Our University’s vision is to be internationally recognised as a world leader in research, and our success in this regard relies on the work and efforts of our researchers. To ensure the millions of dollars-worth of Flinders’ scientific research is appropriately protected the University prioritises an active risk management approach to our research Controlled Environments.

Any Flinders researcher who has any research work in a Controlled Environment is strongly encouraged to attend a forthcoming seminar, 17 March, live or online to help them fully understand how to ensure their work is appropriately protected.

What are ‘Controlled Environments’?

The majority of our research and experiments are undertaken and stored in Controlled Environments: these are spaces or equipment that require a controlling mechanism. Examples include (but are not limited to) research laboratories, research-related freezers/fridges, greenhouses, animal houses and even oxygenated fish tanks.

What’s happened that affects me as a researcher?

Across Australia over the last couple of years, the number and value of insurance claims for research spoilage losses in Controlled Environments at universities have increased considerably. 

As a result, Flinders’ insurer, Unimutual, has changed cover levels for reinstating spoiled research due to Controlled Environment failure. Recognising that changes to how the University protects its research will take time to implement, Unimutual has given us a “period of grace” until 1 November 2020 when these cover changes will come into effect.

In preparation for this change, a Controlled Environment review and valuation is due to occur during March/April, which is intended to identify, value and record research in Controlled Environments.

The involvement of all researchers working with Controlled Environments will be critical to the process of accurately recording Flinders’ research, so come along to this session to find out more.

What are these cover changes?

In summary, any spoilage loss of research held in a Controlled Environment deemed by Unimutual to be ‘unmitigated’ (i.e., without appropriate measures taken to ensure reasonable protection, eg a back to base alarm that is monitored 24 hours a day) will have lower limits and increased excesses, leaving Colleges and other research centres with significant increased costs for reinstating lost research.

What’s Flinders doing to appropriately protect my research?

A Controlled Environment review and valuation is due to occur during March/April, which is intended to identify:

• Where are the University’s research Controlled Environments;
• Estimated reinstatement costs for said research; and 
• What control mechanisms currently exist.

Recording the above will inform the University’s action plan for minimising the likelihood and/or scale of further research losses and is a key element of how losses will be assessed by the insurer.

The involvement of all researchers working with Controlled Environments will be critical to the process of accurately recording Flinders’ research, and the University will help our researchers identify, value and record their work.

What next?

In preparation for the University’s Controlled Environment research review and valuation, Simon Iliffe, Unimutual’s Risk Manager and expert in Controlled Environments risk will be presenting an information seminar in Health Sciences Lecture Theatre 1.09 on Tuesday 17 March 2020, 11 am-1 pm. Please enrol now via ienrol. This event will also be livestreamed on the web for regional sites and researchers to tune in. Also look out for more information in upcoming College newsletters.

Any Flinders researcher who has any research work in a Controlled Environment is strongly encouraged to attend this seminar (live or online), to help them fully understand how they should support the review and valuation, and how to ensure their work is appropriately protected.

Please direct all queries as per below: 

• College of Medicine and Public Health – Angela Binns
• College of Science and Engineering – Craig Sellick
• College of Nursing and Health Sciences – Julianne Fox
• College of Education, Psychology and Social Work – Stanley Flavel
• College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences – Scott Castledine
• Queries regarding insurance – Olga Pinto

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.

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.

Flinders University has established a Climate Response Seed Grant scheme to promote research on climate change and climate-related disaster mitigation, response and resilience, with particular emphasis on interdisciplinary and cross-disciplinary research and, as prioritised in the 2025 Agenda, engagement with business, industry, government and non-government organisations.

The guidelines and application form are available on the Flinders' internal schemes page.

Applications close on 6 April 2020.

Research Development and Support (RDS) has released the Flinders’ Researcher Training and Development 2020 Program – a brochure providing an overview of all opportunities and initiatives that focus on supporting your research journey and career development. We offer a range of programs that support all career stages.

The brochure details Flinders’ initiatives including: Research FastStart, the Flinders’ researcher induction program; research grants “intent to apply” registers, and; researcher skills training and development workshops. 

Access the brochure now to view listings of all 2020 workshops and dates, which will enable you to forward plan and map your research training and development for the year. Workshops assist in building researcher capacity and capability, as training focusses on developing skills core to the research process and doing research at Flinders University.

