PRESIDENT'S NOTES
5 June 2003
Dear Colleague,
It was a great pleasure to catch up with many of you during our recent Science at the Shine Dome meeting. It was a wonderful celebration of Australian science and feedback from the three days has been very positive. If you were unable to attend the meeting, detailed information about the various events is available at http://www.science.org.au/sats2003 and there will be a full report in the next issue of the Academy's Newsletter.
I am pleased to advise that 34 Fellows accepted Council's invitation to seek institutional support to attend Science at the Shine Dome, or to pay for their own travel and accommodation. This resulted in a saving of $17,750 and these funds will assist the Academy to support the activities that will be taking place during our 50th anniversary year in 2004.
I was delighted to accept an invitation from Professor Mick McManus, Executive Dean, Faculty of Biological and Chemical Sciences at the University of Queensland, to meet with scientists and other interested people in early May, to talk about the activities of the Academy. The talk, held in the impressive new lecture theatre in the Queensland Bioscience Precinct, was well attended, and I thank the organisers for that. We discussed aspects of the Academy’s core business, which includes promoting the role of science in shaping the nation’s wellbeing. Julie Campbell is now Chair of the Queensland Regional Group of Fellows and is planning an event to showcase the work of the five newly elected Queensland Fellows.
Meanwhile, the five newly elected Fellows from Victoria presented their work to an appreciative audience at the University of Melbourne on 27 May. I thank Tony Klein, Chair of the Victorian Regional Group of Fellows, for arranging a most enjoyable and informative evening.
With best wishes,
Jim
SAFEGUARDING AUSTRALIA - THINK TANK
I mentioned in my last note that on 4 April the Academy was bringing together early- to mid-career researchers from a broad range of disciplines to engage in thinking about novel applications of existing science and technology and to identify gaps in knowledge that might be addressed when applying science (including social science) and technology to safeguarding the nation. The think tank focused on four broad areas of application: Chemical and biological threats; Communications and information technology; Infrastructure as a target; and The role of the social sciences.
The day's proceedings are available at http://www.science.org.au/events/safeguarding_australia/index.htm.
AUSTRALIAN FRONTIERS OF SCIENCE
The inaugural meeting of the Australian Frontiers of Science will be held in the Shine Dome from 12 noon, Thursday 31 July until 5pm, Friday 1 August. An exciting program has been developed by the organisers, Andrew Young from CSIRO and Brian Schmidt from ANU, with the help of Marcela Bilek, Annette George, Joel Mackay, Sandra Orgeig, Howard Wiseman and Levon Khachigian. You may recognise these names as those of recent winners of prestigious prizes in science. The aim of the symposium, which we hope will become an annual event, held in different capital cities, is to bring together the very best young scientists to discuss emerging technologies, new opportunities and exciting advances in their fields. The presentations will be to their peers, across many disciplines, and may lead to innovative collaborations and ideas. You and your organisation may wish to sponsor the attendance of young and mid-career scientists at this event. More information is available at http://www.science.org.au/events/frontiers2003/program.htm, or mailto:susie.barratt@science.org.au.
BUDGET 2003-04
The Academy was invited by Campus Review Weekly to comment on the Budget. An article by Professor Kurt Lambeck, Foreign Secretary, is available on the Academy's website at http://www.science.org.au/media/campus_lambeck.htm.
MAJOR NATIONAL RESEARCH FACILITIES WORKSHOP
On 26 May, the Academy hosted a workshop for directors of the Major National Research Facilities (MNRFs) on 'Promoting the Major National Research Facilities Program'. Thirteen of the fifteen MNRFs were represented at the workshop, along with representatives from DEST and the Academy.
Several opportunities for future joint MNRF actions were agreed upon, including establishing an MNRF web portal, examining options to fund the establishment of an MNRF Association, developing a bio-MNRF cluster and an 'e-science' working group, and establishing an MNRF 'intellectual property strategy' working group.
NATIONAL ACADEMIES FORUM
A meeting of the National Academies Forum (NAF), of which I am the current Chair and President, was held in Canberra on 23 May.
