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SCS research and awards news

For all our research and awards news, please visit our news page.

Monday 8 June 2015

Monash Micro Imaging photo competition - entries now open

2014 winning entry by SCS researcher Dr Michaela Finsterbusch
(Macrophages aligned along collagen fibres in the mouse stomach)
The 2015 imaging competition is now open for entries.  We would like original images taken on MMI instruments. Remember they will be judged on their artistic merit so you are allowed to
manipulate them.

The 13 best images will be used in our 2016 calendar and other advertising material. Our sponsor Life Technologies provides great prizes for the 3 best images. The closing date for entries will be 30th October 2015.

Competition Rules
  •  Image resolution should be as high as possible
  •  Images will be published on the MMI website, posters and other  advertising material so don't  submit any unpublished data
  •  Maximum of 3 visually distinct entries per person
  •  Images must have been taken on a MMI microscope
  •  Submit images in a .tif format no greater than 10 Mb in size
For further enquiries contact Judy Callaghan Ext 55612 or judy.callaghan@monash.edu

For submitting images and further details go to: https://goo.gl/lZPCTE



Monash University academic recognised by dietitians' peak body

Janeane Dart
Congratulations SCS senior lecturer Janeane Dart who recently received the prestigious Advanced Accredited Practising Dietitian (AdvAPD) credential.

Awarded by Australia’s peak nutrition body, the credential is only given to five of the country’s leading dietitians.
The highly-regarded credential, which is endorsed by the Dietitians Association of Australia (DAA), recognises proactive leaders who integrate high level nutrition and dietetic skills to influence the health of the community.
“I am very pleased to have received the Advanced APD recognition,” said Janeane. “I feel the credential is a valuable recognition of my career progress to date.”

“Only 100 dietitians in Australia have received this recognition, including three other staff in the Department of Nutrition and Dietetics.”

Janeane is planning to start her PhD at Monash University later this year; her topic will be ‘Defining and Assessing Professionalism in Nutrition and Dietetics’.

MHTP Open Day - call for research staff to promote projects

The MHTP Open Day for 2015 is planned for Wednesday 5th August 5 - 7.30pm, in the Foyer, Lecture Theatre 1, MMC.  This year the event will be based around the themes that represent the research performed in the precinct. I have listed the researchers from the Open Day Committee who will be organising each theme and their emails. Please contact the organiser of the theme that your project best fits into, if you are interested in promoting your research theme, highlighting your projects at the event, and maximising student interest in our precinct. 


Theme
Organiser(s)
Email
Cancer
Ashish Banerjee and Elizabeth Sigston
 Cardiovascular Health         
 Tony White
 Diatbetes, Obesity, Men’s health and Endocrinology
Kate Loveland and  Kelly Walton
 Infectious and Inflammatory Diseases
 Ashley Mansell and Connie Wong
 Neurosciences and Psychiatry
 Joo Lee
 Women's, Children's and Reproductive Medicine
 Lisa Walter and Yao Wang
 Clinical Medicine

 David Scott
 Genetic Diseases
 Yogesh Makanji
 Nutrition and Dietetics
 David Kannar

Congratulations Dr Hamid Hosseini

Dr Hamid Hosseini
The Monash Institute of Graduate Research is pleased to report that Dr Hamid Hosseini was awarded the degree of Doctor of Philosophy last week.

Hamid's thesis, "Therapeutic strategies in management of atherosclerosis by manipulation of anti-atherogenic B1a lymphocytes" makes a distinct and significant contribution to the field.

MIGR offer sincere thanks to all the academic and professional staff involved in assisting Hamid achieve this wonderful result.  


 

Ten Simple Rules to Win a Nobel Prize

Dr Roberts
It is remarkable how many students, young faculty, and even senior faculty hanker after a Nobel Prize. Somehow, they think that it is possible to structure their scientific careers so that the culmination will bring this much sought-after honor.....

