Science at the Shine Dome 2011
Early-career researchers program
The Academy is offering a special program for early-career researchers (ECRs), outlined below, in conjunction with Science at the Shine Dome. Those who attend will:
- learn about the latest research across a range of science disciplines;
- meet and exchange ideas with renowned scientists, science teachers and other early-career researchers; and
- participate in career development workshops.
The CSIRO, CRCs, universities and research organisations have been invited to send representatives.
The registration fee of $495 per person includes:
- New Fellows seminar (Wednesday 4 May)
- Informal dinner for ECRs and teachers (Wednesday 4 May)
- Admission of new Fellows and awards presentations (Thursday 5 May)
- One (1) of the workshops as noted below (Thursday 5 May)
- Annual Dinner at the National Museum of Australia (Thursday 5 May)
- Annual symposium (Friday 6 May)
- Morning tea, lunch and afternoon tea, Wednesday to Friday inclusive
- Folder containing program information for Science at the Shine Dome, biographical information about other ECRs attending and notes for your selected ECR workshop.
Workshop 1
Title: Media and communicating science
Presenter:
Dr Paul Willis
ABC Television science presenter (Catalyst, Quantum)
What makes a good media story? Can any piece of science research be shaped for presentation in the media? What does it actually take to get your science message out through the media?
Dr Paul Willis has spent 14 years in the ABC as a dedicated science journalist and he will be leading participants through the theory and practice of communicating science. The session will start with a round table discussion lead by Dr Willis exploring the nuts and bolts of science communication. Later the session will develop into case studies where participants will present their favourite piece of research to the group for examination as to how it could be best presented in the media. Participants are therefore requested to come to the workshop prepared with what they think is a cracking good story that ought to be told and some ideas as to how it could be presented on TV, online, on radio or in print.
Workshop 2
Title: Building successful collaborations
Presenters:
Professor Bryan Gaensler
Director, ARC Centre of Excellence for All-sky Astrophysics School of Physics, The University of Sydney
Dr Alicia Oshlack
Head of Bioinformatics
Murdoch Childrens Research Institute
Collaboration is the lifeblood of a successful research career. Successful research partnerships lead to new connections and unexpected discoveries. Collaborations not only give you access to new resources and ideas, they also allow you to establish your reputation within the broader scientific community. Moreover, working with a diverse mix of brilliant people from around the globe is an enriching professional and personal experience, and is a big part of why science is a uniquely appealing career.
However, it takes thought and effort to establish a productive collaboration, to keep it on track, and then to deliver results. In this interactive workshop, we will explore and address the following questions:
- Why, how, when and with whom should you collaborate?
- What are the dos and don’ts of collaboration? How do you fix things when they go wrong?
- When and how to publish? And after publication, should you keep this collaboration going, or move on to other things?
The workshop will consist of brief presentations, brainstorming activities in small groups, and open discussion.
Workshop 3
Title: Grant writing skills
Presenters:
Professor Brendan Crabb
Director, Burnet Institute
Professor Ian Petersen
School of Engineering and Information Technology, University of New South Wales at ADFA.
This workshop is aimed at early career researchers seeking to improve their grant writing skills. The first hour of the workshop will consist of presentations by the two convenors Professor Brendan Crabb and Professor Ian Petersen covering the grant process, advice for writing successful grants, how to ‘sell’ your idea, common pitfalls of grant writing, funding body guidelines, alternative funding opportunities (other than ARC/NHMRC), and track record. This will be an interactive session with questions from the participants and in depth discussions encouraged.
During the second hour of the workshop the participants will be broken into two groups, each led by one of the speakers. Professor Crabb's group will concentrate on the biological sciences whereas Professor Petersen's group will focus on the physical sciences, engineering and mathematics. During these interactive sessions, each group will prepare key elements of a mock grant including the aims and the 100 word summary.
During the third hour of the workshop, each group will report back on their grant writing experience and discuss the issues that arose during this process. This will be followed by a general question and answer session led by the two speakers.