NAF is the consultative organisation of the four Australian learned academies: the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia, the Australian Academy of the Humanities, the Australian Academy of Science, and the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering.
It is going a long way towards meetings its objectives, which include the promotion of the value to the nation of research and scholarship; the encouragement of research and scholarship across the disciplines; providing policy advice to government on specific issues; promoting this advice to the wider community and developing closer relations among the academies.
A recent initiative was a conference organised in conjunction with the Australian Greenhouse Office on 'Living with Climate Change: Impacts and Adaptation', held in December 2002. Its outcomes provided much of the input from the AGO to Australia's Forward Strategy on Climate Change.
An agreement has been made that individual academies, under the NAF umbrella, will invite their Fellows to become correspondents of the International Human Rights Network of Academies and Scholarly Societies. More information on the Network is available at http://www.nationalacademies.org/pga.
NAF has also submitted an expression of interest to the ARC under the Linkage-Learned Academies Special Projects program for a project entitled 'Sustainability: Identifying the range of options for Australia. The purpose of the exercise is to examine methodologies for identifying a feasible range of policy options. This proposal directly responds to the Australian Government's National Research Priority 'An Environmentally Sustainable Australia'.
Plans are also progressing through the Joint Academies Committee on Sustainability to hold an international conference on sustainability in Canberra in late 2004.
MAXIMISING THE BENEFITS FROM INTERNATIONAL LINKS
The Academy has submitted an application to the ARC Linkage - Learned Academies Special Projects scheme for a study aligned to optimise the benefits of international scientific linkages. The study aims to provide information about significant international science programs in which Australian scientists might reasonably be expected to be involved and how international scientific resources might be leveraged for the benefit of Australia. Further information is available from mailto:sue.serjeantson@science.org.au.
AUSTRALIAN NANOTECHNOLOGY BENCHMARKING PROJECT
The Academy's Australian Nanotechnology Benchmarking project, mentioned in my note of October 2002, is now underway. More information on the project, including the proposed benchmarking, methodology and current progress status, can be found on the Academy's website at http://www.science.org.au/policy/nanotech.htm.
ACADEMY'S EXCHANGE PROGRAMS
The Academy is calling for applications for short-term scientific visits to Europe, North America (USA, Canada, Mexico) and Asia (China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan). Application forms and selection criteria can be found at http://www.science.org.au/internat/index.htm.
This scheme is funded by the Department of Education, Science and Training's International Science and Technology Networks, a component of the Innovation Access Program announced in the Government's Innovation Statement, Backing Australia's Ability.
FORUM FOR EUROPEAN-AUSTRALIAN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY COOPERATION (FEAST)
The FEAST 4 conference on Networking for Excellence, scheduled for mid June, has been postponed until 13-14 November 2003. The conference will take place at the Academy's Shine Dome. Further information is available at http://www.feast.org/feast4.html.
ACADEMY AWARDS FOR SCIENTIFIC EXCELLENCE 2004
The Academy is calling for nominations for its Awards for Scientific Excellence for junior and senior researchers. The closing date for nominations is 30 August. Further information (including the conditions of each award and nomination forms) is available at http://www.science.org.au/awards or mailto:faye.nicholas@science.org.au.
DIALOGICA AWARDS
The Academy will be sponsoring a special $3000 prize in this year's Co-op Bookshop Dialogica Awards for excellence in written communication. The prize is intended to encourage younger scientists to be top-class communicators. It is open to science postgraduates or early career scientists under 35 years old. The awards - organised by Campus Review - are open to all postgraduates, academics and all university staff. For an entry package contact mailto:davidm@camrev.com.au. The closing date for entries is 25 August.
ANNUAL REPORT
The Academy's annual report for 2002-2003 is now available as a PDF file at http://www.science.org.au/media/anrep.htm. Printed copies are available from the Academy's publications manager at mailto:maureen.swanage@science.org.au.
ACADEMY TIES AND SCARVES
Our new easy-care silk ties and scarves are available at $40 each (including GST). The design is bold but practical and both items display the Academy logo.
