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Go8 Newsletter August 2014PDF Version

Table of contents• Imagining an Australia

built on the brilliance of our people 2• Go8 names new Executive Director

effective January 2015 3• Learning let loose: reforming our universities 5• New Go8 publications 7• New Go8 Indicators 9• Go8 sponsors Australia Day

at the 64th Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting 12• Go8 conducts pre-departure briefing

for Brazilian SWB Students 14• Go8 Submission 16• New Organisation Structure

at the Department of Industry 17• Executive Files 18• Research with Impact 21• Calendar of Events 23

The Chair of the Group of Eight (Go8), and Vice-Chancellor and President of The Australian National University, Professor Ian Young AO, delivered an Address to the National Press Club of Australia on 30 July 2014.

Entitled “Imagining an Australia built on the brilliance of our people”, Professor Young’s speech challenges the nation, and Government in particular, to make the hard decisions that will ensure Australia’s universities will stand out as amongst the best in the world.

Professor Young argues for differentiation and deregulation, and outlines why both are necessary if Australia wants a report card that gives a grade better than “B minus”.

The text of the speech is as follows:

Higher education and research in Australia is at a cross-road. It is time for us to make choices about what we want for our country and what we want for future generations. Time to make choices about the future of our universities.

Do we view universities as critical to underpinning a highly skilled, clever and innovative Australia?

Or do we see universities as a finishing school for our young? An extension of high school where we teach young people the

same way and the same things no matter where they study?

Are we content with having a good university system? Or do we want one that stands out amongst the best in the world?

The decisions we make now will fundamentally shape Australia’s future.

Imagine, for a moment, what the future can be – for students, for research and for our nation.

To read, download or print the entire speech, please visit: https://go8.edu.au/article-type/leaders-statements

Imagining an Australia built on the brilliance of our people

August 2014 Newsletter PDF Version page 2

https://go8.edu.au/article-type/leaders-statements



The Group of Eight (Go8) welcomes the appointment of Ms Vicki Thomson as its Executive Director, effective January 2015, following a competitive global search.

Ms Thomson, who will succeed Mr Mike Gallagher, comes to the role after more than a decade leading the Australian Technology Network (ATN) of Universities. Ms Thomson is also a member of the Australia China Council Board and the New Colombo Plan Reference Group.

The Go8 Chair and ANU Vice Chancellor, Professor Ian Young AO, believes that the appointment of Ms Thomson will further strengthen collaboration

on all fronts between Australia’s leading universities and build on current international partnerships, including those in Latin America and in China with the C9 group of universities.

Ms Thomson is pleased to be able to take the helm at the Group of Eight at a time of change and opportunity for the Australian university sector.

“The sector is facing some very complex political and policy issues

at present. I am very much looking forward to assisting the Go8 navigate its way through them. Far from resting on their laurels as leading Australian universities, the Go8 seeks to maintain and build on its international reputation for higher education and research,” Ms Thomson said.

“In addition to the great social and research contributions made by Go8 universities, their capacity to meet the productivity and

The Group of Eight names new Executive Director

Vicki Thomson


innovation challenges from Australian industry is vast and unparalleled,” said Ms Thomson.

Ms Thomson added that: “The profile of the Go8 for delivering research excellence is well recognised. This stands as a solid platform on which to further demonstrate the full firepower of the Go8 across teaching and the full spectrum of research to our stakeholders in government, industry and the community.”

Professor Young indicated that: “Ms Thomson comes to the role with an outstanding record of achievement in Higher Education, public service and advocacy. The Go8 welcomes her appointment and looks forward to her taking up this important role.”

“I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Mr Mike Gallagher for his outstanding service to the Go8 and the leadership role he has played in Higher Education,” said

Professor Young.

Professor Young added: “Over seven years in the Executive Director’s job, Mike has been a leading spokesman for the sector. He has contributed to many policy debates, ensuring that they have been informed by policy principle and that reforms have been subject to evaluation and analysis. His efforts have strengthened the Go8’s links in Australia and overseas, especially in China. ”

Mike Gallagher


Professor Warren Bebbington, Vice-Chancellor and President of The University of Adelaide, gave an Address to the Sydney Institute on 8 July 2014.

