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Issue 5Sept-Oct 2009

ReSeaRch & InnOvatIOn

newSwww.uow.edu.au/research/newsletter

In thIS ISSUeResearch Services Office page 2

Research Student Centre page 4

New Research Staff page 4

Commercial Research Unit page 5

Managers of Innovation & Commercialisation page 6

PODS page 6

Library News page 7

Publications page 8

Faculty News, Awards and Achievements page 9

Conferences/Workshops page 17

iC News page 16

Travel Tale page 18

Research Strengths page 19

ContributionsContributions to Research & Innovation News (Research news, achievements and events) are always welcome.

To ensure inclusion of your research news, event or service in the next issue of RAID (due for publica-tion early December, please e-mail details to taniav@uow.edu.au or vwallace@uow.edu.au by 27th November.

Page 2: Government announces seven UOW academics as Future Fellows. One of our Future Fellows was featured on ABC’s New Inventors (see pg 9)

Page 10: Dr. Zenobia Jacobs awarded the prestigious L Oréal Australia For Women in Science Fellowship for 2009.

Page 7 : UOW celebrating “Open Access Week” October 19-23

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RESEARCH SERVICES OFFICEwww.uow.edu.au/research/rso

ERAERA 2010 Submission ReleasesDuring September, the ARC made three releases relevant for the 2010 ERA submission:• Ranked Journal List consultation• ERA Indicator consultation, which closed on 2 October• Release of the submission time frames

At UOW 270 journals were received by the ERA team for submis-sion to the ARC. Most journals have been added to the ERA journal list. We are monitoring progress informing stakeholders of the inclusion of journals as they occur.

Thank you to all who provided feedback on the Indicator Consultation paper. Your input is greatly valued and has been forwarded to the ARC for consideration in the much anticipated ERA Guidelines to be released in December 2009. Most likely the final ranked journal list will be released at the same time.

The ARC confirmed the commencement of the submission process in June 2010. With data collection for researchers, publications and income in full swing in the second half of 2009, UOW is well placed to meet this deadline. However, if the proposed esteem indicators and new output types are required, data collection activities will continue in February to April 2010.

In appreciation of your support. Your UOW ERA Team.

NEWS FROM THE GRANTS TEAMGrant Success:ARC Future Fellowships SchemeThe University of Wollongong has achieved outstanding success in the inaugural ARC Future Fellowships Scheme. This new scheme is designed to promote research in areas of critical national importance and is targeted at the brightest mid-career researchers. UOW was awarded a total of $5.1 million for seven Future Fellowships with a success rate of 30% (higher than the national average of 20.5%).

Congratulations to the four internal and three external candidates who have been awarded these fellowships:• Dr Zhenxiang Cheng (Engineering), “Manipulation of spin by

electric field”• Professor Willy Susilo (Informatics), “Secure and Efficient Fair

Exchange Protocols”• Associate Prof Brett Garner (Science), “Targeting brain lipid

homeostasis to treat Alzheimer’s Disease”• Associate Prof Chris Gibson (Science), “Crisis and change:

cultural-economic research on the adaptability and sustain-ability of Australian households”

• Dr Marc in het Panhuis (Science), “Soft carbon nanotube materials”

• Professor Vera Mackie (Arts), “From human rights to human security: changing paradigms for dealing with inequality in the Asia-Pacific region”

• Dr Aaron Oakley (Science), “Fragment based screening for new antibiotics by protein X-ray crystallography”

Congratulations to Professor Willy Susilo, from the School of Computer Science & Software Engineering, (Informatics) who has been successful in obtaining funding from the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet under the Research Support for Counter Terrorism scheme. Professor Susilo’s project “Post-quantum Cryptography: protecting counter-terrorism against future capabilities of Quantum Computers received funding totalling $201,292 over three years.

Professor Sara Dolnicar (School of Management and Marketing, Faculty of Commerce), A/Prof. Wilma Vialle and Prof. Rob Castle have been successful in obtaining an ALTC grant of $220,000 for a project entitled “Succession Planning at Universities: Program for Preparing Early Leaders (PROPEL)”. The program will develop a one-year intensive leadership program for early career academics focussing on the teaching-research nexus.

2010 URC Small Grant Scheme40 applications were successful, with a total of $447,478 funding awarded. (Arts 2, Commerce 1, Education 1, Engineering 12, Health & Behavioural Sciences 4, Informatics 8, Law 1 and Science 11). For details of successful applications please visit https://intranet.uow.edu.au/raid/rso/urc-outcomes/UOW066990.html

2009 URC Research Partnerships Grant SchemeFour applications for funding under Round 1 of the Research Partnership Scheme were successful with a total of $44,360 awarded. The successful applicants were:

Chief Investigator Faculty

Industry Partner

Funding Awarded

A tool to measure multiliteracies of middle school studentsLori Lockyer Ian Brown Peter Caputi

EducationPearson Research Assessment

$15,000

Internet use behaviour during the travel planning processGreg Kerr Lois Burgess Sara Dolnicar

CommerceTourism Wollongong

Tourism NSW$10,000

Development of a portable EEG measurement device for research

Stuart Johnstone H&BSNeuroSky Inc, US

$7,360

The Business Value of RFID-enabled Data AnalyticsTim Coltman Samual Wamba Stephen van Duin

InformaticsCram Fluid Power

$12,000

Round 2 of the 2009 URC Research Partnership Scheme closes on Monday, 26 October.ARC Linkage Projects 2010 Round 2Applications for Round 2 of the ARC Linkage Projects Scheme for funding in 2010 close on 18 November, 2009. An internal RSO timetable and other information are available at:www.uow.edu.au/research/rso/UOW009274.html

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Upcoming Funding OpportunitiesDue Date Activity

21 OctoberARC Linkage Projects - first draft of application due to RSO for review

18 NovemberARC Linkage Projects - applications due to the ARC

IRT RESEARCH FOUNDATION : CLOSING DATE: 30 OCTOBER 2009The purpose of the IRT Research Foundation grants is to fund health and medical research which has the potential to benefit older Australians. It is funded privately and via donations, and was launched in May 2009 with the goal of providing research grants each year to an ever widening group of research categories.

Expressions of Interest are invited for research grants of no longer than one year, which aim to benefit the aged and those who care for the aged. These grants may be for seed funding for projects that may expand to become eligible for more significant funding from other sources or for research projects in their entirety.

Individual grants are valued up to $40,000 and are available for personnel and/or equipment/consumables.

In order to qualify for grants, applicants are requested to forward an EOI, demonstrating the benefit of the award to their research. Please go to the website to download an application form and guidelines at www.irt.org.au/irtfoundationIRT Research Foundation: A division of Illawarra Retirement Trust. Applications should be submitted to the IRT Research Foundation Committee by 30 October 2009 to allow time for review.

RESEARCH ETHICSETHICS Agenda Deadlines and Meeting Dates for your diary

Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC) - Health and MedicalUpcoming meeting on 20th October (agenda deadline September 30th)

Next meeting November 17th (agenda deadline October 28th)

Future meeting December 15th (agenda deadline November 25th)

Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC) - Humanities, Social Science & BehaviouralUpcoming meeting on October 22 (agenda deadline October 7th)

Next meeting November 26th (agenda deadline November 11th)

Future meeting December 17th (agenda deadline December 2nd)

Animal Ethics CommitteeUpcoming meeting October 29th (agenda deadline October 8th)

Next meeting December 3rd (agenda deadline 12th November)

Gene Technology Review CommitteeNext meeting November 19th (agenda deadline November 5th)

More information at: www.uow.edu.au/research/rso/ethics

UNI IN THE BREWERy 2009www.uow.edu.au/research/unibreweryAll staff, students and the public are welcome and encouraged to contribute to discussion at Uni in the Brewery.

When: Wed. 21st October, 5:30pm-6:30pmWho: A/Prof Lori Lockyer (Faculty of Education)

“Ruben’s Wiki – Today’s educational opportunity? Tomorrow’s obsolescence?”

Today’s education revolution – interactive whiteboards, a laptop for everyone, wikis, blogs... How do these technologies support teaching and learning opportunities in schools? Lori will discuss the changing nature of technologies in the school environment and what the research tells us about what they mean for teaching and learning in our schools.