Read full article by Nobel laureate Dr Richard J Roberts and published in PLoS Computational Biology here.


Second Hudson Translational Workshop Thur 11 June

Prof Williams
9:30-11:30 Thur 11th June, 3rd floor Board Room, Hudson Institute

Prof Bryan Williams and Prof Graham Jenkin will share their experience in developing industry research funding for translational projects. This will be rather different to the approaches outlined by Alan Trounson and Andy Gearing last month.

The Pitches for Industry Funding Proposals will be made by:
Dr Lois Salamonson and Michael Gantier


We need more scientists to come forward with "pitches" in the next few months because we will be inviting fund managers to join us shortly - could be a great opportunity for translational project funding.

Hudson seminar: “Targeting epigenetic regulators in haematological malignancies” 11 June

A/Prof Dawson
Presented by A/Prof Mark Dawson
Laboratory Head: Cancer Epigenetics Laboratory & Consultant Haematologist, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre

Thursday 11 June, 4-5pm

More details here.

CiiiD Tuesday seminar, Dr Alison West, "The role of TLR2 in driving human gastric cancer survival and proliferation", TOMORROW

Dr Alison West will speak at tomorrow's CiiiD seminar, 9 June, on "The role of TLR2 in driving human gastric cancer survival and proliferation".

The seminar will commence at 1.05pm in the Level 3 Boardrooms.


CID presentation: "Tfh cells in infections and autoimmune diseases: the good, the bad and the ugly", TOMORROW

Dr Di Yu
Presented by invited speaker Dr Di Yu, Head of Laboratory for Molecular Immunomodulation, School of Biomedical Sciences.

12pm Tuesday 9 June, Medicine Seminar Room, Level 5, Block E, MMC

Department of Medicine Staff Meeting

Head, Department of Medicine, Professor Peter Ebeling invites all staff to attend the first Department of Medicine Staff Meeting of the year, to be held on Wednesday 24th June in Lecture Theater 2 at 11:00 am. 

The meeting is open to all staff and students in the Department.

Further Department meetings will be held on the following dates in Lecture Theater 2:
  •  Thursday 27th August at 11:00 am
  •  Thursday 22 October at 11:00 am
  •  Thursday 17 December at 11:00 am
Please enter these meetings in your diaries.

These meetings will provide a good opportunity for Centre Heads, Group Leaders, and Peter to pass on relevant information to everyone, whilst also providing an opportunity for receiving feedback from staff on various issues.




Australian Academy of Science Awards for 2016

A reminder that t​he Australian Academy of Science Awards for 2016 are now open. We invite you to nominate candidates and to forward the attached invitation to researchers.

Please note that the closing date for nominations for honorific awards was 30 April 2015 and that nominations/applications for research conferences, research awards and travelling fellowships are due by 15 June 2015.
 
Information on the awards (including eligibility criteria and nomination/application procedures and forms) is available on the website www.science.org.au/awards

Notes from Faculty Research Committee May meeting

Please find below the most noteworthy items discussed at the MNHS Research Committee held on May 25th 2015. Please pay particular attention to the point relating to use of Impact Factors and H Factors in NHMRC submissions.

News from NHMRC
**Impact Factors / H factor**
- NHMRC is clamping down on use of Impact Factors and H Factors in submissions. Grants in which these terms are used are now at risk of being deemed non-compliant. For rebuttals for 2015 Project Grants (due in the near future), ensure you do not include either Impact Factors or H Factors. Currently Journal rankings are still OK. Monash Library will advise on alternative metrics for researchers to use in future applications.
Open Researcher and Contributor ID (ORCID)
- NHMRC and ARC are encouraging all researchers to have a unique identifier through ORCID – this can be generated at www.orcid.org. The NHMRC supports this because i) it facilitates disambiguation of researchers and research outputs, and ii) it enables linking and re-use of high quality data for publications and grants. Within RGMS, a field has been added in the ‘Personal Details’ component of the ‘Profile & CV’. Researchers are encouraged to generate an ORCID at the above website and include this information in RGMS. For further information see <www.nhmrc.gov.au/grants-funding/policy/nhmrc-and-arc-statement-open-researcher-and-contributor-id-orcid>.