In his speech entitled, “Learning let loose: reforming our universities,” Professor Bebbington spoke extensively about “the spectacular range of choice in higher education in the USA” and how this is remarkably absent in the Australian public university landscape, which is marked more by sameness and uniformity.

According to Professor Bebbington, the country stands to gain many benefits if the same range of choice is made available to Australian students. There is no reason, he said, we can’t learn from America.

The text of his speech is as follows:

In the vast Minnesota cornfields of the American Upper Midwest sits the little township of Northfield. Northfield’s tiny population are traditionally wheat, corn or dairy farmers; but their number is greatly swollen each year by those who come from one of the two undergraduate colleges nearby. “Cows, Colleges and Contentment” is the town’s motto. The more prominent of the colleges is on the northern edge of town, Carleton College.

In Australia, we worry

that regional universities would struggle to attract students or be financially viable in a deregulated environment, and even metropolitan universities depend on their local catchment area for most students. But this year Carleton’s applicants were five times the number of places it had available, and they came from every American state and 37 countries abroad. This despite the fact that, just 60 km away in Minneapolis - St. Paul sits the University of Minnesota, one of the Top 100 universities in the world, whose fees are lower than Carleton’s.

Unquestionably, Carleton

Learning let loose: reforming our universities


offers undergraduate education of a quality Australians can only dream of. In Australian universities, dropout rates of 15% or more are common, but Carleton’s retention rate is 97%, and 91% of its students finish their degree in the minimum time. In Australia’s public universities, staff-student ratios have declined to around 1:21, and first-year lectures of 500, 800, or 1,000 students are not uncommon. At Carleton the staff-student ratio is 1:9, and 65% of its classes have fewer than 20 students. Indeed, large lecture courses are unknown: no class is larger than 49.

There are three semesters

a year, and a co-curricular program involving 90% of students, from community service projects to off-campus study programs ranging across more than 60 countries: in Australia we would be pleased if such programs reached 10%. There is a rich extracurricular life, with over 190 social and sporting clubs—this for a student population of just 2,000, a menu of extracurricular activities that would shame an Australian university of 40,000.

And what of Carleton’s graduate outcomes? 80% of its students are successfully admitted to graduate schools elsewhere, it has

produced 18 Rhodes Scholars, and its success with National Science Foundation Fellowships is second in the nation. Unlike in Australia, Carleton does not find a rural setting a weakness: it wears it as a badge of honour, building traditions around it. Small wonder that among the 1,800 four-year colleges in the US, Carleton is ranked in the top ten, at No. 7.

To read, download or print the entire speech, please visit: http://blogs.adelaide.edu.au/vco/2014/07/08/speech-learning-let-loose-reforming-our-universities/


http://blogs.adelaide.edu.au/vco/2014/07/08/speech-learning-let-loose-reforming-our-universities/






The Group of Eight (Go8) is releasing four new papers in August. Below is an outline of their titles and what they are about.

Courses and Quality Assurance in Australian Higher EducationThe proposed changes to higher education, announced in the 2014 federal budget, will herald the onset of significant structural reform if implemented as planned. Expansion of commonwealth subsidies to all registered higher education providers with accredited undergraduate courses will build on the current demand-driven system to help students select an institution and type of course most suited

to their needs. Key to the success of this reform will be strong quality assurance and regulatory mechanisms to ensure that all Higher Education Providers (HEPs) and the courses that they offer meet minimum standards of quality. This paper gives an overview of the quality assurance processes used by Australian universities as part of this process, with a particular focus on course development and delivery.

University Research Funding in AustraliaThis paper looks at expenditure on research in Australia and the

contribution made by the higher education sector as well as the sources of research income for Australian universities. In 2011-12 about $31.6 billion was spent on research in Australia by Government research organisations, universities, business and private non-profit organisations of which 28% was performed in the higher education sector. Australian universities reported $3.4 billion in research income in 2012 from Commonwealth grants and contracts, other government grants and contracts, industry grants and contracts, private non-

New Go8publications


profit grants and contracts, international grants and contracts and donations and Bequests. In 2012, 48% of research income reported came from Australian Competitive Grants.

