2020. Applications for all future grant opportunities will be received in Sapphire 

NHMRC assistance and help - Resources are available to assist you in navigating Sapphire, such as Help (a list of frequently asked questions and answers), how-to videos and access to the Sapphire Help Desk. The Sapphire Helpdesk will be available by email and telephone to assist you with any questions and issues. 

The NHMRC encourages applicants to provide feedback on their experience with the system, online tutorials and Help by completing the online feedback form, emailing or calling the Sapphire Helpdesk on 1800 500 983.

Your feedback will help NHMRC resolve any urgent issues and will help inform improvements to Sapphire.

We encourage you visit the NHRMC Website regularly to keep yourself informed.

ResearchNow is the University’s new research information management system.

Today’s ResearchNow Tips article focuses on some of the most important metadata fields in the research output templates. Completing these fields will help you maximise the functionality of the ResearchNow system. Many of these fields are also very important for internal and external reporting (including for promotions, higher degree research supervision eligibility, ERA etc.).

‘Publication status’

• In preparation
• Submitted
• Accepted/In press
• E-pub ahead of print
• Published

If the publication status changes and you cannot edit your output because it is locked after being ‘validated’ log a ‘ResearchNow query’ in ServiceOne for assistance. You can still update the status yourself if your output is at the status ‘entry in progress’ or ‘for validation’.

‘Abstract’

Important for defining your fingerprints as displayed in the portal.

A fingerprint is an index of weighted terms visualised according to their weight and is built using the Elsevier Fingerprint Engine. You can omit unwanted fingerprint. Please refer to the quick reference guide. 

‘Contributors’

You can change your role to suit each output:

• Author
• Illustrator
• Editor
• Translator
• Publisher
• Guest editor

‘Publication managed by’

Managing organisation unit - Your College or Area (e.g. College of Science and Engineering or Centre for Innovation of Learning and Teaching)

This will direct your output to the appropriate local support persons and it is therefore important to insert the correct College.

‘Discipline assignment’

Fields of Research (FoR) – are not imported from Scopus, but are important for making your outputs easily discoverable and accessible to internal Flinders' reports. At the moment, FoR codes are not visible on the Research @ Flinders portal.

‘Electronic version(s), and related files and links’

Digital Object Identifier (DOI) - by adding an available DOI to your research output record it will make your publication easy to locate and be more accessible through the Research @ Flinders portal.

• Open access - setting public access to file as 'unknown' is endorsed. The Library will check during validation. If you would like to ensure your output is as openly accessable as possible, please refer to this quick reference guide)
• Altmetrics (displayed on the Research @ Flinders portal) can be calculated for a research output if it has a DOI linked in ResearchNow. ResearchNow displays altmetric metrics from two different altmetric organisations, Altmetrics and PlumX. Examples of altmetrics are Twitter retweets, Facebook likes, news articles, blog mentions, captures (e.g. number of clicks, downloads, news etc).

Altmetrics

Altmetrics displays altmetrics using a ‘donut’ shape with a different colour representing an online ‘mention’

The following link explains the donut and score in further detail: The donut and Altmetric attention score

PlumX

PlumX displays altmetrics using a ‘star’ shape representing 5 different altmetrics categories including citations, captures, usage, mentions and social media.

The following link explains the star and score in further details: Learn about PlumX metrics

‘Keywords’

Flinders Publication Category

The Flinders Publication Category is the publication category that was previously used by Research Master and formerly used by HERDC for research output reporting (e.g. A1, B1 etc). ERA also uses these publication categories for research output reporting.

By completing this keyword selection, it will assist in your research outputs being visible during reporting periods.

Keep an eye out for the next instalment of ResearchNow tips in Inspiring Research.

ResearchNow creates a shared digital space for managing and reporting on Flinders research outputs, including publications, collaborations, and researcher profiles. ResearchNow makes it possible for a researcher to manage all aspects of their own research profile, from anywhere in the world. It includes powerful tools for automatic publication harvesting, researcher profile promotion and research metrics collection and reporting.

Open now, Synergy Grants support outstanding multidisciplinary teams of investigators to work together to answer major questions that cannot be answered by a single investigator. The duration of funding is 5 years and up to $5,000,000 is available per application.

The Research Development and Support deadline for quality and compliance review is 25 March 2020. Applications close on 22 April 2020. For application advice and support, contact Amanda Wright, Research Grants Officer (NHMRC and Health). If you are considering an application please contract Amanda as soon as possible.