Access iEnrol-Research to book into 2020 workshops and access detailed session descriptions. These listings provide an outline of learning objectives and outcomes. 

In 2020, core themes include:

• benchmark
• fund and apply
• commence
• publish
• communicate
• partner
• integrity, ethics and compliance
• research prizes and awards. 

Also new to 2020 - training and development will be offered in two formats: 

• Research Bites, short 45 minute lunch time sessions
• Workshops, 1.5 hours in length to provide deeper insight and exploration of topics, including peer-learning and Q&A panels.

RDS proactively supports Flinders’ research community and is pivotal in providing research support together with partners located within different Flinders’ Portfolios.

To contact the RDS Researcher Training, Development and Communication team directly please email researcherpd.rds@flinders.edu.au or call 8201 3968.

Research Bites are a new 2020 RDS researcher training and development initiative at Flinders. These 45-minute lunch time sessions are led by subject matter experts and deliver integral information clearly and with brevity. 

The first for 2020, 'Human research ethics information session', will be led by Hendryk Flaegel, Manager, Research Ethics and Compliance. This information session will cover…

• human research ethics concepts
• when you need to apply for human research ethics approval
• the application process at Flinders

We welcome you to bring your lunch along. Register to attend at ienrol - Research.

Flinders Microscopy and Microanalysis (FMMA) encompasses instruments across both the College of Science and Engineering and the College of Medicine and Public Health. Their continual aim is to improve the experience and the research outcomes of Flinders staff and students who their our facility and services.

FMMA now includes access to powder X-ray Diffraction (XRD). XRD is a characterisation technique used for examining the crystal structure of materials. The instrument is a Bragg-Brentano geometry X-ray Diffractometer (XRD) with a cobalt X-ray source.

It is ideal for qualitative and quantitative phase analysis, and the determination of crystal structure. The cobalt source allows this instrument to accurately analyse high iron content samples. In addition to this, the instrument is equipped with a capillary stage for the measurement of a very small amount of sample. Data analysis capabilities for XRD include the use of the ICDD PDF-2 Database, DIFFRAC. EVA Software for phase identification as well as the Topas software package (Rietveld refinement method) for crystal structure determination and quantitative phase analysis.

For information regarding access, training and costs, please contact Dr Jing Zhao.

The 2020-22 Research Support Plan has been released and can be accessed at Research Support.

The Research Support Plan provides a framework with actions, responsibilities and a timeframe to support delivery of the research ambition of The 2025 Agenda.

There is a commitment to: 

• be a community of outstanding scholars engaged in world-leading research that extends the boundaries of knowledge;
• address challenges of local, national and global significance to deliver outcomes that change lives for the better; 
• provide our higher degree by research (HDR) students with high quality research and broad-based skills education; and
• chart a course that takes us to the top 10 of Australian universities and the top one percent in the world.  

The University-wide Support Plan focuses on five areas that underpin achievement of that ambition: 

• improving the quality of our research 
• increasing the scale of our research activity
• enhancing research engagement and impact
• strengthening our research education and training
• improving our research support and development services

"I very much look forward to working with you in implementing the actions of the Research Support Plan and achieving the goals of the 2025 Agenda," said Professor Robert Saint, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) upon release of the Plan to all Flinders staff on Tuesday 11 February 2020.

You can access The 2020-22 Research Support Plan at Flinders’ Research Support webpage.

Fulbright Scholarship applications are now open for U.S. study and research opportunities for researchers at all career stages and will close on 6 July 2020.

Fulbright Campus Adviser for Flinders University, Professor Claire Smith (CHASS), will lead an information session for researchers interested in knowing more and/or intending to apply, on Thursday 19 March 2020. The session will detail scholarship categories and how to apply, plus answer your questions.

The Australian-American Fulbright Commission offers Scholarships to Australian citizens to take part in a bi-lateral academic and cultural exchange, pursuing research or study in the USA with the aim to bring back knowledge and experiences to be shared with their Australian communities.

Mary Lyons, Senior Research Support Officer (IGII), Research Development and Support, can provide advice and assistance to research staff, including Flinders postdocs, who are looking to apply. The Flinders internal closing date for awards is  22 June 2020 for a completed final draft application. 