Limited numbers of our original ties and scarves are still available at $40 each (including GST).
Photographs of the four ties and scarves can be viewed at http://www.science.org.au/tiesandscarves.htm, together with an order form.
FOR ACADEMY FELLOWS:
NOMINATION OF CANDIDATES FOR ELECTION TO THE FELLOWSHIP
Fellows are advised that if they wish to nominate a candidate for Ordinary election, the Certificate of a Candidate for Election and all supporting documents must be received by the Secretariat by 31 July 2002.
At a recent meeting, the Executive Committee agreed that it is the responsibility of the proposer to provide a candidate with the list of required supporting documents, receive these from the candidate, and forward all documents to the Secretariat by the due date. ExCom also agreed that there be one closing date, 31 July, for receipt of Certificates and all supporting documents.
The Certificate of a Candidate for Election and a list of the required supporting documents are available from the Academy's elections manager, mailto:kathryn.lawry@science.org.au. If possible, proposers should provide documents electronically as .rtf files.
DIARY DATES
30 June. Closing date for applications to undertake research in Antarctica, Macquarie Island and Australia as part of the Australian Antarctic Division's 2004-05 Antarctic Science Program (http://www.aad.gov.au/applications).
2-6 July. 'Mutation Detection 2003'. HUGO VII International Symposium on Mutations in the Human Genome, Palm Cove, Great Barrier Reef (http://www.genomic.unimelb.edu.au/palmcove.html).
6-12 July. 'Genomes - The Linkage to Life'. XIX International Congress of Genetics, Melbourne (http://www.geneticscongress2003.com).
22-25 July. 'The 6th International Conference on Satellite Navigation Technology and Mobile Location Services', Melbourne (http://www.gps-society.org/satnav2003.html).
31 July. Closing date for receipt of Certificate of a Candidate for Election. See item above.
31 July. Closing date for applications to the Academy's exchange programs with Europe. See item above.
31 July. Closing date for nominations for the ATSE Clunies Ross Award for 2004 (http://www.cluniesross.org.au or mailto:maryb@atse.org.au).
6-7 August. 'The Challenge of Commercialisation: Turning Research and Ideas into Money'. A forum, exposition and workshops for researchers and entrepreneurs to be held in Melbourne. Hosted by B-HERT and the Triton Foundation (http://www.bhert.com/events_UpcomingEvents.htm).
22 August. Closing date for applications to the Academy's exchange programs with Asia. See item above.
25 August. Closing date for Dialogica Award entries. See item above.
30 August. Closing date for nominations for the Academy's Awards for Scientific Excellence (http://www.science.org.au/awards/index.htm).
3-5 September. 'International Conference on Radar', Adelaide (http://www.plevin.com.au/radar).
19 September. Closing date for applications to the Academy's exchange programs with North America. See item above.
8-13 February 2004. 'Dynamic Earth: Past, Present and Future'. 17th Australian Geological Convention, Hobart. The theme reflects the role in tectonics and global geology of the late Professor Sam Carey FAA, AO, Foundation Professor of Geology at the University of Tasmania (http://www.17thagc.gsa.org.au).
COUNCIL MEMBERS (www.science.org.au/fellows/council/)
President, Jim Peacock
phone (02) 6246 5250, fax (02) 6246 5530
jim.peacock@csiro.au
Secretary (Physical Sciences), Bruce McKellar
phone (03) 9344 5122, b.mckellar@physics.unimelb.edu.au
Secretary (Biological Sciences), John Shine
phone (02) 9295 8120, j.shine@garvan.org.au
Secretary (Science Policy), Michael Barber
phone (02) 6276 6388, michael.barber@csiro.au
Secretary (Education and Public Awareness), John McKenzie
phone (03) 8344 6407, dean@science.unimelb.edu.au
Foreign Secretary, Kurt Lambeck
phone (02) 6125 5161, kurt.lambeck@anu.edu.au
Treasurer, Ian McDougall
phone (02) 6125 4136, Ian.McDougall@anu.edu.au