The Synergy grants 2020 round is to be submitted via Sapphire, the new NHMRC grants management system. For training and information, register for a Sapphire training session with the RDS NHMRC and Health team at Flinders via ienrol - research.

The expected outcomes for a Synergy grant are:

• multidisciplinary research that addresses major problems in all areas of human health and medical research, from discovery to translation, and
• highly collaborative teams of diverse researchers including by gender, career stage and cultural background, working together to address major problems in human health.

For more information and to access the grant application documents, visit the NHMRC website. For information on the Flinders NHMRC grant application support and the detailed timeline including Flinders internal dates, visit the NHMRC schemes webpage.

Book now at ienrol research to access Flinders’ researcher training and development opportunities. Workshops, information sessions, seminars and drop-in sessions aim to provide ongoing development and support to all researchers.

Key workshops in the next three weeks include:
   Research Integrity;
   Building your track record and profile through research prizes and awards;
   NHMRC Ideas Grants information session and Sapphire Launch;
   Sapphire training
   SA Science Excellence + Innovation Awards information session;
plus scheduled one-one meetings that enable you to meet and work directly with our RDS teams.

Click on the links below to view the course details.

One-on-One meeting: ARC grants - Monday 2 March 2020

One-on-One meeting: Industry, Government, International & Internal grants - Tuesday 3 March 2020

Research Bite: Research Integrity - Wednesday 4 March 2020

Building your track record and profile through research prizes and awards - strategies and insights - Thursday 5 March 2020

One-on-One meeting: NHMRC and Health grants - Thursday 5 March 2020

NHMRC Ideas Grants information session and Sapphire Launch - Friday 6 March 2020

Sapphire Training - NHMRC's new grant management system - Tuesday 10 March 2020

One-on-One meeting: ARC grants - Tuesday 10 March 2020

South Australian Science Excellence + Innovation Awards: Information session - Wednesday 11 March 2020

One-on-One meeting: Industry, Government, International & Internal grants - Wednesday 11 March 2020

One-on-One meeting: NHMRC and Health grants - Thursday 12 March 2020

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

The Channel 7 Children’s Research Foundation of South Australia (CRF) is seeking Expressions of Interest (EOI) to fund projects and ECRs for Community-based Studies, Clinical Studies, or Basic Science research projects into conditions that may affect the health, education and welfare of children.

The CRF will make available approximately $1.5M to be applied across multiple grants in the fields of Allied Health, Dentistry, Education, Environment, Nursing, Medicine, Mental Health, Midwifery and Social Sciences.

In addition, the following research priority areas will be given extra weighting in the grant assessment process:

• improving child protection and its effect
• improving children’s mental health and the impact of developmental disorders
• reducing childhood obesity and its impact, and
• understanding the social determinants of childhood health and development.

Projects may be conducted over one or two years; the maximum funding per grant will be $100,000 (or $40,000 for Early Career researchers), irrespective of the project duration.

National collaboration is encouraged and international collaboration may be allowed where special skills are not available in South Australia, in order to ensure the application attains the ‘world standard’.

It is preferable that all members of the research team are located in South Australia. 

Through its annual grant program, the CRF also aims to build research capability in South Australia by:

• fostering early career researchers
• funding ‘proof of concept’ research
• providing seed funding for early stage research where other grant funding is unavailable, and
• supporting specific research programs

Online applications open 26 February 2020 and close 25 March 2020. The Flinders internal closing date for a completed final draft EOI is 11 March 2020. Application advice and assistance is available from Gareth Rees, Senior Research Grant Officer (NHMRC and Health).

Full application details, including eligibility, application categories, early career grants and application link to the online portal (available from 26 February 2020) can be found at the CRF Grants page.

Shortlisted applicants will be invited to submit a full Grant Application in late May 2019.

The Scholarship AINSE ANSTO French Embassy (SAAFE) Program is an exciting international exchange opportunity open to Early Career Researchers at the PhD and postdoctoral level. Up to $7,500 AUD is provided to each successful applicant towards supporting travel and/or accommodation expenses in Australia or France.

The SAAFE Program supports Early Career Researchers to expand research and innovation activities in nuclear science and engineering in the research areas of Human Health, Environment and the Nuclear Fuel Cycle, and to initiate sustainable research networks and linkages to support Australia and France in research and innovation.

Eligible applicants must be a PhD student in, or hold a postdoctoral appointment at, a French university or Australian AINSE-member university, OR be enrolled in a PhD in collaboration between French and Australian institutions.

Applications close 1 May 2020. For postdoctoral applicants - the Flinders internal closing date for a completed final draft application is 17 April 2020. For application advice and assistance, contact Mary Lyons, Senior Research Grants Officer (IGII).