There are a suite of awards. For more information on the awards available, please visit the Fulbright website. In brief:

• Fulbright Scholar Awards are for academics (at Associate or full Professorial level) and mid-career professionals (with an undergraduate qualification and minimum 10 years work experience) to undertake research and/or training in the United States for 3-4 months in any discipline.
  
  
• The Fulbright Distinguished Chair award is for an exceptional individual at professorial level to carry out research in the United States for up to 6 months.
  
  
• Fulbright Postdoctoral scholarships allow individuals who have completed their PhD in the past 5 years, or who are in the last year of their completion, to undertake postdoctoral research in the U.S. for 3 – 10 months.
  
  
• Fulbright Postgraduate Scholarships allow postgraduate students undertaking their Australian PhD to conduct research in the U.S. for 3 months up to 2 years. Please contact the Office of Graduate Research, for further information on how to apply as a Flinders student.
  
  
• The Fulbright Future Scholarships provides 100% funded opportunities for study and research program in the U.S., for projects that seeks to have a positive impact on the health, livelihoods and prosperity of Australians. Fulbright Future Scholarships are open to postgraduate students and researchers. Awardees will receive funding for full tuition/visiting researcher expenses at a US institution of their choice as well as travel and living costs.
  
  
• The Fulbright Distinguished Chair for US Applicants to carry out research at an Australian sponsoring institution is also currently open and will close on 16 September 2019.

For more information please visit www.fulbright.org.au.

The South Australian Government has asked the South Australian Productivity Commission to investigate and report on health and medical research and development (R&D) in South Australia. Stakeholders are encouraged to provide feedback at various stages.

The inquiry will examine the performance of health and medical R&D including trends in grant funding, research output and activity, research collaborations and commercialisation.

The Commission has received the terms of reference from the government on Thursday, 6 February 2020. 

An issues paper will be released in March 2020, with feedback sought between March and June 2020.

For further information and to be kept updated on the Inquiry, visit the SA Productivity Commission website.

Ensuring that health and medical research in Australia is of the highest quality is a priority for the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC).

This Report from the NHMRC’s Research Quality Workshop on 30 July 2019 outlines key messages, activities and initiatives within the research sector, and potential opportunities for collaboration to ensure the conduct of high quality research.

Outcomes from the workshop will inform the NHMRC’s ongoing activities to ensure the highest quality in NHMRC-funded research.

Further information about research quality can be found on the NHMRC’s website.

The South Australian Government has asked the Commission to undertake an inquiry into Research and Development in South Australia. Stakeholders are encouraged to provide feedback at various stages.

The inquiry will consider trends in public and private expenditure on Research and Development in South Australia as well how Research and Development contributes to long term productivity gains and economic growth. It will also make recommendation on actions to raise the contribution of Research and Development to the state’s long-term productivity and the economic growth rates.

The Commission has received the terms of reference from the government on Thursday, 6 February 2020. The Terms of Reference for this inquiry define the scope of this inquiry to include mining, agribusiness, cyber risk and other areas as appropriate, except for health and medical research which is being considered separately.

They also state that the Commission should consult with government agencies, universities, research institutions, and industry in developing indicators and data sets that could be used to monitor and explain the state’s performance and inform government policy.

An issues paper will be released in March 2020, with feedback sought between March and July 2020.

For further information and to be kept updated on the Inquiry, visit the SA Productivity Commission website.

The first phase of the new Flinders' Research Management system - ResearchNow - was launched in August 2019. This enabled the capture and collation of research outputs at Flinders University and replaced the ageing Research Master platform.

ResearchNow provides the functionality to publicly profile Flinders researchers, showcase their research outputs, and display their research links with local and global collaborators. Flinders research will be accessible through a portal aptly named Research@Flinders. Through the Flinders Staff Profile pages, Research@Flinders is also now publicly available and discoverable. Read more to find out what you will see and how to update your profile.

As shown below, this approach enables the information and data on research outputs and researcher profile contained within the ResearchNow Research Management system, to be made visible thus presenting a rich researcher profile to external stakeholders, whilst retaining all other elements of Staff Profile pages for offering a broader profile. This provides a cohesive approach to showcasing a complete staff profile through a single point of entry.