Come along and enjoy the trivia style format Lori will be using for her presentation…

Many thanks to Chris Gibson for his excellent presentation at Five Islands Brewery last month and our wonderful Elvis impersonators Graham and Ricky who shed some light on the Parkes Festival.Pictured: Chris Gibson and Graeme Mackaway

Become a fan of ‘Uni in the Brewery’ on Facebook. Search for ‘Uni in the Brewery’

Follow UOWResearch on Twitter. Find us via www.twitter.com/uowresearch

Join these groups for news and info from the Research & Innovation Division (RAID). Contact us if you have trouble finding us on either of these sites. Ph: 4221 4126

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ANNUAL PROGRESS REPORTS 2009Annual Progress Reports for 2009 have been released online via SOLS on the 12th October 2009. It is a course requirement that all research students complete an APR in order to be re-enrolled for 2010. Note: Students who have been on Leave of Absence must also complete an APR to be re-enrolled in 2010.

Please go to the following link for information regarding APR guidelines and process www.uow.edu.au/research/rsc/hdrhb/UOW008952.html Further enquiries to Christine Mason, Research Student Centre on Ext.5672 or email cmason@uow.edu.au

2010 RE-ENROLMENTHDR students will automatically be re-enrolled in 2010 once their APR is submitted and progress is deemed satisfactory for 2009. If students intend to vary their enrolment in 2010 by requesting Leave of Absence or changing their status (F/T or P/T) they should contact June Toussis, Enrolment Officer, Ext. 5453 or email junet@uow.edu.au.It is the student’s responsibility to check their enrolment for 2010 to ensure that all details are correct.

2010 HIGHER DEGREE RESEARCH SCHOLARSHIPSApplications close soon for the following scholarships commencing in Autumn Session 2010• Australian Postgraduate Award (APA)• University Postgraduate Award (UPA)• International Postgraduate Research Scholarships (IPRS)• UOW International Postgraduate Tuition Awards (ITPA)Closing DatesFaculty of Creative Arts – 30th SeptemberAll other Faculties – 17 OctoberHDR Scholarship applications must be received by no later than the dates stated above to be eligible. All applications must include transcripts and supporting documentation including 2 Referees Reports to be considered for a scholarship.

Students who are currently enrolled in a HDR degree must submit a new application when applying for a HDR scholarship. The application must include transcripts and/or supporting documentation as well as 2 referees reports.Applications that do not have all relevant information included in their application will not be considered for a scholarship.

RESEARCH STUDENT CENTREwww.uow.edu.au/research/rsc

Professor Kenneth Walsh joined the School of Nursing, Midwifery and Indigenous Health at UOW in March 2008 as the inaugural Professor of Nursing Practice Development. The position is a joint appoint-ment between UOW and SESIAHS (South Eastern Sydney & Illawarra Area Health Service). In his SESIAHS capacity Ken is the Director of the Nursing Development and Research Unit situated on Level 8 of the Wollongong Hospital complex. Previously, Ken has held similar joint positions at Victoria University of Wellington and the Waikato District Health Board in Hamilton New Zealand, and The University of Adelaide and the Royal Adelaide Hospital.

Ken’s research interests focus on facilitating the development of person-centred cultures in the provision of health services. He is interested in converting evidence based knowledge into nursing practice to build a culture that is good for both patients and staff. This involves researching and implementing techniques for knowledge transfer between academia and practice. Ken is committed to creating a supportive and positive workplace for nurses and patients.

To this end, Ken has been approached by local health care providers to design, deliver and evaluate training workshops facilitating the implementation of person-centred care for their staff.

Brad Braithwaite – is the newly appointed Applied Business Research Manager for the Faculty of Commerce. Brad’s role within the Faculty has been provided as a dedicated Commerce Faculty resource to help those interested in undertaking contract or consultancy activities. Brad will be able to provide support in the following general areas:

•Assistancewithidentifyingpotentialexternalappliedresearchpartnersandbuildingstrategicrelationships;

•Identifyingexistingopportunitiesandmatchingthemtofacultyresearchstrengths(e.g.tendermatching& alert service);

•Assistanceinobtainingtender,briefingandotherbackgrounddocumentation;

•Assistancewithbid(i.e.proposal,tender,EOIetc)preparation;

•Organisingprojectcostingandcontractnegotiations(inconjunctionwiththeCRU);

•Assistancewithprojectlogistics(e.g.sourcingadmin,RA&othersupport,proofreadingetc).

NEW RESEARCH STAFF

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DRUG DELIVERy RESEARCH NETWORKOn 2 September, more than 20 UOW researchers working in various aspects of drug delivery met and networked at an event hosted by CRU. UOW researchers are involved in a broad range of areas relating to drug delivery, such as:• ethical implications of implants;• development of novel materials

for drug delivery;• drug discovery requiring drug

delivery mechanisms; and• modelling of drug dsitribution;

An email newsgroup has been created so that collaborative oppor-tunities and relevant information can be promoted and shared. If you are are a UOW student or staff member wishing to join the network, please contact Deb Langton, Commercial Research Officer, on PH: 4221 4817. If you wish to post relevant informa-tion to this network, please send to drug_delivery_research_network@mailman.uow.edu.au.

TAKE CARE IN NEGOTIATIONSThe word “quote” is often used by parties negotiating the price for work or services. In Megalift v Terminals [2009] NSWSC 324 a recent decision of the Supreme Court of NSW it was decided that the term “quote” is capable of being a contractually binding offer. In deciding that a quotation constituted an offer, the court considered the context and circum-stances of the negotiations to determine the objective intention of the parties. In this case it was decided that although the parties had used the word quotation, the circumstances and context indicated they intended it to form the basis of a legally binding contract.

Although this case focused on the word quote/quotation, the legal significance goes beyond and may apply to other

words that have traditionally been used to indicate an estimate. This sends a message that the court will be looking to the substance rather than the form of negotiations.

Due to the legal significance of the word “quote” those persons negotiating work or services on behalf of UOW should avoid:• using the word “quote or quotation”

and instead refer to an “Estimate of Price based on Suggested Scope of Services” and

• including any condition or requirement that the client should respond to the estimate by providing a written agree-ment to all the terms and conditions, as this response may be considered to be a contractual “acceptance” of the “offer”.

In addition and more importantly, estimates and negotiations should include the following express provision:

“This represents a suggestion of the scope of work/services which may be performed by UOW and is only an estimate of the prospective price and is not intended to be a legally binding offer. The University expects this estimate to be the subject of formal negotiations”.

TIPS FOR TENDERING WORKSHOPThe next Tips for Tendering workshop is to be held on Tuesday 27th October 2009 from 12 to 1.30pm – lunch provided.

Nominations close on Friday 16th October 2009.

If you would like to attend the above course, please nominate via web kiosk at https://wss.uow.edu.au/wssprda/WK8003$.startup

COMMERCIAL RESEARCH DATABASEThe Commercial Research Database now has over 160 of UOW’s Researchers listed and can be found at : http://edserver1.uow.edu.au/cgi-bin/WebObjects/PartnersInResearch.woaThe database provides an online search tool for people and business to identify UOW researchers in their field of choice. The Commercial Research Unit (CRU) will assist in linking you with the researcher and will also assist in subsequent contractual negotiations if you decide to work with UOW.

If you don’t find a suitable match in the database please contact the CRU, who may be able to assist in finding UOW staff not on the database, or subcontractors that UOW could access for your particular project. We look forward to working with you! For more information or if you are a UOW researcher who would like your details added to the database please contact Brett Weeden bweeden@uow.edu.auMeeting Contract DeadlinesIn recent months it has come to the attention of the Commercial Research Unit (CRU) that many project milestones have not been met by their due date, thereby placing the University at risk of breach of contract. Depending on the terms of each contract in question, this problem may be rectified quite simply by seeking written agreement from the Client to extend such deadlines. In many cases we have found that contracts have actually expired prior to CRU being informed that a deadline will not be met. In an attempt to capture potential problems prior to expiration of contracts, CRU is working closely with Financial Services to reduce the risks associated with these potential breaches. The Performance Indicators Project team have now created an unbilled report for all commercial research projects and this will be run on a monthly basis to help flag those projects which may require a contract extension/variation. If you have a commercial research project and you are not going to meet a designated milestone by the due date, please contact Debbie Langton (dlangton@uow.edu.au) from CRU to ensure that a contract extension/variation can be sought prior to the completion date.

COMMERCIAL RESEARCH UNITwww.uow.edu.au/research/commercial

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THE EARLy CAREER RESEARCHER MENTORING PROGRAM 2010If you re an aspiring, committed early career researcher who would like fast track their research career this program is for you!

