PRESIDENT'S NOTES
10 October 2003
Dear Colleague,
I’m pleased to say that the Governor-General, Major-General Michael Jeffrey, has approved the 2003 changes to Bye-Laws in order to permit the Fellowship to elect up to four additional Fellows by ordinary election and up to three by special election in our anniversary year of 2004. The Fellowship was overwhelmingly in favour of these changes in the postal ballot conducted in June of this year so it is pleasing to see the matter come to fruition.
I should let you know that there was one complaint received from a Fellow about Council procedures for making changes to the Bye-Laws in 2003. The complaint was referred to the Finance/Audit Committee and independent members of that committee considered the matter. The Finance/Audit Committee agreed that Council had proceeded in good faith and in accordance with the advice of the Academy’s lawyers in the process of changing the Bye-Laws.
The Governor-General is interested in learning more about the Academy and its activities and I’ll be meeting with Major-General Jeffrey later this month to discuss Academy matters.
With best wishes,
Jim
PUBLIC FORUM ON SALINITY MAPPING METHODS
In my last note I mentioned that on 1 September the Academy had hosted a scoping workshop on 'Salinity mapping methods in the Australian context', as part of an evaluation of a review of salinity mapping methods being conducted by the Department of Environment and Heritage and the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry. The next stage of this review is a public forum to be held in the Shine Dome on Friday, 17 October. The program and registration form are on the Academy's website at http://www.science.org.au/events/salinity/.
The forum will focus on a draft report of salinity mapping methods and a user-friendly guide, both being prepared by Peter Woodgate and Brian Spies, consultants to the project. These documents should be available on the National Dryland Salinity Program website from 10 October, under the 'Updates' section of the home page at http://www.ndsp.gov.au.
2003 SELBY FELLOW
The Academy's 2003 Selby Fellow, Dr Charles Arntzen, Presidential Chair and Director of the Arizona Biomedical Institute at Arizona State University, will be visiting Melbourne, Canberra, Adelaide and Perth later this month. The aim of his tour is to raise awareness of the potential for plant-derived vaccines for health improvement in developing and developed countries and he will be giving a series of seminars during his visit.
Dr Arntzen will be in Melbourne from 14-17 October (contact mailto:abacic@unimelb.edu.au or mailto:stevew@burnet.edu.au); in Canberra from 20-21 October (mailto:faye.nicholas@science.org.au), in Adelaide on 22 October (mailto:Ian.Dry@csiro.au) and in Perth from 23-24 October (mailto:spowles@agric.uwa.edu.au).
More information about the Selby Fellowship is available at http://www.science.org.au/awards/selby.htm.
ACADEMY-NSF PROGRAM FOR US GRADUATE STUDENTS
The National Science Foundation (NSF) has recently announced that Australia is now a participating country in its Summer Institute Program. The program is now called 'East Asia and Pacific Summer Institutes for US Graduate Students'. This initiative has been developed by NSF and the Academy and will be funded by the Commonwealth Department of Education, Science and Training. The objective of the program is to introduce American students to Australian science and engineering in the context of a research laboratory, and to help them initiate personal relationships that will better enable them to collaborate with their Australian counterparts in the future. It is expected that the first group of twenty US students will arrive in Australia in June 2004.
SCIENCE AT THE SHINE DOME, 2004
The next 'Science at the Shine Dome', which will be held from 5-7 May 2004, will be a highlight of the Academy's 50th anniversary celebrations. The 2004 symposium topic, 'A Celebration of Australian Science', will focus on the future of Australian science. An elite group of young Australian scientists has been invited to speak at the symposium. These are the previous recipients of the Science Minister’s Prize for Life Scientist of the Year and the Malcolm McIntosh Prize for Physical Scientist of the Year. I am delighted that all eight recipients have accepted the invitation.
Fellows are invited to suggest topics for the Science at the Shine Dome symposium for 2005 and 2006.
BASSER LIBRARY
The Academy's Basser Library is a centre for the study of the history of science in Australia. One of its aims is to collect and preserve archival material that throws light on the lives and work of Australian scientists and their institutions. This is achieved by collecting the personal papers of prominent Australian scientists, with an emphasis on the papers of Academy Fellows, and the records of scientific societies.