What will you see

Where an active research profile exists for a Flinders staff member in ResearchNow, the research tab on the Staff Profile page will be available and the researcher profile for that staff member will be visible on Research@Flinders. Where no research profile exist for a staff member in ResearchNow, the research tab will be no longer be shown on the Staff Profile page for that staff member.

Updating your research profile

To maintain an up-to-date research profile on Research@Flinders, you will only need to update your researcher biography on ResearchNow and ensure your research outputs are up to date, by claiming all of your publications and inputting your other research outputs. Please note that claiming a research publication will not result in your publications and research outputs appearing immediately on your Research@Flinders profile. The Library will undertake a verification process, which may take a little time, depending on the backlog.

You can continue to update your staff biography (including your profile photograph), teaching information, HDR information, and professional engagement directly via Staff Profile pages.

To access the Research@Flinders portal directly please visit https://researchnow.flinders.edu.au/.

The public release of the Research@Flinders is an exciting evolution in how Flinders showcases its researchers and their research. We look forward to seeing how you and your work are represented online.

Are you engaging with an Australian business that has operated for at least three consecutive years, and within the current or previous two years had an annual turnover of at least $1.5m (or $750,00 for remote or northern Australia)?

You may be able to access Innovation Connections - a non-competitive program that funds research activities. It encourages and assists small and medium businesses to access knowledge, engage with researchers and foster innovation.

Join an information session by David Monck, Innovation Connections facilitator, at Flinders Bedford Park, Monday 10 February, 11 am – 12 noon. Register now through ienrol - Research to attend.

Innovation Connections facilitators provide guidance to match businesses with researchers to address knowledge or research related issues. David will be available to answer your questions in addition to providing insight into the program.

Activities that can be funded through this ongoing program are: 

• Researcher Placement: the placement of a Researcher in the business to work collaboratively on a specific Innovation Connections project in order to develop and implement a new idea with commercial potential (up to a maximum of $50,000, matched by business partner);
• Business Researcher Placement: the placement of a Participants’ own research employee into a Publicly Funded Research Organisation to work collaboratively on a specific Innovation Connections project and access to research infrastructure (up to a maximum of $50,000, matched by business partner);
• Graduate Placement: the employment of a graduate or post graduate into the Participant’s business to undertake a specific Innovation Connections project collaboratively with a Publicly Funded Research Organisation (up to a maximum of $30,000, matched by business partner).

Researchers of any discipline can be involved in this program; the funds provide support to businesses operating in the Growth Sectors, as well as the Enabling Technologies and Services to the Growth Sectors.

If you are interested in finding out more information about this opportunity please contact Mary Lyons, Senior Research Grants Officer (IGII).

An expert panel of Flinders researchers and Research Development and Support research managers who attended the recent NHMRC Ideas panels in Canberra, will be available to answer questions and give their insights at the panel session to be held on Tuesday 18 February 2020 from 9.30am to 11.00am.

Researchers considering submitting NHMRC Ideas applications in the next round are encouraged to attend.

The panel members will include:

Professor Stuart Brierley, Professor and Matthew Flinders Fellow in Gastrointestinal Neuroscience, CMPH

Professor Eimear Muir-Cochrane, Chair of Nursing (Mental Health), CNHS

Associate Professor Robyn Meech, Associate Professor in Pharmacology, CMPH

Dr Mary-Louise Rogers, Senior Research Fellow, Neurotrophic Laboratory, CMPH

Professor Michael Sorich, Professor in Clinical Pharmacology, CMPH

Associate Professor Erin Symonds, Academic Status, Senior Research Scientist, Gastroenterology, CMPH

Associate Professor Phil Dinning, Academic Status, Senior Medical Scientist, Surgery and Gastroenterology, CMPH

Suzanne Atkins, Senior Research Support Officer (CMPH), Research Development and Support

Register at ienrol - research to reserve your place.

The Medical Research Future Fund has recently announced grant schemes covering a number of research areas under the strategies and priorities of the fund. 

Details of the current opportunities, application agency and corresponding closing dates are found below. 

If you are interested in applying for any of the above opportunities, please contact the NHMRC and Health Research Grants team in the very first instance to discuss your application and internal deadlines.