For more information, including the application form and terms & conditions, please visit the SAAFE website.

Support for the SAAFE Program has been extended for an additional three years following the signing of a new Memorandum of Understanding between AINSE, ANSTO and the Embassy of France in Australia.

The National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) has announced the release of the Collaborative Research Guide, which supports the implementation of the Australian Code for the Responsible Conduct of Research (the Code). Promoting research integrity is a strategic priority for NHMRC.

Promoting research integrity is a strategic priority for NHMRC. The responsible conduct of research benefits all Australians and is a joint responsibility of researchers and institutions and organisations that conduct or oversee that research.

To assist researchers and institutions, NHMRC, the Australian Research Council (ARC) and Universities Australia (UA) developed the Australian Code for the Responsible Conduct of Research 2018 (the 2018 Code), which is a major revision of the Code published in 2007. The 2018 Code was published in June 2018 and took effect on 1 July 2019.

To support the implementation of the 2018 Code, NHMRC, ARC and UA are developing a suite of guides, one of which is the new Collaborative Research Guide. These guides provide further detail on principles and responsibilities outlined in the 2018 Code and inform the ongoing development of institutional policy at Flinders.

NHMRC recognises the importance of partnership with researchers and research institutions in Australia in the responsible conduct of research and will remain actively engaged with the sector during the implementation of the Code and the publication of any additional guides supporting the Code.

The guides and further information are available on NHMRC's website.

Flinders University's Research Integrity Policy and Breach of Research Integrity Procedures, developed in response to the Code, are now available on the Flinders Policy Library.

Questions or feedback about the guides can be sent to integrity@nhmrc.gov.au.

Join globally renowned Professor John Long, Strategic Professor of Palaeontology, as he presents the first Brave Lecture for 2020, Rewriting evolution - our fishy origins. 

For the past two centuries, the key evolutionary narrative has been about how humans evolved from apes. Whilst this part of our history is well-documented from fossil remains, it is only the end part of our story. The beginnings of the human body plan, along with many of our intrinsic behaviours, first appear much deeper in time.

Professor Long will discuss his thesis that the big steps in human evolution took place well before fishes left the water to invade land. This research provides a new perspective on humans’ evolutionary story; one which comes from looking up from the water’s edge, not looking down from the trees.
Brave lecture series 

When: 6pm, Tuesday 10 March

Where: Alere Function Centre, Bedford Park campus

Tours of the palaeontology lab will be offered before and after the lecture (registration required). 

Register: here

Flinders researchers are tackling the big questions facing society. They are examining new concepts, reimagining and rethinking received wisdom, unearthing the past, and confronting the future.

Through bravely contesting ideas, they seek to uncover new learnings and knowledge for the betterment of society.

Each month through the BRAVE public lecture series, our researchers present their insights on issues of local, national and global significance uncovered through research. 

Help break records! Show your support for women in STEMM at Flinders University's iconic annual International Women’s Day celebration, on March 11.

With an extended format, this year's event is set to be the biggest and best yet and all staff and students are invited. Read more at Flinders in Touch.

Every year the Australian Academy of Humanities offers a series of prestigious grants and awards as part of their ongoing commitment to fostering and promoting the highest quality humanities research and supporting the next generation of scholars and practitioners.

ln 2020 they are offering six award opportunities for established researchers, early-career researchers and HDR students.

These opportunities are:

• Max Crawford Medal for excellence by an Early Career Researcher
• Medal for Excellence in Translation
• Humanities Travelling Fellowships including the David Philips Travelling Fellowship
  
• Publication Subsidy Scheme
• John Mulvaney Fellowship
• Ernst and Rosemarie Keller Fund

All details, including the link for submitting online applications, are available on their website.

All applications close on 20 April 2020. The Flinders internal closing date for a completed final draft application is 1 April 2020. For application assistance and advice for the Crawford Medal and the Medal for Excellence in Translation, contact Dr Marina Delpin, Manager: Researcher Training, Development and Communication. For the other two awards, application assistance and advice is available from Rupali Saikia, Research Grants Officer (IGII).

Crawford Medal for excellence by an Early Career Researcher

The Max Crawford Medal is Australia’s most prestigious award for achievement and promise in the humanities. It is presented to an Australian-based, early career scholar for outstanding achievement in the humanities, whose research and publications make an exceptional contribution to the understanding of their discipline by the general public.