As a result of a successful pilot Research Mentoring Program for Early Career Researcher (ECR) in 2007 - 2008, this Program will now be open to all early career researchers at UOW. Expressions of interest for the Program will be open in November with the Program commencing in March 2010.

Mentoring of ECR promotes a more focused approach to research planning, establishment of research networks, and an increase in publication and funding application success rates.

Mentor Benefits• increased confidence as a researcher• encouragement to develop a research

plan• gaining research related knowledge

and skills• support to achieve short term milestones• reduced sense of isolation• building a professional research network• learning to better balance research

with other activities• increased motivation

As part of this Program participants will:• be matched with an experienced

researcher outside their Faculty• receive formal training from a recog-

nised mentoring expert, Ann Rolfe• be provided with support to build a

research plan with both long and short term goals

• develop their research profile• establish contacts and networks to

support their research development

• Expressions of interest for the 2010 Program will open on November 2, 2009 and will close on February 5, 2010. These need to be submitted on the Early Career Researcher Mentoring Program Expression of Interest Form which can be down loaded from the PODS Early Career Researcher Mentoring website: https://intranet.uow.edu.au/pods/policy/researchmentoring

For more information about the program please visit the PODS Early Career Researcher Mentoring website or contact

Lorraine Denny, ldenny@uow.edu.au xtn: 5941 or Jeanette Kost jkost@uow.edu.au xtn: 4876

PODSintranet.uow.edu.au/pods

HOW TO NOMINATE:Nominations for all workshops and seminars are now open via WebKiosk.

For further information please contact pods@uow.edu.au

Two University of Wollongong (UOW) business ideas entries are among seven finalists in the annual University of Queensland (UQ) Business School’s annual Enterprize competition designed to assist start-up companies with seed capital, business plans and to foster effective networking with venture capitalists.

The outstanding new business ideas were selected from a strong field of entries across Australia and will compete for the $100,000 prize which will be used to

commercialise their idea.

One of the UOW entries, ToughSkin is a revolutionary polymer coating technology designed to be applied to upgrades and repairs of major infrastructure projects. The ToughSkin team at Wollongong is led by Associate Professor Ernest Baafi and Associate Professor Ian Porter, Dr Chris Lukey (pictured left), Dr Jan Nemcik.

The other UOW entry is Warrapharm Pty Ltd which is a UOW start-up company designing a suite of therapeutic reformula-tions that offer an improved side-effect profile in the treatment of colorectal cancer. Researchers have reformulated three anti-cancer agents into two pH neutral products, which are designed to be administered as “all in one” treatments via a peripherally inserted catheter.

Researchers in the Warrapharm team include Emeritus Professor John Bremner and Associate Professor Marie Ranson, and Professor Phil Clingan a practising clinical oncologist with a special interest in the treatment of colorectal cancer. Commercial efforts for this technology are being co-ordinated by Dr Gavin Dixon (pictured right), the Manager of Innovation and Commercialisation for the Science, Medicine, and Health and Behavioural Sciences faculties.

MANAGERS OF INNOVATION & COMMERCIALISATION (MICS)www.uow.edu.au/research/commercial/comcontact

“Successful researchers come across complex decisions both within their discipline and in the general process of grant writing

and progression through the academic ranks.

Having mentors both in and outside your discipline can help a great deal with these decisions. It’s always a good idea to get

advice from as many objective people as you can, and then make up your mind about what to do.

This mentoring scheme provides an excellent way to supplement that advice, as well as to build real and long lasting friendships.”

-Judy Raper DVC(R)

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The global shift toward Open Access of scholarly research output will be highlighted at the University during Open Access Week: 19 – 23 October (http://uow.libguides.com/openaccess)

What is Open Access?Open Access is a growing interna-tional movement that uses the Internet to throw open the locked doors that once hid knowledge. It encourages the sharing of research results with everyone, everywhere, for the advance-ment of society.

Open-access (OA) research outputs are digital, online, free of charge, and free of most copyright and licensing restric-tions. What makes it possible is the internet and the consent of the author or copyright-holder.

Open access and peer review go hand in hand. More and more open access journals are incorporating peer review, and more and more print journals are going down the open access path, maintaining their traditional peer review regime.

Open Access @UOWResearch Online (ro.uow.edu.au) is the University of Wollongong’s open access digital archive of research output. RO currently contains over 5000 scholarly items, and has generated more than 1 million fulltext downloads since the site went live in 2006.

Institutional repositories such as Research Online enhance the visibility, retrievability, and impact of research output by the exposure of material to researchers through search engines such as Google. Studies have shown open access leads to improved citation rates along with an enhanced research reputation for faculty staff and the University.

Research Online accommodates a wide range of material, from journal articles, conference papers and book chapters, through to theses, audio and video files, and images such as photographs and artworks.

It has the ability to fully host and archive conferences, and publish peer-reviewed journals. A growing number of journals are allowing authors to deposit their post-prints in institutional repositories. The Library is also engaged in a major digitisation initiative to make available on open access University theses dating back to the early 1960s.

“…OA articles are cited significantly more often (up to 300% more) than

non-OA articles…”

What you can do to support Open AccessUpload your research publications (post-print versions) to UOW’s Research Online• The “post-print” is the desktop

version, usually accepted by the peer-review process.

• If you transferred copyright to your publisher, then post-print archiving may require the publisher’s permis-sion. Many journals - about 80% - have already consented in advance to post-print archiving by authors. Some will consent when asked.

• If you have not yet transferred copyright to a publisher, then ask to retain copyright.

• If the journal does not let you retain copyright, then ask for the right of post-print archiving.

What’s in it for you?The chief benefit of postprint archiving is in reaching a much larger audience than you could reach with any priced publication (in print or online). Reaching a larger audience increases your impact, including your citation count. Many studies confirm that OA articles are cited significantly more often (in the order of 50-300% more often) than non-OA articles from the same journal and year (http://opcit.eprints.org/oacitation-biblio.html).For more information on Open Access: Lisa McIntosh, Associate Librarian, Resources lisamc@uow.edu.auResearch Online: Michael Organ, Repository Manager, morgan@uow.edu.au

For more info:http://uow.libguides.com/openaccess

TESTIMONIALS“Research Online is the most amazing thing that has happened for schol-arly publishing in my 20 years as an academic.” Peter Kell (Education) January 2009

“I think the real contribution of RO has been in forming cross-institutional and transnational networks. We have had individual papers downloaded thousands of times and believe this has led to an increased citation rate relative to opportunity.

We are able to collaborate with academics, engineers, lawyers, policymakers across the globe without pushing material to people in a misguided way. People are

finding our research and then getting in touch with us…” Katina Michael, Informatics.

“Research Online is revolu-tionary. Finally I have a good answer to give to people who email me, tell me that their uni has no funds for journal subscriptions and ask for

my paper! Research Online has contributed greatly to the dissemi-nation of my work.” Sara Dolnicar, 2009.

LIBRARy NEWSwww.library.uow.edu.au

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RETROSPECTIVE DIGITISATION OF PRINT THESESImproved discoverability and access are central to the initiative to digitise print theses and in turn support the University’s strategy of: promoting and recognising research activities that enhance international reputation.

Since 2002, higher degree research students are required to submit the final version of the thesis to the University Library, in print and as a digital file. The digital file is archived and made accessible using the University of Wollongong’s institutional repository (Research Online http://ro.uow.edu.au). Theses can also be found via web search engines such as Google. Over 600 digital theses are currently available. This number, however, represents only one quarter of the theses produced to date by UOW higher degree research students.

The remaining 75% of UOW student theses, over 2,500 volumes

stored in Archives, will soon be digitised and made available online, as part of the Library’s expanding digitisation initiative. This project has been endorsed by the University Research Committee.

The benefits of providing access to research content digitally, to authors, the University and the global academic community are significant:• Increased visibility, exposure and access to UOW research

(through searchable descriptions of holdings)• Enhanced collaboration within the research community• Secure storage of research output

The Library won’t be contacting individual authors to seek permission to place the digitised theses online, but will immedi-ately remove any thesis should the author request it. A Copyright Takedown Notice is accessible from the Copyright & Disclaimer page on the UOW website – linked on the footer of every page – that ensures a quick response to any such request.

Occupying the “Other”: Australia and Military Occupations from Japan to IraqEditor: Christine de Matos and Robin Gerster. Published: Mar 2009 Isbn13: 978-1-4438-0339-7 Isbn: 1-4438-0339-1CAPSTRANS researcher Christine de Matos has teamed up with Robin Gerster from Monash University to edit this collection of essays which is now available. The book includes two chapters from Christine, as well as contri-butions from Stephen Brown, Charles Hawksley, Peter Sales, Ted Wolfers, and PhD candidate Joakim Eidenfalk.