Change in Grant Variation policy
- NHMRC are tightening up on the circumstances they will allow as Grant Variations. Specifically, variations likely to alter the Research Activity (change in Chief Investigator, change in Research Plan, change in Associate Investigator) will only be considered under ‘exceptional circumstances’ or change in employment status that prevents a CI from continuing in their role as designated in the application, and on the condition that the research plan as described will continue to be pursued. This is in part to prevent people removing themselves from CI lists immediately after award of a grant. This is particularly relevant for people considering applying for Program Grant funding, which if successful, requires grant holders to relinquish all but one Project Grant (NB: funding is stopped for relinquished grants – it does not continue to flow to remaining members of the CI team). Potential Program Grant applicants should give due consideration to these issues when planning applications.

Other news

Department of Defense Military Burn Research Program

The FY15 Defense Appropriations Act provides $8 million (M) to the Department of Defense Military Burn Research Program (MBRP) to support high-impact burn injuries research.  Applications to the Fiscal Year 2015 (FY15) Military Burn Research Program (MBRP) are being solicited by the U.S. Army Medical Research Acquisition Activity (USAMRAA).  The executing agent for the anticipated Program Announcements/Funding Opportunities is the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP).

The MBRP is providing the information in this pre-announcement to allow investigators time to plan and develop applications.  FY15 MBRP Program Announcement and General Application Instructions for the following award mechanism are anticipated to be posted on the Grants.gov website in late June or early July 2015.  Pre-application and application deadlines will be available when the Program Announcements are released.  This pre-announcement should not be construed as an obligation by the government. 

EOI for ARC Centres Of Excellence 2017 now open in RMS

Expressions of Interest for ARC Centres of Excellence 2017 are now open in RMS and will close 5pm on Wednesday 22 July 2015.
  1. Please find attached the Instructions to Applicants and FAQs for Expressions of Interest
  2. ARC Pre-award team will be posting updates and templates to assist you with completing your EOI on the MRO intranet page for ARC Centres of Excellence
  3. The Research Development team will circulate notes from yesterday's ARC information.
  4. Request Not To Assess (RNTA) - Only one RNTA may be submitted, and will apply to both the EOI and full Proposal. Please note that if you intend to nominate more than three assessors for exclusion, you will need to provide justifications and substantive evidence to support all nominations for Prof Pauline Nestor's approval before submission to the ARC.
  5. Please direct any questions relating to Funding Rules or RMS to the ARC Pre-award team at arc@monash.edu; and questions regarding proposal development to the MRO Research Development Team at mro.researchdevelopment@monash.edu
Expressions of Interest closing dates:

EI17
MRO close date
ARC close date
Open in RMS 3 Jun 2015
EOI closing date
9am 13 July 2015
5pm 22 July 2015
Request Not to Assess
1 July 2015
5pm 8 July 2015

Centres of Excellence 2017 Timeline
EOI Rejoinder
21-31 August 2015
SAC meeting for shortlisting EOIs
23-25 September 2015
Notification of shortlisted EOIs for full application
2 October 2015
Full Proposal application period
7 October – 16 December 2015
Full Proposal Rejoinder
3-17 March 2016
Interview notification
15 April 2016
Interviews
Week beginning 16 May 2016
CE17 outcome announcement
Early July 2016


Lodge of Australia Felix No.1 - Cancer Research Grants

The Lodge of Australia Felix No. 1 is part of Freemasons Victoria and offers two Cancer Research Grants of $750 each for the current funding period. The submission deadline is 9pm on Friday 31 July 2015.