Paying off HELP Debts: Case StudiesThe Government’s proposals to deregulate university fees and introduce a real interest rate on debts accrued through the Higher Education Loan Program (HELP) have been a source of contention since they were proposed in the 2014 Commonwealth Budget. The focus of this paper is

on how HELP repayment is affected by labour market outcomes and employs a series of case studies that show graduates earning above, at and below the average for their age. The case studies demonstrate the progressiveness of the HELP scheme and how its built-in safety measures actively protect those on lower incomes. Ultimately, how long graduates will take to repay their debt is dependent on their income. Graduates with higher incomes take less time to repay their debts than graduates on lower incomes. Lower income graduates however, may not make any repayments

for a number of years and then do so at much lower rates.

No such thing as a free degreeA number of commentators have argued against the proposals outlined in the Government’s 2014 Budget, by and large adopting a fiercely anti-market position. Indeed, some commentators have gone so far to say higher education should be “free”. “Free” here, of course, means free for the student. However, for the Government, and ultimately for the taxpayer, this would be a very real

cost — around $133 billion between now and 2030. Funding this shortfall from international student fees would require a 100 per cent increase in fees, a move that would surely diminish Australia’s market position. The more obvious solution would see the costs of free education be constrained through limiting admissions. Indicatively, providing free education within the current funding pool, would see a 50 per cent reduction in participation.


The latest Group of Eight (Go8) indicators are now available on the Go8 website. On most of the indicators, the Go8 universities form a distinct group.

The latest Group of Eight (Go8) indicators are now available on the Go8 website. On most of the indicators, the Go8 universities form a distinct group. No other Australian university is clearly in ninth place overall. The indicators highlight a variety of differences between Go8 and other Australian universities.

A number of the indicators quantify the Go8 universities’ research strength. The Go8 universities had nearly $11 billion in research income in 2012, which was about two-thirds of the total research income in Australian universities. Nearly three quarters of the nationally competitive research grants awarded to universities in 2012 went to Go8 universities. In the 2012 Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA) ratings, on average 71% of the fields submitted by Go8 universities had a rating of 4 or 5.

More than half of domestic undergraduate offers (57% in 2014) in Go8 universities went to students with a school leaving attainment in the top 10%. Just under half of all PhD students (48%) were in Go8 universities in 2012. The average student to staff ratio (student EFTSL/academic staff FTE) and attrition rates for first year domestic undergraduates are considerably lower in Go8 universities than other universities.

New Go8indicators


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The Group of Eight (Go8) Board agreed to sponsor Australia Day at the 2014 Lindau Nobel Laureates meeting and support the participation of a number of additional early career researchers (ECRs).

37 Nobel Laureates met in the week 29 June - 4 July 2014 with around 600 young scientists to share their knowledge, establish new contacts and discuss relevant topics such as global health, the latest findings in cancer and AIDS research, the challenges in immunology and future research approaches to medicine.

The three Australian Nobel Laureates present were Elizabeth Blackburn, Barry Marshall and Brian Schmidt. Peter Doherty addressed the meeting through video and a special edition of his book, “The Beginner’s Guide to Winning the Nobel Prize,” was given to all ECRs as a gift on Australia Day.

Lindau Meeting: a truly global event (photo by David Fisher)

The Australian delegation with Minister Robb and Ambassador Ritchie

Nobel Laureate Oliver Smithies with Kate Murphy, Melissa Cantley and Hannah Moore (photo by Melissa Cantley)

Go8 sponsors Australia Day

at the 64th Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting


Australia Day, science breakfast: Women in Science – challenges for building a career

Amongst the 600 young scientists from 80 countries were 15 Australian ECRs, who had passed the multi-stage selection process:

Michael Bergin, University of Queensland, Go8

Dr Nady Braidy, UNSW Australia, Go8

Dr Melissa Cantley, University of Adelaide, Go8

Dr Ross Hamilton, CSIRO Preventative Health

Rae-Ann Hardie, Garvan Institute of Medical Research

Dr Sarah Lockie, Monash University, Go8

Dr Yi Lu, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute

Dr Maria Markoulli, UNSW Australia, Go8

Dr Hannah Moore, University of Western Australia, Go8

Dr Kate Murphy, University of Melbourne, Go8

Dr Rebecca Segrave, Monash University, Go8

Dr Kirsty Short, University of Queensland/Erasmus Universiteit, Rotterdam, Go8

Dr Angela Spence, University of Western Australia, Go8

Dr Sonia Troeira Henriques, University of Queensland, Go8

Catriona Wimberley, Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO)

For the first time in the history of the meetings, the percentage of female participants was higher than the male`s percentage (52 to 48%), while the Australian delegation had 13% male participants.

The Australia Day on 30 June was a significant success. Minister for Trade and Investment, the Hon Andrew Robb AO MP, and His Excellency, Ambassador to Germany David Ritchie, lent their presence to this gathering of the best and brightest, and used this unique opportunity to present the Australian research landscape as one of the best in the world.

Minister Robb opened Australia Day with a welcome speech that included personal experiences. The speech was very well-received. Meanwhile, the musical interlude by Genevieve Lacey (recorder) and Marshall McGuire (harp) captivated the more than 1100 persons in the room, one could hear a needle drop.

The presentation by Professor Emma Johnston of UNSW Australia, depicting her passion for science and her research on the beautiful Australian coastal environment, was received with applause.

Professor Wolfgang Schuerer, President of the Lindau Nobel Meeting Council, concluded that this was the best International Day the Lindau meetings ever had. He remarked that at least 40% of the participants will visit Australia as a follow-up, in contrast to about 10% following the other international days.

The Go8 had provided the ECRs with USB bracelets containing Go8 information and the profiles of the Australian delegates.

In conclusion, in this event, Australia presented itself as the best destination for research in a well-balanced fashion following the Lindau leitmotif “Educate. Inspire. Connect.”. Thanks to the great collaboration between the ECRs, the Nobel Laureates, the AAS, Austrade and the Go8, the impression that ‘Team Australia’ left was definitely a very positive one.


The Group of Eight (Go8) prepared the Brazilian Science without Borders (SWB) students for a smooth arrival and pleasant experience in Australia.

In 2010 the Go8 signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Brazilian Government to host students under its SWB program. To date, the Go8 has already hosted over 3,000 students, mostly in Study Abroad Undergraduate programs, but also for PhDs and post-doctorates.

The success of an international education experience for young students is related to how well-prepared they are before leaving their home country.

In order to facilitate the Brazilian students’ adaptation process into the Australian education system,

lifestyle and culture, the Go8 has prepared a pre-departure session to give the students some understanding of the differences between Australia and their home country.

The last pre-departure session happened in late June, before the students departed for Australia,

Go8 conducts pre-departure briefing

for Brazilian SWB Students


with assistance from our partners in Brazil – Latino Australia Education (LAE). LAE organised a webinar session where the Go8 Director for Latin America delivered a talk to almost 300 students about Australia, the Australian lifestyle, the education system and the differences in education style between Brazil and Australia.

The session also discussed

issues such as reasons for studying overseas, importance of an international education experience, personal and professional development through international education, adaptation into different cultures, commitment to the Study Abroad and SWB programs and rules, as well as behavioural and cultural differences.

Students gave excellent feedback about the session, saying it helped make them feel more prepared to begin their study experience in Australia. This is the second time the Go8 has conducted the pre-departure session in Brazil. It is likely to continue offering these seminars before the departure of each large SWB group for Australia.

The success of an international education experience for young students is related to how well-prepared they are before leaving their home country.

Brazilian SWB students and delegation of Brazilian universities at the University of Adelaide, in September 2013

Welcome Party for Brazilian SWB students

and delegation of Brazilian universities at the University

of Western Australia, in September 2013


The Group of Eight (Go8) has recently made a submission to the Senate Committee on Economics.

The submission is in response to an inquiry into Australia’s innovation system, with the aim of looking into “the challenges to Australian industries and jobs posed by increasing global competition in innovation, science, engineering, research and education.”