In late 1945, Australia eagerly put up its hand to join the American-led military occupation of war-devastated Japan: the old enemy was still hated, yet the Australian involvement was motivated by ideals of democratic reconstruction rather than retribution. In the age of Iraq, when Australia has again participated in a US occupation of a “rogue” non-Western state humbled in war, it is time to consider troubling questions surrounding the nation’s engagement in contentious overseas occupations. This collection of essays by leading Australian academics and commentators places Australia’s historical role as an occupier on the critical map. Now, as the country juggles complex national, regional and international alliances and obligations, this conversation is as compelling as it is belated.

Women in Family Business Leadership Roles: Daughters on the StageProfessor Mary Barrett, of the School of Management and Marketing, with Prof Ken Moores (Bond University, Centre for Family Business) have published: (Edward Elgar, UK).The book has a foreword by Pru Goward, Member for Goulburn, and was launched at the Unishop on Friday 9 Oct.

The book presents a dazzling display of research exploring whether and to what extent women and their businesses differ from men and men-owned businesses; allegations about gender differences in management styles and risk adversity are also featured.

Journal of Research & DevelopmentBen Renegar and Katina Michael, UOWMr Ben Renegar of IBM and Dr Katina Michael of the Faculty of Informatics successfully authored a paper that was published in

the prestigious IBM Journal of Research and Development vol 53, no. 2, in the area of privacy and the adoption of radio-frequency identification technologies in retail.

Innovative Automatic Identification and Location-Based Services: From Bar Codes to Chip ImplantsKatina Michael and M.G. Michael, UOWISBN: 978-1-59904-795-9;544 pp; March 2009

Automatic identifica-tion has evolved to use techniques that can identify an object or subject without direct human intervention. Such devices include the bar code, magnetic-stripe, integrated circuit, and biometric and radio-frequency identifica-tion. This book emphasizes the conver-gence and trajectory of automatic identifi-cation and location-based services toward chip implants and real-time positioning capabilities. Recording the history of automatic identification, this book also discusses the social, cultural, and ethical implications of the technological possi-bilities with respect to national security initiatives.

PUBLICATIONS

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Graphene flower adorns cover of Carbon journalAssociate Professor Guoxiu Wang and his research team from the School of Mechanical, Materials and Mechatronics Engineering and the Institute for Superconducting and Electronics Materials have had their research on graphene material selected as the cover for the journal, Carbon (Issue 10).

Carbon is a high-impact journal which publishes original research on carbonaceous materials.

The title of the paper is “Graphene nanosheets for enhanced lithium storage in lithium ion batteries”. Graphene is a newly-discovered single layer of carbon atoms in a two-dimensional (2D) honeycomb lattice, and exhibits many unusual and intriguing physical, chemical and mechanical properties.

Graphene has the potential to revolutionise areas such as electronics as well as energy storage and conversion.

For the first time, Professor Wang has revealed that loose graphene nanosheets agglomerate and crumple naturally into shape, resembling flower-petals through high resolution field emission electron microscope observation.

New Residence for Higher Degree Research Students.In 2010, living @ uow will open a new residence which will specialize in meeting the living needs of single higher degree research (HDR) and post graduate students. The Manor will be a small, premium quality residence that provides a unique living experience to nine HDR students.

As The Manor will be managed by International House, students will have access to all of the programs and facilities at nearby International House including the award winning iLive program and meals in the dining room. Students will be able to participate in as many or as little programs as they choose. A mutual benefit for students living @ the manor and students living @ international house will be joint initiatives and activities between students from both residences.

Located across the road from North Wollongong train station, students living @ the manor can access the free shuttle bus to the main campus which is only five minutes away. The Manor will be newly refurbished with modern facilities including large bedrooms, new kitchen and cooking facilities and a communal area that is conducive to study and socialising. Internet access will be available in all rooms. The Manor will be ready for the 2010 intake of students.

For more information about The Manor please email: inter-nationalhouse@uow.edu.au.

To apply to live @ The Manor, please go to https://apply-accom.uow.edu.au/default1.asp.

FACULTy NEWS,AWARDS & ACHIEVEMENTS

UOW RESEARCH FEATURES ON ABC’S “THE NEW INVENTORS”Dr Marc in het Panhuis and PhD student Cameron Ferris (Science) appeared on the prime time national ABC 1 TV program, “The New Inventors”, on Wednesday 23 September. The two scientists showed how their invention is a way of mimicking soft tissues using gellan gum, a food additive that’s commonly used in food products such as yoghurts.

They demonstrated that it can be moulded into any particular shape and that it can be made to conduct electricity. The researchers pointed out that the advantage of gellan gum is that it is biodegradable and similar to the materials which make up human beings.

“This means our material has the potential to be used to provide the necessary cues to simulate the growth of healthy cells. We hope our invention is a step towards shortening the queues of people waiting for organ transplants the world over,” Dr in het Panhuis and Mr Ferris, said.

The invention is based on the researchers recently published work in two articles in the prestigious international journal Soft Matter - the top journal in fundamental soft matter research. Their research was also selected as the inside cover of Soft Matter and featured in Highlights in Chemical Biology, a Royal Society of Chemistry news service that provides an overview of the latest developments in chemical biology.

They were voted the People’s Choice Award for that week: www.abc.net.au/tv/newinventors/txt/s2690266.htm

ContributionsContributions to Research & Innovation News (Research news, achievements and events) are always welcome.

To ensure inclusion of your research news, event or service in the next issue of RAID (due for publication early December, please e-mail details to taniav@uow.edu.au or vwallace@uow.edu.au by 22nd November.

Not sure what to send?Visit previous newsletters at www.uow.edu.au/research/newsletter

New research staff are encouraged to introduce themselves to the UOW community - send a short bio to taniav@uow.edu.au or vwallace@uow.edu.au by 2nd December.

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FACULTy NEWS, AWARDS & ACHIEVEMENTS

Centre for Australian New Zealand StudiesHow many New Zealanders move to Australia for short or long-term stays? How many Australians visit New Zealand, or settle there? What do Samuel Marsden, William Charles Wentworth and Henry Lawson have to do with New Zealand?

Did you know that the play about Ned Kelly by Douglas Stewart and the novels about Sydney by Ruth Park were written by New Zealanders? How did economic rationalism work differently in both countries and why? There’s so much more to know than rugby, wide-comb shearing and fireblight wars!

On 25th September at the University of Wollongong, the Centre for Australian New Zealand Studies (CANZS) was officially estab-lished for the first time.

About 25 people at UOW this year with links to, and projects on New Zealand, convened to establish a New Zealand Studies Research Group. Interests cross a wide disciplinary range from

law to health to sociology to literature. It is headed by a steering committee of Associate Professor Paul Sharrad, Professor Shirley Leitch and Associate Professor Anne Collett.

Professor Sharrad said it marked the first formal structure in Australia for New Zealand studies and represents major potential for connections to similar centres in NZ, the US and the UK.

CANZS will be housed under the umbrella of CAPSTRANS (Centre for Asia Pacific Social Transformation Studies) to provide a further extension to its Pacific focus and complement Australian Studies work with comparative research. It will look to create opportunities for further internationalisation of the University through undergraduate/postgraduate and staff exchanges with NZ.

ZENOBIA JACOBS AWARDED PRESTIGIOUS FELLOWSHIPDr Zenobia Jacobs, a Senior Research Fellow from the UOW’s School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, has been awarded the prestigious L Oréal Australia For Women in Science Fellowship for 2009. Zenobia was one of three young Australian scientists to be awarded this Fellowship, which recognises scientific excellence and intellectual merit.

The research to be funded by this Fellowship involves using Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) dating techniques to solve an archaeological question of global significance with an Australian focus: when did humans first arrive in Australia? The answer is critical to understanding the time-depth of Aboriginal occupation, and the timing and speed of dispersal of modern humans out of Africa.

Zenobia has participated in a number of major

international research teams working on the Middle Stone Age of Africa. Most recently, she reported in the journal Science that early modern humans in her native country of South Africa had mastered the use of fire

to improve the stone-tool manufacturing process more than 70,000 years ago.

The L Oréal Fellowship is Zenobia’s first foray into Australian archaeology. It will provide her with the opportunity to develop networks with the Australian archaeological community, and to narrow the gap between practitioners of modern scientific dating methods and end-users of those ages.