Medal for excellence in Translation

The Medal for Excellence in Translation is a major national award that recognises outstanding achievement in translation. This award celebrates the vital role of translators and translation in Australian culture and scholarly discourse. It adds to the growing recognition of work in this field which recognises lifetime achievement. The Medal is awarded biennially for a book-length translation into English of a work of any genre (including scholarship) from any language and period.

Humanities Travelling Fellowships including the David Philips Travelling Fellowship

The Humanities Travelling Fellowships offer grants of up to $4000 to support Australian early career researchers in the humanities to undertake research overseas.

Publication Subsidy Scheme

The Publication Subsidy Scheme supports quality scholarly publication in the humanities. Subsidies of up to $3000 are awarded to support costs associated with publication, such as illustrations, maps and copyright fees.

John Mulvaney Fellowship

The John Mulvaney Fellowship is an award for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander early career researchers and PhD students working in any area of the humanities. The recipient of the John Mulvaney Fellowship will receive $4000 towards undertaking research or fieldwork in Australia or overseas, including accessing archives and other research materials and connecting with researchers and networks.

Ernst and Rosemarie Keller Fund

The Ernst & Rosemarie Keller Fund supports the research activities of scholars residing in Australia whose research is concerned with German history, literature, language, politics or culture, or German contributions to the history, literature, languages, politics or culture of either Australia or the Asia-Pacific region. The Fund offers a maximum of $5000 for travelling fellowships, convening workshops and/or masterclasses.

Heart Foundation Vanguard Grants are available to researchers for concept studies with the potential to improve cardiovascular health in the short term.

Designed to test the feasibility of innovative concepts, Vanguard Grants may lead to larger, more rigorous testing in the future. The projects will provide tangible outcomes with the potential to improve cardiovascular health. 

To be eligible, an applicant must be involved in any area of cardiovascular health research including biomedical, clinical, public health and health service delivery and only one application per applicant (Chief Investigator A only) is allowed.

Applicants can apply for funding for up to two years, with up to $75,000 of funding per year.

Applications will now close on 1 May 2020. The Flinders internal closing date for a completed final draft application is 24 April 2020. For application advice and assistance, contact Gareth Rees, Senior Research Grants Officer (NHMRC and Health).

For more information, including eligibility criteria, visit the Heart Foundation website.

The sixth annual TOP Domestic Violence Conference will be held from Wednesday 2 December - Friday 4 December 2020 at RACV Royal Pines Resort, Gold Coast, Queensland. The conference aims to provide a platform for a unified national voice to break the cycle of domestic and family violence.  

With greater knowledge, tools and connections, you can change the lives of thousands at risk of mental and physical abuse. Acquire new skills, examine the latest research and connect with others dedicated to ending domestic and family violence.

The call for presenters is now open. Share best practice and provide real solutions to ending domestic and family violence. Help improve access to critical resources, information and services for victims, perpetrators and the wider community. If you are interested in presenting at the 2020 STOP Domestic Violence Conference, please submit your application prior to Friday 17 July.

The 2020 Presentation topics are:

• Primary Prevention
• Early Intervention
• Response
• Healing and Recovery
• Workforce Development and Systems Improvement 

If you are interested in attending the 2020 STOP Domestic Violence Conference, early bird registrations are now open. Register now to save.

The Department of Veterans' Affairs (DVA) has implemented its Strategic Research Framework to shape their investment in research across all stages of a veteran’s life: serving well, living well and ageing well.

The Deputy Secretary Charles McHardie, Chair DVA Research Board, will introduce the Strategic Research Framework to participants and Chief Data Officer, Dr Paul Nicolarakis, will outline DVA’s research priorities during the online webinar to be held on 17 March 2020, 3.30 pm AEST.

Register in advance for this webinar. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.

The DVA takes a proactive approach in commissioning research to build an effective evidence base that supports the health and wellbeing needs of Australia’s veterans. The Strategic Research Framework details the analytical and research priorities and principles for DVA, to focus future research and data gathering efforts. Commissioned research must result in actionable outcomes that are translated into policy and program directions.

The primary means of commissioning research within DVA is the Applied Research Program, which provides around $3.9 million annually for business areas to engage with research activities. A range of other research, evidence and evaluation activities are funded on the basis of business need, through other funding sources, Strategic Partnerships or Memoranda of Understanding.

The Wellcome Innovator Awards are open to researchers who are developing healthcare innovations that could have a major and measurable impact on human health.

An Innovator Award provides up to £500,000 of funding and usually lasts up to 24 months. For multidisciplinary collaborations, awards are up to £750,000 and have a duration of up to 36 months. There are no deadlines for this scheme - applications can be received at any time.