The Go8 submission has been published by the Australian Parliament on its website and may be accessed here:

http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Economics/Innovation_System/Submissions (Submission 13)

A downloadable or printable copy is also available on the Submissions page of the Go8 website: https://go8.edu.au/publication/group-eight-submission-inquiry-australias-innovation-system.

Go8 Submission


http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Economics/Innovation_System/Submissions



https://go8.edu.au/publication/group-eight-submission-inquiry-australias-innovation-system.



The Department of Industry, established in September 2013 to consolidate industry, energy, resources, science, skills and business, has recently announced a new structure, effective July 2014.

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The organisation chart is below, and more information is available on the Department’s website: http://www.industry.gov.au/AboutUs/Pages/default.aspx

New Organisation Structure

at the Department of Industry


http://www.industry.gov.au/AboutUs/Pages/default.aspx

In this issue, we are introducing a new section to feature the profiles of the top executives of the Group of Eight (Go8) universities.

We start below with The University of Western Australia (UWA):

Professor Paul JohnsonVice-ChancellorPrior to his appointment as Vice-Chancellor of The University of Western Australia in 2012, Professor Paul Johnson served as Vice-Chancellor of La Trobe University in Victoria for four years. Before moving to Australia, Professor Johnson served three years as Deputy Director of the London School of Economics.

Professor Johnson received his doctorate from Oxford University in 1982.

Professor Johnson has been an expert adviser on pension reform and the economics of demographic change to the World Bank, the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development, the British Government and the House of Lords. He has served on a number of professional councils, learned societies and professional bodies in the UK including the Economic and Social Research Council’s Research Grants Board, the Council of the Economic History Society and the Governing Board of the Pensions Policy Institute.

Professor Johnson is a director of UniSuper, the Australian higher education superannuation fund, and a member of the fund’s Investment Committee. He is also a member of the Advisory Council of the Australian Research Council. He was elected to a Fellowship of the Royal Historical Society in 1987 and to the Academy of Social Sciences in 2001.

Executive Files

Professor Dawn FreshwaterSenior Deputy Vice-ChancellorPrior to moving to Western Australia to take up the position of Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Dawn Freshwater served as the Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Staff and Organizational Effectiveness, Professor of Mental Health and Head of the School of Healthcare at the University of Leeds. Professor Freshwater received her doctorate at the University of Nottingham in 1998 and has been the recipient of numerous awards. She was elected to a Fellowship of the Royal College of Nursing in 2001.

As an academic Professor Freshwater serves on the HEFCE Research Excellence Framework (REF) panel in the UK; reviews and acts in an advisory capacity for the National Institute for Health Research and MRC and to the National Institute for Clinical Excellence. She contributes to clinical academic fellowship panels and to awards of doctoral training centres.

In her leadership capacity, Professor Freshwater has championed and led the successful Award of Athena SWAN; funded a study to examine the impact of globalisation on leadership and developed a manifesto for Inclusive Leadership jointly with the British Council.


Professor Robyn OwensDeputy Vice-Chancellor (Research)Professor Robyn Owens is Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) and has responsibility for research policy development and general oversight of the University’s research activities, postgraduate education, industry liaison, intellectual property and commercialisation.

Professor Robyn Owens has a BSc (Hons) from UWA and a MSc and a DPhil from Oxford, all in Mathematics. She worked at l’Université de Paris-Sud, Orsay, continuing research in mathematical analysis before returning to UWA to work as a research mathematician.

She has lectured in Mathematics and Computer Science at UWA, and Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at Berkeley, as well as for shorter periods in Thailand and New Zealand. Her research has focussed on computer vision, including feature detection in images, 3D shape measurement, image understanding, and representation.

Through her previous role as Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research & Research Training) at UWA, Professor Owens led the development and research training of over 1900 research students. Prior to taking up that position, she was Head of the School of Computer Science & Software Engineering at UWA from 1998 until the end of 2002.

Mr Peter CurtisRegistrar and Executive Director Corporate ServicesMr Peter Curtis graduated in 1972 with Honours in Economics from the University of Wolverhampton in the UK, presenting his Honours thesis on ‘Student Finance in Higher Education’. He combined part-time tutoring with postgraduate studies in Public Administration before moving to Australia in 1974. He commenced a career in university administration at UWA in 1975.