She hopes the Fellowship will generate signifi-cant media exposure of archaeological science activities to the Australian public and renew their interest in the history of this continent and the cultural heritage of Australia’s indigenous hunter-gatherers. Further details at: www.scienceinpublic.com/lorealPhoto by Timothy Burgess

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Geotechnical student wins prestigious David Sugden AwardDavid Oliveira, a PhD student in the UOW’s Faculty of Engineering, has won the David Sudgens Award of 2009. Granted by the Australasian Tunnelling Society (ATS), the award rewards young professional engineers who are under 35 and have reached a demonstrated level of achievement and involvement in the field of tunnelling engineering. For his prize, David will attend the 2010 World Tunnelling Congress in Vancouver, Canada. David won the award for a paper based on his research (under the supervision of Professor Buddhima Indraratna and Dr Jan Nemcik) into the implications of clay-infilled rock discontinuities on tunnelling and slope stability. He has developed a new model that takes into account particular mechanisms of these planes of weakness, and can be used in the design of tunnels, underground excavations and slope stabilisation. David was awarded the Peter Schmidt Memorial Scholarship for best postgraduate performance of 2008 in UOW’s School of Civil, Mining and Environmental Engineering. He has recently started at Coffey Geotechnics (Sydney).

A paper FROM BENDING TO LINEAR MOVEMENT: A Linear Actuation Mechanism Based on Conducting Polymer Actuators, authored by Elise Burriss, Gursel Alici, Geoff Spinks, and Scott McGovern, was awarded the Best Conference Paper Prize (from 129 papers) presented at the 6th International conference on Informatics in Control, Automation and Robotics (ICINCO 2009) held in Milan, July 2-5, Italy. This paper, in addition to being published in the fully refereed conference proceedings, will appear in a selected papers book to be published by Springer-Verlag. The work presented was done by undergraduate materials engineering student Elise Burriss in her graduation thesis.

Community backs cancer researchThe Illawarra Cancer Carers has given a major boost to local cancer research with a donation of $75,000 handed to researchers at a special event held on 23 September at UOW. The donation brings the total amount raised by the Cancer Carers for cancer research to an impressive $401,000 since 2006.

The project being supported by the donation forms part of the Cancer Continuum research theme of the Illawarra Health and Medical Research Institute (IHMRI), led by Associate Professor Marie Ranson and Professor Phil Clingan, and is focused on the development of a new formulation of the commonly used chemo-therapeutic agent 5-FU.

The project team, which is interdisciplinary and includes UOW researchers as well as local Area Health Service clinicians, has tested their new formulation and found it to be just as effective as currently available formulations but with significantly reduced side effects. With sufficient funding, the team hopes to take the agent into clinical trials and eventually on to the commercial market.

Best Museum DisplayPenny Williamson and Paul Carr (Science) won the award for the best Museum Display at the Mineral and Fossil show in Denver in September – this is a special achievement because they are the first non-US institution to do so. The theme of the Denver Show was fossils. The “Living Fossil” Wollemi Pine, was included as part of the display and donated to the Denver Botanic Gardens at the end of the Show.

Jeff Barrett, PhD student in Chemistry, has been awarded an ASBMB (Australian Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology) Student ComBio2009 Travel Bursary to cover the regis-tration cost of ASBMB student members to attend the confer-ence to be held in Christchurch NZ from 6-10 December.

Mark Wilson, Assoc. Dean (Research) held a successful HDR Student Workshop “Getting Published” that was held on 25 September with approximately 50 Faculty of Science students participating.

Sharon Robinson, Biological Sciences, has been invited to be a member of the UNEP Environmental Effects Assessment Panel that looks at impacts of the ozone hole on terrestrial ecosystems.

Lidia Matesic, PhD student in Chemistry, recently won the NSW division of the AusBiotech-GSK Student Excellence Award, which gives her a trophy along with a fully expenses paid trip to the Ausbiotech conference in Melbourne later this year. She will also compete in a national competition, which if she wins will fund her to go to the big American Biotech conference next year.

Associate Professor Brin Grenyer (School of Psychology) has been appointed the Chair of the new National Psychology Board. A/P Grenyer is an active researcher and serves on various national boards and committees, including being the Chair of the Council of Psychologists Registration Boards in Australia and New Zealand, and a grant reviewer for the ARC and NHMRC.

Professor Michael Gaffikin (School of Accounting and Finance) was Keynote Speaker at the 4th International Conference (Innovation in Accounting, Business and Information technology) organised by the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce in Bangkok, Thailand, in July. His paper was entitled “Issues of Professionalism in a Rapidly Changing Business Environment”.

Murray-Wallace qualifies for DSc degreeColin Murray-Wallace, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, has qualified for the DSc degree from the University of Adelaide. It will be conferred in April next year. This is a considerable achievement, which recognises the body of his research work (both quality and quantity) over a number of years.

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Kids and Computer GamesResearchers from the Psychophysiology Group in the Brain and Behaviour Research Institute are conducting a study into the effects of computer games on children’s behaviour.

Software developed by researchers from the School of Psychology has been shown in a pilot study to be beneficial in altering the behaviour of children with attention deficit hyperac-tivity disorder (ADHD).

The ability to control impulses, focus attention and keep informa-tion in memory are essential for successful learning. Research has indicated that we can enhance these abilities, and also behaviour, by playing specially-designed computer games for 15-20 minutes/day for 4 weeks.

Currently, researchers are looking at the effectiveness of a new computer-based training program for improving impulse control, attention and memory ability in children. The program involves playing 2 simple computer games on your computer at home for 4 weeks.

If you are interested in receiving an information pack, please call Dr. Stuart Johnstone on (02) 4221 4495 or email sjohnsto@uow.edu.au. More informa-tion can be found at www.uow.edu.au/health/psyc/research/bbri/adhd.htmlDr Johnstone with his daughter Emma. Picture Melanie Russell, Illawarra Mercury

New Centre for human and applied physiology The University of Wollongong has been funded ($1.6 million over three years) to establish a National Centre of Excellence in Physical Employment Standards.

It will be known as the Centre for Human and Applied Physiology. It will be based within the School of Health Sciences but will have five researchers working at the Defence Science and Technology Organisation (DSTO Melbourne).

In the first instance, the Centre will work collaboratively with DSTO to establish physical standards for the Combat Arms trades of the Army. However, it is expected that this work will also be extended into emergency service organisations, and eventually across a range of industries.

The Minister for Defence Personnel, Materiel and Science, Mr Greg Combet, has announced the establishment of this Centre of Expertise to accurately evaluate the physical requirements of service in military occupations.

Director of the Centre, Associate Professor Nigel Taylor, said UOW would provide academic input and also conduct supporting research at the University with several postgraduate scholarships to be announced later this month.Pictured: Researchers from the centre with DVC (R) Professor Judy Raper, and Centre Director Associate Professor Nigel Taylor (centre).

Flourish AwardsThe Flourish Program developed by researchers at the University of Wollongong has won a Gold Award in The Mental Health Services Conference 2009 Achievement Awards.

The UOW research team, led by Dr Lindsay Oades of the School of Psychology and the Illawarra Institute for Mental Health/Illawarra Health and Medical Research Institute won their award in Illness Prevention and Health Promotion category in recogni-tion of an innovative self-development program for people with enduring mental illness.

The program, supported by a grant from Rotary Health, uses a combination of recovery self-help principles, positive psychology interventions and a peer led group format to build resilience and promote wellbeing.

The awards (made annually since 1992) are presented every by the Mental Health Services Conference of Australia and New Zealand (TheMHS) to recognise and encourage best practice, excellence and innovation in mental health service delivery. It is the third such achievement award for Dr Oades (pictured third from left) at this forum in five years-and the sixth for the Illawarra Institute for Mental Health at UOW. Dr Oades said the prize money was being used to assist writing the next grant applica-tion to expand the program to include web-based video components.

National Engineering Bursary AwardSakdirat Kaewunruen, a PhD alumnus from School of Civil, Mining, and Environmental Engineering, has won the 2009 National Engineering Bursary Award from the Concrete Institute of Australia. He is the first from UoW to receive this prestigious award, which is highly competitive.

The Concrete Institute of Australia National Bursaries are biennial awards made to the best PhD graduates studying engineering, chemistry, materials science, building science and other relevant subjects which contribute to the research knowledge base in Australia. For the 2009 award, eligible theses are those completed in 2007 and 2008, the years prior to the Biennial Conference of the Concrete Institute of Australia.