The Cancer Research Grants are to be used to cover travel costs and registration fees of postgraduate students (Honours, Master​s​
or PhD) for presenting a poster at a scientific conference in Australia. The scientific content of the poster needs to address cancer research.
​ ​
Link here to application form ​and instructions..  ​Further information is available in the attached flyer.  Queries should be directed to the Secretary of the Lodge of Australia Felix No. 1, Graham Dines (gdines@bigpond.net.au).

Consider nominating for Fresh Science Victoria

We’re looking for the best and brightest early-career researchers who have made a peer-reviewed discovery and received little or no media attention.

Successful applicants will participate in Fresh Science Victoria: First, a day of media and communication training, learning how to find the key, compelling ‘story’ in their research, and how to tell that story. Then, in the following pub night, the challenge of explaining their research in the time it takes a party sparkler to burn out.

Applicants can be researching in any field of science – from medicine to mathematics, from environmental science to computer science.

Nominations are now open and close 25 June. Fresh Science Victoria will be held at Melbourne Museum on 28 July, with a schools forum 29 July, and a pub event that night.

We’re looking for:
·         early-career researchers (from honours students to no more than five years post-PhD)
·         a peer-reviewed discovery that has had little or no media coverage
·         some ability to present ideas in everyday English.

Foetal surgery hope for heart defect

Flora Wong in the Herald Sun.

Read article here (subscription required).

A novel coronary angiography index (DILEMMA score) for prediction of functionally significant coronary artery stenoses assessed by fractional flow reserve: A novel coronary angiography index.

Dennis Wong published in American Heart Journal.

Read article here.

Activation of the kynurenine pathway and increased production of the excitotoxin quinolinic acid following traumatic brain injury in humans

David Walker published in Journal of Neuroinflammation.

Read article here.


The effect of prenatal maternal infection on respiratory function in mouse offspring: evidence for enhanced chemosensitivity.

Claudia Nold-Petry published in Journal of applied physiology.

Read article here.

OHSE Induction and Liquid Nitrogen training sessions

1. OHSE Induction
Due to Monday 8 June being a Hudson Institute holiday, the next OHSE induction for new starters is now scheduled as shown below :
Date: Tuesday 9 June 2015
Time: 11:00am
Venue: Hudson Level 2 Meeting room.

The rest of the fortnightly OHSE inductions will be held as normal on Mondays, unless otherwise notified.

2. Liquid Nitrogen training
A liquid nitrogen training session is scheduled as shown below. This training is for those working with, handling liquid nitrogen and/or working in areas where liquid nitrogen is stored.
Date: Wednesday 10 June 2015
Time: 11:00am
Venue: Hudson Level 2 Meeting room.

For registering for the above sessions or if you have any queries please contact: Ganeema.Tokhi@hudson.org.au


Last Chance: New SWAP classes available at Clayton Campus

We have new classes commencing soon and registrations are open. Please note these are not Faculty/Departmental based classes, these programs are open to all staff.

There are five types of programs available:

Changes to Human Resources operations

From 1st June, HR Operational activity will be managed by the new HR Operations Centre, located at 195 Wellington Road, Clayton.

The HR Operations Centre consists of three teams, they are; the HR Advisory team (Access HR), HR Business Support team and the HR Recruitment Support team, inclusive of the HR Recruitment Specialist team. Each team performs a different range of activities, however they can all be accessed using the same email address and telephone number.  HR Operations Centre email: hr@monash.edu or telephone on 990 20400.

The following provides a brief Summary of the key changes. 

HR update

The University has recently implemented the new HR Customer Relationship Management (CRM) approach. With this approach the aim is to deliver a more seamless experience for staff who contact Access HR with their general HR enquiries. The ability to capture enquiry history and ensure service continuity should lead to an enhanced staff experience, and we look forward to demonstrating higher levels of staff satisfaction with this new structure.

Consolidating transactional HR work
The remaining transaction work that is currently undertaken in HR Service Hubs will be consolidated. This work will transition into the HR Operations Centre, where the HR client support officers will be situated.