PRESIDENT'S NOTES

23 February 1999

Dear Fellow,

In the past the Council and Officers have communicated with Fellows through the distribution of Council minutes (after Council approval - a delay of about two months) and our newsletter (involving a delay ranging from weeks to months).

This experimental President’s Note is an attempt to inform you more quickly of the Academy’s current business. If deemed successful, it will follow shortly after meetings of Council or the Executive Committee, by email to those we know have email addresses, by post to others.

Please bear in mind that, in the case of Council discussions, the authoritative form of the decisions recorded here will not be available for several more weeks.

With best wishes,
Brian D O Anderson

DISCUSSION WITH ADELAIDE FELLOWS
I have just returned from enjoying the hospitality of Bill Moran and other Fellows in the South Australian Regional Group. We discussed topics that are common to most of my discussions with regional groups - university funding and Academy business - but I found a particular interest in school science education. I will report on the discussion to the Executive Committee at its next meeting.

ON HUMAN CLONING
As part of its brief to contribute to informed public debate, the Academy has prepared a position statement on reproductive and therapeutic cloning. The statement has the unanimous endorsement of Council and will be distributed to Fellows in the next few weeks. The statement focuses on the complexities of this rapidly developing area, misunderstandings about the science of animal cloning and the implications for humans.

INTERNATIONAL NETWORKS AND THE COMPETITIVENESS OF AUSTRALIA'S SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
In March the Academy will release a report which assesses the opportunities for early career researchers to obtain overseas research training and career development. The study has found that there are many obstacles for young Australian scientists seeking overseas experience; the report recommends policies that would make Australian science more international. The report will be posted on the Academy’s web site in March and I would welcome comments.

HIGHER EDUCATION POLICY
A meeting on higher education issues in the UK and Australia was held at the Academy on 19 January. Professor Brian Fender, the Chief Executive of the UK Higher Education Funding Council, attended, as well as the Secretary of the Department of Education, Training and Youth Affairs and representatives of the Australian Vice-Chancellors’ Committee, the Australian Research Council and the office of the Minister for Industry, Science and Resources. Participants compared methods of funding research and tertiary teaching in the UK and Australia.

STRATEGY PLAN
At the last Council meeting, on 4 February, we considered a draft strategy plan for the future of the Academy. Dr Angus McEwan has put a lot of work into this. We have adopted the plan, comprising a vision statement, mission and set of objectives and will soon circulate the plan to you, with a list of possible consequent action items, for your comment.

NEW FELLOWS
The Council has decided to have a seminar to welcome new Fellows on the day before their first Annual General Meeting. New Fellows will be invited to address other Fellows on their scientific work.

I have been concerned that it takes a year (from one AGM to the next) for newly elected Fellows to be admitted to the Academy. The reason for the long delay is our current practice of balloting for new Fellows at the AGM. The Secretaries are considering whether a postal ballot should be proposed, with the aim of admitting (and welcoming) most new Fellows within weeks of their election.

COMPUTER SCIENTISTS
The Secretary (Physical Sciences), Professor Kurt Lambeck, has been looking at the place of computer science in the Fellowship and the Academy. The rapid increase in the number of undergraduate students of computer studies, and of academic staff in the discipline, has highlighted the fact that not more than two of the Academy’s Fellows could be described as computer scientists. Without establishing any special process of selection, the Council wishes to ensure that the Academy represents the highest levels of research performance in computer science, as in other areas of science, and that we don’t fail to see potential candidates.

CENTENARY OF FEDERATION SCIENCE PROJECT
The Academy has received a grant of $50 000 from the National Council for the Centenary of Federation to fund a project called 100 Years of Australian Science. This project will extend the number of interviews with outstanding scientists in the Academy’s Video Histories of Australian Scientists program. The list of scientists already interviewed is at www.science.org.au/educatio/vhas.htm.

COOPERATION WITH ISRAEL
The Academy and the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities signed a scientific and technological cooperation agreement in December 1998.

DIARY
In the next few weeks I will be representing the Academy at the following events. Some will have occurred by the time you read this.

• Academy reception for Australia Prize recipients, Canberra, 18 February

• Presentation of the Haddon Forrester King Medal to Professor Dick Stanton, Canberra, 26 February

• Reception for the delegation from the European Union, Canberra, 3 March

• Opening of the National Science and Industry Forum, Sydney, 31 March.

I will also be contributing an item on ‘Knowledge - the industry of tomorrow’ to the next Newsletter of the Business/Higher Education Round Table.

FORTHCOMING EVENTS
For more information on the following events, please contact Therese Lewis, the Academy’s International Programs Officer, email io@science.org.au, unless another contact is identified.

Lecture on European R&D
The Academy will host a public lecture in the Wark Theatre in Canberra on 3 March by Professor Jorma Routti, Director-General of the European Commission’s Directorate General for Science Research and Development. Professor Routti will be leading a delegation to Canberra between 1 and 5 March 1999 to discuss Australian involvement in the fifth European Framework program for supporting research.

French and Malaysian scientists to visit
A joint Australia-France workshop, titled ‘Scientific frontiers in molecular biology and their impact on 21st century medicine and agriculture’, will be held between 27 February and 5 March. Twelve French scientists will visit the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute in Melbourne and the CSIRO Division of Plant Industry in Canberra.

A joint Australia-Malaysia workshop on science and technology policy will be held in Canberra on 22-23 March 1999. The workshop will include a discussion on the Commonwealth Partnership for Technology Management.

Technology in Taiwan
A Technology Week will be held in Taipei in April 1999. The Academy will be helping to organise a two-day research collaboration symposium on medicine and human biotechnology.

Pacific Science Congress
The Academy, through the National Academies Forum, is a joint sponsor of the Pacific Science Congress, to be held in Sydney from 4 to 9 July. The theme of the congress is science for Pacific posterity: environment, resources and welfare of the Pacific peoples. Registration brochures are available from Faye Nicholas at the Academy, email ac@science.org.au.

OFFICE BEARERS OF THE ACADEMY

President, Professor Brian Anderson
phone (02) 6279 8667, fax (02) 6279 8688,
email brian.anderson@anu.edu.au

Secretary (Physical Sciences), Professor Kurt Lambeck
phone (02) 6249 5161, kurt.lambeck@anu.edu.au

Secretary (Biological Sciences), Professor John Young
phone (02) 9351 4600, johny@physiol.usyd.edu.au

Secretary (Science Policy), Professor John White
phone (02) 6249 3578, jww@rsc.anu.edu.au

Foreign Secretary, Professor Michael Pitman
phone (02) 6247 7636, pitman@science.canberra.edu.au

Treasurer, Professor Athel Beckwith
phone (02) 6249 3234, beckwith@rsc.anu.edu.au