From that time he has accumulated a wide variety of experience principally in academic and student administration and has taken a leading role in institutional planning and policy.

During the late 1980s and early 1990s, as Director of Planning Services, Peter played a lead role in establishing and developing a formal planning process at UWA, and in the design and development of the University’s budget model, organisational structures, and decision-making processes.

From 1993, following appointment as Deputy Registrar, he was designated Coordinator of Planning and Policy within the University and authored many of the University’s major policy documents, including its Strategic Plan, Operational Priorities Plan, Quality Portfolios and Educational Profiles. He has also been closely involved in national policy developments in areas such as quality assurance, performance indicators and funding policy.

Peter took up the position of Executive Director (Academic Services) and Registrar in January 2000 and, as a member of the Executive, has continued to take a leading role in University and sector planning, authoring many of the University’s major policy documents and submissions to Government on higher education issues.


Professor Alec CameronDeputy Vice-Chancellor (Education)Beginning his appointment in January 2013, Professor Alec Cameron is one of the newest additions to the UWA Vice-Chancellery. Commencing as Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Education), he was subsequently appointed as Acting Senior Deputy-Vice Chancellor from July 2013 until 31 March 2014.

Prior to joining UWA, Professor Cameron was President of the Australian Business Deans Council. He has also been the driving force behind the Australian School of Business, after being appointed the School’s inaugural Dean in 2006, and overseeing its emergence from the integration of academic units at the University of New South Wales.

Professor Cameron has also previously held the position of Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Resources and Infrastructure) at UNSW, and several senior corporate positions in the IT and telecommunications industry - including at Sun Microsystems Australia, Alcatel Australia, COMindico, and Telstra.

A Rhodes Scholar, Professor Cameron holds a Bachelor of Science degree and a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering with First Class Honours. He also holds a University Medal from the University of Sydney, a Doctor of Philosophy degree in robotics from Oxford University, and a Master of Science degree in the Management of Technology from Polytechnic Institute of New York University (NYU).

In December 2012, The Professor Alec Cameron Prize for Excellence was established at UNSW in honour of his significant contribution to the institution and community.

Ms Gaye McMathChief Operating OfficerGaye McMath is the Chief Operating Officer at The University of Western Australia(UWA). She sits on various University Boards including The Perth International Arts Festival, The University Club and University Hall.

Gaye is responsible for the University services of Financial Services, Human Resources, Campus Management and Venues Management.

Ms McMath was previously employed with BHP Billiton where she held a range of senior executive positions in finance, strategic planning and commercial management in the steel, mining and treasury divisions. She was also a BHP nominated director on a number of domestic and international mining and infrastructure subsidiary and joint venture boards.

Prior to her current role she was the Executive Director Finance and Resources and Chief Financial Offcer at UWA and Pro Vice-Chancellor (Resource Management) and Chief Financial Officer at Murdoch University. She was also a director on various University related companies associated with education, research, commercialisation of intellectual property, property development and aged care.

Gaye has a Bachelor of Commerce Degree from the University of Melbourne, a Masters of Business Administration from Melbourne Business School and completed the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School. She is a fellow of CPA Australia and the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Gaye is currently a non-executive Director of the Western Australian Treasury Corporation and Gold Corporation. She is a member of Australian Institute of Company Directors (WA Division), The Anglican Church Perth Diocesan Trust and the Committee for Perth.

For contact details and more information, please visit the UWA website: http://www.uwa.edu.au/


http://www.uwa.edu.au/

This month we further highlight discoveries that have benefited the health of Australians.

Saving Lives at Birth

The delivery of an old drug in new ways has the potential to save the lives of thousands of mothers in the developing world at risk of bleeding to death after childbirth. Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Science (MIPS) researchers led by Dr Michelle McIntosh are developing oxytocin as an inhaled, acute use medicine for the treatment of post-partum haemorrhage which kills 150,000 women annually in resource poor countries. The inhaled form of oxytocin is stable at room temperature and readily administered, in contrast to the current need for refrigerated storage

of the injected liquid formulation, which is problematic in resource poor countries. Inhaled oxytocin can be administered by non-medically trained staff.