The engineering award of $5,000 in total will be made for excel-lence in thesis work on concrete and cement-based products and processes. Eligible topics could be related to cement, cementi-tious materials, concrete, concrete admixtures, reinforcement, related design and construction procedures and the like.

Sakdirat is currently working with RailCorp in Sydney - one of the busiest rail networks in the world.

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A new look at the atmospheric water cycle: Isotope measurements from space using SCIAMACHyResearchers from SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research, Utrecht University and various international partners, including UOW, have obtained the first global observa-tions of water isotopes in the lowest part of our atmosphere. They analysed measurements from the satellite instrument SCIAMACHY, providing new insights into the hydrological cycle that are expected to further improve climate models. Data collected by researchers at UOW (Prof David Griffith and Nicholas Deutscher) provided validation for the satellite measurements.

Water is vital to the Earth’s climate system. As a vapour, it is the strongest greenhouse gas and as precipitation it makes our planet habitable. When water evaporates from the Earth’s oceans and surface, moves through the atmosphere and falls back as rain, evaporation and condensation processes change the relative amount of heavy water, HDO. Therefore, the isotopic composition contains information about the history of water. SRON scien-tists used the SCIAMACHY instrument onboard the European research satellite ENVISAT to provide a global view on the isotopic composi-tion of water in the atmospheric vapour. These are the first global isotope measure-ments with high sensitivity towards the lowest layers of the atmosphere, where most of the water vapour resides.From left: Visiting fellow from University of Bremen, Dr Thorsten Warneke, UOW’s Nicholas Deutscher & Prof David Griffith

First band prize at China National PhD conferenceMasters research student in Finance Miao Jianchun in the Chinese Commerce Research Centre (CCRC) in School of Accounting and Finance and his supervisors Gary Tian and Shyam Bhati have received a prestigious first band prize at the China National PhD Conference (20 September 2009) at Fudan University in Shanghai for their paper “The impact of loan charac-teristics on credit risk of Chinese listed firms under new banking regulatory system”.

Centre for Printed Image initiativeSchool of Art and Design researchers (Mehmet Adil, Brogan Bunt, Gregor Cullen, Agnieszka Golda, Richard Hook, Garry Jones, Derek Kreckler, Friederike Krishnabhakdi-Vasilakis, Jo Law, Jacky Redgate, Jo Stirling, Jelle van den Berg, Diana Wood Conroy) recently participated in a survey of creative work and technical experiments in print media.

“Ditto: Images in Print”, was an initiative of the Faculty’s Centre for Printed Image which was formed to coordinate research activities in photographic, digital and autographic print processes. The centre fosters excellence and innovation in this exciting and constantly changing field of creative production.

The exhibition demonstrated some of the relationships of printed image to individual research interests as well as the multiplicity of techniques and print media now available.

Visual artists and designers have traditionally produced graphics in a variety of media as a core studio activity or to supplement

their principal studio output. Print media encompass autographic, photographic and digital technologies, with increasing experi-mentation taking place with hybrid and 3-D forms. Fine art print graphics also has a long relationship with the printing and textiles industries, one that needs to be continually monitored and updated for artistic opportunities.

The School of Art and Design has built a momentum of practice in print graphics, photography and graphic design. Facilities include large-format archival quality digital printers and a high-resolution scanner within an integrated digital studio. A large digital printer producing output to paper, cloth and acetate - for use in photo-screen printing - has been in operation for some time. A small, dedicated studio is available for basic etching and relief printing and the textiles studio allows for large format screen printing and digital printing on fabric lengths.

The project is possible because of the Centre’s partnership with master printer Thomas Goulder of Duck Print Fine Art Limited Editions in Port Kembla www.duckprintfineart.com.au. Tom’s studio offers a professional custom printing service for artists in most autographic mediums: etching, lithography, relief, screen-printing, typesetting, book-binding and solander box construction and is one of only a handful of custom printing workshops in the country.

UOW DCA candidate exhibits workAgnieszka Golda, lecturer from the Creative Arts Faculty and a DCA (Doctor of Creative Arts) candidate presented her work in a recent exhibition entitled Contact . This is part of an ongoing collaboration with Martin Johnson that explored forms of affective practices and labour. Utilising their recent fieldwork in France, Poland and Japan they investigate the functions of affect in an intercultural context. DCA Title: Sensography: evoking intersen-soriality and ritual gestures through an installation space and an interdisciplinary approach to art practice.

For this exhibition she’s also been supported by the URC Small Grants scheme.

Agnieska Golda in Japan during her research trip prior to exhibition

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Paper accepted for presentation at Hawaiian ConferenceCongratulations to Creative Arts Ph D. student Wendy Suiter, whose paper on towards a generalised music theory using fuzzy logic has been accepted as a full paper for presentation at the 2010 Hawaii International Conference on the Arts and Humanities in January 2010.

Academic gives evidence to Senate Standing CommitteeDr Katina Michael joined the board of the Australian Privacy Foundation in November 2008 and has already acted to support the mission of the non-government organization (NGO). In January of this year Katina gave evidence in front of the Senate Standing Committee for Legal and Constitutional Affairs on the topic of the Personal Property Securities Bill of 2008. See Transcript: www.aph.gov.au/Hansard/senate/commttee/S11621.pdf#page=39

Academic presents papers on socio-ethical and legal issues of microchipping peopleDr MG Michael, Honorary Fellow in the School of Information Systems and Technology has visited Phoenix, Arizona, to present two papers at the International Symposium on Technology and Society. Michael will be presenting papers focused on exploring the socio-ethical and legal issues of microchipping people. The latter paper looks at state-level legislation in the United States where 9 states have either enacted laws or have bills in waiting. The papers were co-written together with Katina Michael, Rodney Ip and Angelo Friggieri.

UOW PhD candidate presents papers on mobile businessMr Anas Aloudat, a PhD candidate from the School of Information Systems and Technology visited Dalian, China, in June to present two papers at the IEEE International Conference on Mobile Business. The two papers focused on the theme of location based services- one for emergency manage-ment, the other for Australian service providers offerings. The authors of the papers included, Dr MG Michael, Dr Katina Michael and Miss Roba Abbas.

Tourism expert visits UOWVisiting the Commerce Faculty during September was Dr Ulrike Gretzel, Assistant Professor, Department of Recreation, Park and Tourism Sciences, Texas A & M University. Dr Gretzel is director of the Laboratory for Intelligent Systems in Tourism and a member of the Sustainable Tourism Systems Laboratory, which serves as an international centre for excellence in educa-tional training and research in sustainable development. She spoke at a special Research Presentation on 23 September on “Social Media Creation and Use”.

ONE MILLION DOWNLOAD FOR UOW’S RESEARCH ONLINEUOW’s open access research repository, Research Online, has reached one million full text article downloads since the site went live in 2006. Research Online allows anyone to download papers and articles by UOW academics, including student theses and research papers from a wide range of areas.

Manager of Repository Services, Michael Organ (pictured right) said the millionth download is quite a landmark for the university. “One million downloads is a lot of people accessing our papers,” he said.

To add to the usefulness of Research Online, all of one’s publi-cations entered into the Research Information System (RIS) can now be intrinsically linked to RO, making a vital connec-tion between the research output citation and the actual paper written.

RO is built using state of the art tools and algorithms, and global searches on popular search engines rank papers on RO very highly. View the staff who have numerous works uploaded onto RO http://ro.uow.edu.au/sw_gallery.htmlEarly career research academics are especially encouraged to upload their working paper versions of their publications to open up another channel of readership. If someone can access your work then they can also cite it in their own research papers.

RO also grants you the ability to receive frequent reports indicating the number of times your research output has been downloaded over a given period, allows the author to send out “new item” notifications to members of the general public who have voluntarily subscribed to receive such messages, and much more. The author has complete control over the papers they have uploaded and can enter as much or as little metadata as they like beyond the citation itself.

Michael Organ has to be congratulated for his service to the university-wide commu-nity with respect to RO. What many people do not know is that Michael himself is an active writer and researcher. His journal article titled: “Australian Aboriginal Dreaming Stories: A Chronological Bibliography of Published Works 1789-1991” is the third most downloaded RO paper at UOW.