For application advice and assistance, please contact Mary Lyons, Senior Research Grants Officer (IGII). In accordance with the Flinders internal timelines, applicants are requested to provide a completed final draft for review 10 working days before the date they intend to submit.

Work can be in any scientific discipline, including a discipline outside life and medical sciences. For example, the application of physics, chemistry, computing, engineering and materials science to the development of healthcare innovations is entirely appropriate 

Any type of technology can also be proposed. Examples of technologies include:

• therapeutics (small molecules or biologics)
• vaccines
• devices
• diagnostics
• digital technology
• regenerative medicine. 

The work that is proposed must be essential for developing the healthcare innovation. Proposals must include researchers from at least two different scientific disciplines and at least one researcher from a discipline outside life sciences, such as (but not limited to) engineering, physical science or data science.

For more information, please visit the Wellcome website.

Applications are now open for the 2020 ICM Agrifood Award and close 9.00am AEST Wednesday 25 March 2020.

The ICM Agrifood Award is an early career award for two outstanding agriculture or food scientists or technologists. 

The Flinders internal closing date for a completed final draft is 18 March 2020. For application advice and assistance, contact Marina Delpin, Manager: Researcher Training, Development and Communication.

Two of Australia’s best young food and agriculture professionals will win the 2020 ICM Agrifood Award, which will be awarded by the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering at the 2020 Innovation and Excellence Awards Dinner on 11 June in Sydney. One female and one male winner will each receive a cash prize of $5000.

The winners will have achieved substantial recognition for their work in a field critical to continued improvement of the Australian food sector in the past five years, and be under 40 years of age at 1 January 2019.

Both will:

• have demonstrated excellence, innovation and impact in a field related to food and agriculture in Australia;
• be 40 years old or under on the first day of the year in which the ICM Award is made (with allowance made for career breaks due to family or carer responsibilities);
• be acknowledged by peers for outstanding contributions to the food and agriculture sector in the past five years; and
• have advanced the standing of the broad profession of agriculture and food. 

We invite you to consider young food and agriculture professionals that you might nominate for this prestigious award. Full details of the Award Guidelines and Nomination are available online.

The Goyder Institute for Water Research collaborates with top scientists and researchers around Australia to find new ways of saving, accessing and delivering water.

The Director of the Goyder Institute, Dr Kane Aldridge will be visiting Flinders to provide an update to interested researchers on Friday 20 March 2020.

The Goyder Institute is committed to delivering the scientific knowledge needed for independent expert water management advice. This will ensure the Institute informs policy and decision-making, identifies future threats to water security and assists in an integrated approach to water management in South Australia and beyond. 

The research funded by the Goyder Institute during its first phase focussed across four enduring research themes:

• Urban Water
• Water for Industry
• Environmental Water
• Climate Change

Register to attend at ienrol - research.

The Goyder Institute is a partnership between the South Australian Government through the Department for Environment and Water (DEW), CSIRO, Flinders University, the University of Adelaide, the University of South Australia and ICE WaRM (The International Centre of Excellence in Water Resources Management).

Learn more about the Goyder Institute and it's research aims at their website.

The 2020 ACSPRI Winter Program will take place over 2 weeks at the University of Queensland from 22-26 June and at the University of Technology, Sydney from 6-10 July*.

ACSPRI courses cover topics ranging from General Statistics, Multiple Regression, Structural Equation Modelling, Experimental Design, Survey Research, Social Networks, Qualitative Research, Mixed Methods, Program Evaluation and more.

ACSPRI courses are intensive, small group and 'hands on' (between 10-20 people), ensuring quality attention from instructors. All courses run across 5 days, from 9am to 5pm (with breaks throughout and an early finish on Friday).  

ACSPRI courses cover a variety of levels, ranging from Fundamentals (Level 1 Introductory) to very Advanced (Level 5). Our instructors are experts in their respective fields and bring with them their research experiences from the field.

Attending an ACSPRI course is an opportunity to network with other researchers from a variety of fields. They serve a light lunch, morning and afternoon teas. These breaks provide you with an excellent opportunity to network, share and exchange ideas with other researchers.

Bookings must be made on-line via the Winter Program page. Full Program details and a list of course descriptions can be found on the ACSPRI website.

Prices listed include course notes. Flinders University is an ACSPRI member.

*please note there will be no separate Spring Program in Sydney (October). The next program after Winter, will be their Summer Program at ANU, Canberra, and the University of Melbourne in January/ February 2021.