The technology has now cleared a number of the critical pre-clinical hurdles that are required prior to progression into the clinic. The project has been supported by funding agencies including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Saving Lives at Birth, the McCall MacBain Foundation, the Planet Wheeler Foundation and the Helen McPherson Smith Trust.

Research with Impact


Magnetic Resonance Imaging

MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) has been an important clinical diagnostic tool since the 1980s, with the current global market estimated to be around US$4.5 billion p.a. from the sale of around 3500 systems annually. Technology that improves the clarity of images from MRI machines resulted from a project led by Professor Stuart Crozier. The electromagnetic noise compensation technology is now incorporated into two-thirds of the world’s high field MRI systems sold since 1996 and facilitates vastly improved diagnostics. An estimated 8 billion patients worldwide have benefited from this improved technology.

The creation of the Glycemic IndexPrincipal Researcher, Professor Jennie Brand-Miller’s groundbreaking work into human nutrition has led to the development of the University of Sydney Glycemic Index Research Service (SUGiRS), established in 1995 to provide a reliable commercial GI testing laboratory for the local and international food industry. Foods that meet nutrition guidelines and have been GI tested can carry the GI symbol, which is administered by the Glycemic Index Foundation, supported by the University of Sydney and JDRF (Australia). The GI ranks carbohydrates on a scale from 0 to 100 according to the extent to which they raise blood sugar levels after eating. Research on the nutritional aspects of food carbohydrates has been internationally recognised. Both the World Health Organisation (WHO) and Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) refer to the GI in making nutrition recommendations.

A leading figure in oral health science with more than 30 years’ experience in dental research, management, and commercialisation of innovations, Professor Eric Reynolds was one of the first to identify the molecular processes enabling the repair of early tooth decay without the need for invasive treatment.

This was followed by the discovery of a milk compound called Recaldent™ that repairs the effect of acid on teeth and reduces the risk of disease.

Hailed as a major global breakthrough in the prevention and treatment of early tooth decay, Recaldent™ enhances the uptake and incorporation of fluoride into tooth enamel and the repair of early stages of disease.

“Regular use of Recaldent™ products has the potential to significantly repair early stages of tooth decay,” Professor Reynolds says.

Recaldent™ is now in products that have generated over $2 billion in sales since 2003, while its use is estimated to save consumers over $1 billion in dental treatment costs per year.

Photo credits: Chris Owen

Consumers save over $1 billion annually with dental discovery - Recaldent™ products have revolutionised dental practice


Calendar of Events

Event/Meeting/Courtesy Call Date Venue Remarks/DetailsGo8 Briefing for Go8 Universities Latin America Managers

15 August Santiago Briefing for Go8 staff prior to LAE exhibition

Latino Australia Education (LAE) Student Exhibitions inSantiago, Buenos Aires, Lima, Bogota, Quito, Mexico City

16 August – 4 September

tbc The Go8 will have a booth and make presentations at all exhibitions.

Go8 postgraduate coordinators workshop

18-19 August Adelaide

Go8 DoGS 19 August Adelaide

Go8 Marketing Directors 11-12 September UQ

Go8 Research Director’s Meeting 16-17 September ANU

Go8+ Deans of Engineering 2-3 October UQ

Go8 International Strategy Group 7 October Brisbane Meeting

Go8 Mobility Managers 7 October Brisbane Meeting

AIEC – Australian International Education Conference

7-10 October Brisbane

Go8 Social Inclusion Strategy Group 24 October Adelaide

Go8 Directors for Latin America visit to Australia

October Visits to all Go8 universities

Go8 Deans of Business 13-14 November Shanghai Joint Go8 Business alumni meeting

Go8 Directors of Statistics and Planning

17 Nov Melbourne

LAE – Go8 Scholarship events in Latin America

November – tbc tbc tbc

Go8 Alumni and Networking function in Brazil

tbc tbc


go8 newsletter - monash universityaustralian technology network (atn) of universities. ms thomson is...

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