Which paper was the 1 millionth download?The Emerging Ethics of Humancentric GPS Tracking and Monitoring, a 2006 conference paper by Informatics academics Katina Michael, A. McNamee and M.G. Michael

Ganguly-Scrase, was elected President of the Asia Pacific Sociological AssociationIn a major career achievement, CAPSTRANS researcher and Senior Lecturer in Sociology, Ruchira Ganguly-Scrase, was elected President of the Asia Pacific Sociological Association (APSA) at its 9th International conference held in Bali in mid-June. Ruchira was a founding member and former Treasurer of APSA, which formed in 1996. The association brings together sociologists from the region, holds regular conferences and other professional events, and promotes the teaching and studying of sociology. APSA is an official member organisation of the International Sociological Association (ISA).

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AGREEMENT SIGNED BETWEEN UOW AND CHINESE SCHOLARSHIP COUNCIL

A senior level delegation from the Chinese Scholarship Council (CSC), which is under the direct authority of the Chinese Ministry of Education, visited the UOW to sign a Memorandum

of Understanding (MOU).The MOU will establish a collaborative arrangement to provide PhD training to high-quality students from China’s leading universities. Chinese students who pass the rigorous requirements of the CSC and UOW will be selected to undertake a PhD degree at UOW.

The CSC has signed formal agreements with many of the world’s leading research universities whereby CSC will pay for airfares and living expenses while the host institution will award a fee waiver to students for the duration of the research degree (usually between three to a maximum of four years). The CSC delegation was led by Madam (Dr) Liu Jinghui the Secretary-General and President of the Council who reports directly to the Vice-Minister of Education in China. Madam Liu said she was delighted to be developing the formal arrangement with UOW as it fulfilled the Council’s “three best principles” in that “it placed the best research students from China, into the best institutions from around the world, with the best instructors”. The Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research), Professor Judy Raper, said she saw this agreement as not only critical to reinforcing UOW’s strong association with some of China’s leading research institutions but also expanding the profile and reputation of UOW’s research centres/institutes to other leading research universities in China.

Annual Economic and Social Policy Public lectureThe School of Economics in the Faculty of Commerce held the 2009 Annual Economic and Social Policy Public lecture last July.

This year’s lecture was presented by Professor John Quiggin, Australian Research Council Federation Fellow in Economics and Political Science at the University of Queensland.

He spoke on Climate Change and the Global Financial Crisis. Professor Quiggin is prominent both as a research economist and as a commentator on Australian economic policy.

Inaugural SINET conference heldUOW’s cross-discipline Social Innovation Network held its inaugural annual conference on 28-29 September. The confer-ence brought together researchers from the social sciences to facilitate collaborative research with the aim of improving the quality of life in terms of material standard of living as well as personal well-being. Keynote speaker was Professor Ian Lowe AO, who is currently emeritus professor of science, technology and society at Griffith University in Brisbane, as well as being an adjunct professor at Sunshine Coast University and Flinders

University.

A special welcome to Professor Mohamed Khalifa (UOW Dubai), a distinguished academic who held senior positions at Concordia University in Canada, the City University of Hong Kong and Abu Dhabi University, has been appointed Vice President (Academic) at the University of Wollongong in Dubai (UOWD).

“It is a matter of great pride for me to join the University of Wollongong in Dubai, an institution that has carved a niche for itself as a provider of quality higher education,” said Professor Khalifa.

“I would like to contribute my experience in several reputed institutions to making UOWD

more comprehensive and more research-oriented.” As a leading international researcher in information systems, he has published over 90 refereed articles. His work appeared in journals such as Decision Sciences, Journal of the Association of Information Systems (AIS), European Journal of Information Systems, International Journal of Human Computer Interaction (HCI), and Data Base among many others. Professor Khalifa is currently serving as Senior Editor for the AIS Transaction on HCI and Associate Editor for the European Journal of Information Systems.

NEWS FROM UOW DUBAIuowdubai.ac.ae

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IC FACILITy CONTINUES TO DRAW THE WORLDS BESTThe Intelligent Polymer Research Institute continues to build on an impressive international reputation, attracting world-class researchers for research collaborations.

September saw the arrival of two inter-national collaborators with whom IPRI has already made significant advances in printing functional materials – Professor Paul Calvert (pictured right), a materials scientist, from the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth USA (UMass) and Professor Tony Killard, Dublin City University, Ireland.

Professor Calvert is a world renowned expert on inkjet printing, whose visit is part of an ARC Fellowship grant with Professor Wallace and Dr Marc in het Panhuis. Inkjet printing technology offers a way to create 3-dimensional biological structures for studying cell interactions and artificial organs.

Professor Killard (pictured above at left of lower image) is combining his expertise on electrochemical sensors with Professor Calvert and IPRI on conducting polymer nanomate-rials in the project to allow printed sensors and biosensors to be integrated into electronic devices creating “miniaturised smart systems”.

The ability to print active materials such as drugs, biopolymers and electronic conductors opens up some amazing new device fabrication options. The machinery being built will eventually find its home in the new Federally-funded Processing and Device Fabrication Facility to be built soon on the iC.

ANFF PROVIDES $500,000 TO BOOST UOW NODEAn injection of $500,000 from the Federal Government will be used to upgrade facilities at the Australian National Fabrication Facility (ANFF) materials node, hosted by ACES/IPRI node under the Directorship of Professor Gordon Wallace in Wollongong.

The funds will be used to acquire hardware that will enable the scale up of recently discovered carbon nanostructures such as graphene. [Graphene has potentially for use in energy conversion (solar cells), storage (new battery technologies) and even medical bionics]. The additional funding will also be used to acquire state-of-the-art fiber spinning capabilities to produce long lengths of micron dimensional fibers for use in energy and medical bionics as well as knitting machine capabilities to build novel 3D struc-tures from these fibres.

ANFF links seven university-based nodes to provide researchers and industry with access to state-of-the-art fabrication facilities. The capability provided by ANFF enables users to process hard materials (metals, composites and ceramics) and soft materials (polymers and polymer-biological moieties) and transform these into structures that have application in sensors, medical devices, nanophotonics and nanoelectronics.

PARTNERSHIP PROVIDES PUBLIC A WINDOW INTO RESEARCH WORLD

A growing partnership between the Intelligent Polymer Research Centre and the Wollongong Science Centre & Planetarium, is providing a number of opportunities to engage communi-ties and schools in research being undertaken on their doorstep. The iDome: a new exhibition launched during National Science Week allows school students and visitors to the Science Centre to have a personal tour inside the IPRI research labs at the Innovation Campus.It is the first stage of an exhibit looking at Nanomaterials for Energy. It gives a window into the research world from the comfort of your own Science Centre. The exhibit is living and tangible. It provides an insight into research activities going on right now and in a building you can see as soon as you emerge from the Science Centre. It allows people to get a 180-degree view inside the IPRI laboratories, including a guided tour of the labs by senior researcher Dr Simon Moulton and demonstrations and animations of the research being carried out. There are even plans to possibly install a live video feed into

the exhibition so that people can watch scientists conducting this amazing research as it happens.

PROFESSOR GRAEME CLARKThe partnership with the Science Centre also led the sponsorship of a free Public Lecture by Bionic Ear pioneer and ACES Chief Investigator, Professor Graeme Clark, during National Science Week.

Graeme’s lecture, titled “Big thinking, small technologies”, took the audience through some of the implications of nano-bio-technology, including how it may help with spinal cord repair, drug delivery and the development of a visual prosthesis – the bionic eye - and his collaborative research with IPRI and the University of Wollongong.

The lecture was well-attended and coincided with the presenta-tion of prizes to winners of the Bionics for 2020 High Schools Competition, sponsored by IPRI, The Faculty of Science and the Science Centre and supported by RACI.Dean of Science Prof. Will Price (centre) is pictured with winning high school students from Macquarie Fields and their teacher

NEWS FROM iC

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CONFERENCE HOSTED By TWO ACADEMICS JOINTLy WITH ANUThe fourth workshop on the Social Implications of National Security was hosted at the ANU in April. The theme of the workshop this year was The Social Implications of Covert Policing and the event was sponsored jointly by the Research Network for a Secure Australia (RNSA) and the Centre for Excellence in Policing and Security (CEPS). The conference chairs of the event were Professor Simon Bronitt, the Director of the National Europe Centre at the ANU College of Law, Associate Professor Clive Harfield of the Faculty of Law at the University of Wollongong, and Dr Katina Michael of the Faculty of Informatics at the University of Wollongong.

The workshop also included papers by local academic Dr Mark Rix, and from the Faculty of Informatics, honorary fellow Dr MG Michael, and PhD students Mr Anas Aloudat and Ms Roba Abbas.Pictured: Clive Harfield and Roba Abbas.