Currently Open Schemes with applications to be lodged through NHMRC’s RGMS system are:

Cardiovascular Mission – Minimum data due 29 January 2020, closing 12 February 2020

• Cardiovascular Health Grant Opportunity

Indigenous Health Research Fund – Minimum data due 29 January 2020, closing 12 February 2020

• Indigenous Health Research Grant Opportunity

Traumatic Brain Injury Mission – Minimum data due 26 February 2020, closing 4 March 2020 

• Traumatic Brain Injury Grant Opportunity

Stem Cell Therapies Mission – Minimum data due 26 February 2020, closing 4 March 2020

• Stem Cell Therapies Grant Opportunity

Currently Open Schemes with applications to be lodged through the Business.gov.au grant application portal are:

National Critical Infrastructure Initiative – Closing 3 March 2020

• Rural, Regional and Remote Clinical Trial Enabling Infrastructure grant opportunity 

Frontier Health and Medical Research – Closing 26 March 2020

• Frontier Health and Medical Research Program Stage One - Research Plan

Forecast Opportunities with applications to be lodged through the Business.gov.au grant application portal are:

National Critical Infrastructure Initiative – Opening 11 February 2020, closing 3 March 2020

• Applied Artificial Intelligence Research in Health Grant Opportunity

Brain Cancer Mission - Opening 11 February 2020, closing 3 March 2020

• Brain Cancer Survivorship Grant Opportunity

Grant Documents for each of the above schemes can be found through GrantConnect. If you are interested in applying for any of the above opportunities, please contact the NHMRC and Health Research Grants team in the very first instance to discuss your application and internal deadlines.

The Flinders' Applying for and managing human ethics webpage has been updated.

The meeting schedule for the Flinders' Social and Behavioural Research Ethics Committee (SBREC) has been changed, and the dates are available for viewing on the webpage.

If you have any queries regarding the submission of applications for human ethics approval, please contact the Human Research Ethics Officers for the SBREC at Flinders.

Amendments to the Australian Federal Government Gene Technology Regulations 2001 came into force on 8 October 2019. These amendments are broad ranging, with the focus to clarify the regulatory status of organisms generated using genome editing technologies.

Importantly for researchers, the amendments have changed the lists of organisms that are and are not genetically modified organisms. These lists now better clarify the regulatory status of genome editing techniques, RNA interference (RNAi) techniques, and of null segregants. The amendments also now make it clear that dealings with gene drive GMOs will require a licence from the OGTR. Further minor amendments to existing dealings with gene technologies also apply.

It is important to note, the amendments relating to the deregulation of some genome editing technologies, including CRISPR, are highly specific. The majority of uses of these technologies continue to be regulated, including the use of guided genome editing techniques such as base editing and prime editing techniques. 

Amendments ensure that the new technologies are regulated in a manner commensurate with the risks they pose.

To provide a full overview of the amendments to the Gene Technology Regulations 2001, information sessions for researchers with IBC approvals will be held in early 2020. Keep an eye out for an invite coming soon to your inbox. In the interim, if you are planning a grant application that may be affected, please don’t hesitate to contact the Flinders University Institutional Biosafety Committee for advice on regulatory status.

Feedback is sought on the ANZSRC Review Consultation Draft which is now available on the Australian Research Council (ARC) website. The proposed changes to both the Fields of Research (FoR) and Socio-Economic Objectives (SEO) classifications are now available for comment.

Flinders University will be submitting a University wide response to this review. Please email feedback to research.data@flinders.edu.au by CoB Friday, 31 January 2020.

Feedback is sought on:

1. Whether the revised classifications accurately capture the current Australian and New Zealand research landscape. 
2. Whether any errors or ambiguities have been introduced in the drafting process. 
3. Concordance between the old and revised ANZSRC classifications, including
1. where codes have been deleted, where would that research be classified in the revised ANZSRC? 
2. where new codes have been created, where would that research have been classified in ANZSRC 2008?

Feedback should directly address corrections that are required to the draft classification to ensure the classification reflects research practices in Australia and New Zealand. If you identify issues with the draft, please provide specific suggestions as to how they could be resolved. Please consider your response in the context of disciplinary research practice, the multiple uses of ANZSRC and the information provided in the ANZSRC Consultation Draft Paper or ANZSRC Review Consultation Draft: Indigenous Research. To assist in a balanced evaluation of the draft, submissions in support of changes are also welcomed.