Eighty Fellows of the Academy and about 20 scientific societies have chosen the Basser Library as a repository for their archives. The manuscript collections, some very small and some containing hundreds of items, occupy 280 metres of shelf space and the collection grows by about 11 metres each year.
The contents of many of the collections are listed on the Academy’s website at
http://www.science.org.au/academy/basser/mslist.htm and more are being added progressively. The site has been very successful in drawing the attention of researchers to our collections, resulting in a noticeable increase in the numbers of both email requests and visits by researchers.
NEW SCIENCE POLICY ANALYST FOR THE ACADEMY
Dr Gina Newton has been seconded from the Department of Communications, IT and the Arts for a period of two years as the Academy's science policy analyst. She brings over 20 years experience in research science and policy, mainly from the public sector. Her background has focused on marine ecology, national state of the environment reporting and science communication. Gina has spent the last few years working in the policy realm of innovation and information and communication technology. She is also vice-president of the Australian Marine Sciences Association.
DIARY DATES
14-15 October. Science meets Parliament (http://www.fasts.org/).
17 October. Public symposium on salinity. Shine Dome, Canberra. (See item above.)
31 October. Closing date for expressions of interest proposals for the Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering's international activities during 2004-05 (http://www.atse.org.au/international/International_SET.htm).
31 October. Closing date for applications to the Department of Education, Science and Training's Competitive Grants component of the Innovation Access Program - International Science and Technology, for international research and development cooperation. Information and guidelines are available at http://www.dest.gov.au/science/iap, by email: mailto:ist@dest.gov.au or by phoning (02) 6240 5176.
3-5 November. 'Proteomics: Progress, Partnerships and New Directions'. Sir Mark Oliphant Conference, Sydney (http://www.mmb.usyd.edu.au/oliphant).
13-14 November. 'Networking for Excellence'. Forum for European-Australian Science and Technology Cooperation (FEAST) conference, Shine Dome, Canberra (http://www.feast.org/).
17-18 November. 'Water - The Australian Dilemma'. 2003 ATSE Symposium, Melbourne. (http://www.atse.org.au/events/vicsymp2003/symp2003-background.htm).
21 November. 'Issues in Animal Transgenesis'. Australian Catholic University National Centre for Environmental Restoration and Stewardship symposium, North Sydney. Convenor, Dr Vaughan Monamy (mailto:v.monamy@mackillop.acu.edu.au).
1-4 December. 'Scaling down to a Nano-materials World'. Sir Mark Oliphant Conference, Melbourne.
17-19 December. 'Modern Science of Advanced Materials'. International Workshop in Materials Science and Engineering, Townsville. Organised by Mechanical Engineering, James Cook University.
1 and 28 February 2004. Closing dates for applications for the Cambridge Australia Trust PhD scholarships (http://www.anu.edu.au/cabs/scholarships/cambridge/cambridge-austrust.html).
8-13 February. '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.
8-10 August. 'Genetics and Population Health'. Australian Public Health Genetics Consortium inaugural conference, incorporating the Third International Workshop on Consanguinity, Endogamy and Cultural Diversity and the Second Meeting of the Australasian Thalassaemia Workshop, Fremantle (http://www.geneticsandpopulationhealth.com).
COUNCIL MEMBERS (www.science.org.au/fellows/council/)
President, Jim Peacock
phone (02) 6246 5250, fax (02) 6246 5530
mailto:jim.peacock@csiro.au
Secretary (Physical Sciences), Bruce McKellar
phone (03) 9344 5122, mailto:b.mckellar@physics.unimelb.edu.au
Secretary (Biological Sciences), John Shine
phone (02) 9295 8120, mailto:j.shine@garvan.org.au
Secretary (Science Policy), Michael Barber
phone (02) 6276 6388, mailto:michael.barber@csiro.au
Secretary (Education and Public Awareness), John McKenzie
phone (03) 8344 6407, mailto:dean@science.unimelb.edu.au
Foreign Secretary, Kurt Lambeck
phone (02) 6125 5161, mailto:kurt.lambeck@anu.edu.au
Treasurer, Ian McDougall