CHoPS CONFERENCEThe 6th International Conference for Conveying and Handling of Particulate Solids (CHoPS) was recently held in conjunction with the 10th International Conference on Bulk Materials Storage, Handling and Transportation and the Asia-Pacific Bulk Materials Handling Exhibition.

It was organised by the Director of the Key Centre for Bulk Solids and Particulate Technologies and Chair of the Australian Society for Bulk Solids Handling and General Manager of Bulk Materials Engineering Australia, Associate Professor Peter Wypych, from UOW’s Faculty of Engineering.

UOW’s Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research), Professor Judy Raper, gave the opening address and keynote speakers were invited from various international engineering institutes. Four PhD students from UOW, Jose Humberto Dominguez Davila, Soumya Sudda Mallick, David Hastie and Andrew Grima, along with technical staff member Wendy Halford, all presented papers.Pictured: Front Row - left to right - Wendy Halford, Judy Raper, Peter Wypych, Humberto Davila. Back Row - left to right - Ian Frew, Peter Arnold, David Hastie, Andrew Grima.

CONFERENCE ExAMINES WEARABLE COMPUTING TECHNOLOGIES IN EDUCATIONAssociate Professor Tony Herrington (Education), Dr M.G. Michael and Dr Katina Michael (Informatics) recently presented at the inaugural AUPOV09 national conference with its focus on wearable computing or mobile e-learning technologies.

Presenters at the conference, held at the Wollongong City Beach Function Centre, discussed a range of topics which included glasses that can record a person’s POV (Point-of-View) of the world and the wearing of helmet cameras.

The event brought together delegates representative of private enterprise, community and government registered training organi-sations including the Australian Navy, Australian Armed Forces, UOW, UNSW, commercial publishers, educational consultants, and POV manufacturing and retail distribution.

INTERNATIONAL SyMPOSIUM ON RENEWABLE ENERGy STORAGE AND CONVERSION TECHNOLOGIES18-20 Nov. 2009 Innovation CampusUniversity of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW Australia

Global warming and climate change represent a major challenge facing humanity today. It is well recognized that the burning of fossil fuels is seriously threatening our planet and that our current methods of economic development are no longer sustainable. The development of renewable energy storage and conversion technologies will play apivotal role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. This symposium was organized for the purpose of reviewing research and development (R&D) activities in the arena of renewable energy storage and conversion systems, which span broad areas including materials science, chemistry, physics, and manufacturing engineering. The continuing effort to understand, control, and predict the structures and properties of electroma-terials, and to synthesize new compounds with novel properties, has consistently driven the energy storage and conversion field.

CONFERENCES & WORKSHOPS

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Scientists, engineers, and students from academia, government, and the private sectors are welcome to participate in this symposium. The major objective of the symposium is to promote interstate and international collaborations between participants in the area of renewable energy technologies.

CORRESPONDENCE: Please sent to Chair of the symposium, Guoxiu Wang: gwang@uow.edu.au

IEEE CONFERENCE TO BE HOSTED IN 2010 AT UOWCall for PapersThe School of Information Systems and Technology will host the next International Symposium on Technology and Society (ISTAS) in 2010. Dr Holly Tootell and Dr Katina Michael from the Faculty of Informatics will take on the roles of Organising Committee Chair, and Program Committee Chair. The conference will have the theme: “The Social Implications of Emerging Technologies” and will attract participants from an estimated 15 countries worldwide.

The conference will be held at the UOW between 7th-9th of June 2010. Among the keynote and plenary addresses that have already been secured are: Professor John Weckert, Professor Kevin Warwick, and Mr Amal Graafstra. The conference will be multidisciplinary and again, Holly and Katina encourage Wollongong academics to submit full papers for review. The five tracks include: Automatic Identification, Location Based Services, Social Networking, Nanotechnology, Privacy Security & Human Rights. Select papers from the conference will be published in a special issue of the IEEE Technology and Society Magazine, with other papers appearing in a special issue of the Journal of Cases in Information Technology, and the Journal of Theoretical and Applied Electronic Commerce Research.

Important Dates:Abstract submission to katina@uow.edu.au (200 words): 2 October 2009

Full/Short paper submission (5000/2000 words): 13 November 2009

WORKSHOP: INTERNET REGULATION AND FILTERING IN AUSTRALIAUniversity of Wollongong : 30 November - 1 December 2009

The ARC Cultural Research Network in collaboration with the Centre for Asia Pacific Social Transformation Studies (CAPSTRANS) and the Innovation in Cultural Research network (ICR) will be holding this workshop late in 2009.

This workshop brings together academics whose research may lead them to filtered sites (such as those studying online sexuality, transnational crime or mental health issues) and other stakeholders including civil-liberties advocates and those charged with developing regula-tions policy and administering surveil-lance systems to discuss the issues and problems involved.

General inquiries about the event, please contact Mark McLelland, in the School of Social Sciences, Media & Communication, on markmc@uow.edu.au

ContributionsContributions to Research & Innovation News (Research news, achieve-ments and events) are always welcome.

To ensure inclusion of your research news, event or service in the next issue of RAID (due for publication early December, please e-mail details to taniav@uow.edu.au or vwallace@uow.edu.au by 22nd November.

Not sure what to send?Visit previous newsletters at www.uow.edu.au/research/newsletter

New research staff are encouraged to introduce themselves to the UOW community - send a short bio to taniav@uow.edu.au or vwallace@uow.edu.au by 2nd December.

In mid March Dr Katina Michael attended the Department of Homeland Security Academic Summit in Washington DC. While Katina has lectured on the topic of the use of ICT-enabled emergency response to both natural and man-made disasters, she said being at the location where 184 people lost their lives was a completely different experience… inciden-tally no photos are allowed at Pentagon Station (i.e. the subway which is exactly underneath the Pentagon building itself) and surrounds as you exit the subway. Anyone not complying with this law is arrested instantly. However, photos are allowed at the memorial, although even here, security officials are vigilant as Katina found out first hand as she sat down to change batteries in her digital camera and was quickly questioned by a patrolman about the timing of the 7.30am visit.

“Officer, I’m from Australia… I have only 3 days in Washington and the Summit I am attending has a full 3 day program… this is the only time I can get around to see some key landmarks…”

Reply: “Well tell the folks back home that they are welcome to donate money to the Memorial Fund…”

Travel Tale

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THE UNIVERSITy RESEARCH COMMITTEE (URC) HAS APPROVED RESEARCH STRENGTHS FOR THE 2010-2012 FUNDING TRIENNIUM.In recognition of our continued success and growth in research capabilities, the total number of Research Strengths has increased from 14 to 19.

Congratulations to the following Research Strength Directors and their teams:

RESEARCH STRENGTH DIRECTOR / CO-ORDINATORCentre for Archaeological Science Professor Bert Roberts

Centre for Asia Pacific Social Transformation Studies (CAPSTRANS) A/Professor Tim Scrase

Centre for Health Initiatives (CHI) Professor Sandra Jones

Centre for Health Service Development Professor Kathy Eagar

Centre for Medical Bioscience Professor Mark Walker

Centre for Medical Radiation Physics Professor Anatoly Rozenfeld

Centre for Medicinal Chemistry A/Professor Paul Keller

Centre for Statistical and Survey Methodology Professor David Steel

Engineering Manufacturing Professor John Norrish

Engineering Materials Institute Professor Elena Pereloma

GeoQuEST Research Centre A/Professor Brian Jones

Information and Communication Technology Research (ICTR) Institute Professor Farzad Safaei

Intelligent Polymer Research Institute, and Professor Gordon Wallace

ARC Centre of Excellence for Electromaterials Science (ACES)

Interdisciplinary Educational Research Institute (IERI) A/Prof. Tony Okely

Institute for Conservation Biology and Environmental Management (ICBEM) Professor David Ayre

Institute for Innovation in Business and Social Research (IIBSoR) Professor Sara Dolnicar

Institute for Mathematics and its Applications (IMIA) Professor Song-Ping Zhu

Institute for Superconducting and Electronic Materials (ISEM) Professor Shixue Dou

Institute for Transnational & Maritime Security (formerly ANCORS) Professor Martin Tsamenyi

More information at: www.uow.edu.au/research/strengthsIn April 2010, the URC plans to hold a one-day symposium where a number of Research Strengths will be invited to present their vision and research programs to UOW staff.

The remaining Strengths will present a similar event to be organised for early 2011.

RESEARCH STRENGTHS FOR 2010-2012

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