Young scientists dedicated to improving disaster resilience in our region will gain much deserved recognition through the APEC Science Prize for Innovation, Research and Education (ASPIRE).
Since 2011, the annual ASPIRE award has recognised young scientists who have demonstrated a commitment to excellence in scientific research and cooperation with scientists across APEC economies.
This year’s theme is disaster risk reduction. Researchers under the age of 40 who are engaged in high quality research in topics such as sustainable development, disaster management, urban planning and engineering are eligible to apply.
Minister for Industry and Science Ian Macfarlane acknowledged the important role of science cooperation and research in improving disaster resilience to ensure economic prosperity across the region.
“In the wake of so many natural disasters in the region, such as the devastating Cyclone Pam, science’s contribution to detection and mitigation of disasters is more important than ever,” Mr Macfarlane said.
“By putting science at the heart of our economy, Australian researchers are using research to solve practical problems and protect communities across the region.
“This competition will showcase Australia’s regional leadership in disaster resilience and our young scientists’ dedication to solving the health, economic and societal problems posed by natural disasters.”
The Australian Government and Australian Academy of Science will run a national competition to select three finalists who will each be flown to Canberra to receive $2000. The winner, along with other economies’ candidates, will be nominated for the ASPIRE award which will be presented at a ceremony in the Philippines in August 2015.
The Australian Academy of Science said the competition would generate interest in the work of Australian early career researchers and promote their valuable role in our science and innovation system.
“ASPIRE is a fantastic opportunity for young Australian scientists to be recognised on the world stage and to help build scientific collaboration across the Asia-Pacific region. As we see increasing disasters in our region, it’s the innovative work of these early-career scientists that will help us to adapt and deal with these risks in the future,” said Professor Andrew Holmes, President of the Australian Academy of Science.
Australian applications for ASPIRE are now open and will close on 29 April 2015. Further information is available from the Australian Academy of Science website or by emailing[email protected].
Curriculum reforms in Australia and China were a key topic of discussion when visitors from one of China’s foremost universities in teacher education and research were on-campus earlier this year.
Professor Liang has followed the introduction of the Australian Curriculum with interest, and visited Australia several times to study this process.
Griffith academics Dr Glenda McGregor and Dr Jason Zagami are involved in the development of the Australian Curriculum in their professional fields, and Professors Liang and Lu were very interested in their perspectives and experiences.
BNU alumnus Xinxin Fan, who is now a doctoral student at the University of Queensland and co-supervised by Dr David Geelan, acted as facilitator and translator for the meeting.
Two commerce students will be the first to reap the rewards of the scholarship worth $15,000 each and which could also lead to an exciting internship opportunity at Platinum Investment Management.
Full-time second-year students with a financial planning major are invited to submit an application, including a 500-word statement on how the scholarship could benefit their career ambitions in financial planning.
“This scholarship will enhance the education experience of the successful students, and ultimately lead to greater standards of professionalism in financial planning.
“It is an important link between education and industry and another example of how we are engaging industry with business education at Griffith.
Primed
“Industry knowledge and experience is an integral and effective part of many of our programs. Combined with industry-funded scholarships and initiatives like the Bloomberg Professional service available in our new trading room, it means we are offering students an education experience that will have them primed for the job market on, and even before, graduation.”
The possibility of one month’s paid work experience at Platinum Asset Management’s Sydney offices also potentially beckons for scholarship recipients.
“Our aim is to incentivise students who are passionate about financial planning and who have aspirations towards a long-term career in the industry,” Liz Norman, Investor Services and Communications Director, PlatinumInvestment Management, said.
“We recognise the vital role that financial planners play, not only in our business but in the investment management community generally. And we see these scholarships as a way of supporting the efforts of the Financial Planning Association to raise educational standards and encourage new talent to the industry.”
Australian-based Platinum manages about $25 billion, specialising in investing in international equities. About 12% of this comes from investors in New Zealand, Europe, America and Asia.
Further information on the scholarships is available here.
Find out more about Platinum Asset Management here.
After successfully making its mark on the G20 stage last November, an MBA team from Griffith University has continued to make business strides in a global arena.
Following a strong showing at the Bangkok Business Challenge in February, it’s ‘Next stop Texas’ for the team, comprising of Andrew Zaniewski, Nathan Pugliese, Joshau Salked, Matthew Kelly and Prassana Shanmuganathan.
“It’s billed as the Super Bowl of business plan competitions so we are looking forward to it in every way possible,” Andrew says.
“It’s a magnificent opportunity from a venture capital point of view. It is also a new challenge for the team to show we can adapt our model from previous competitions, and demonstrate a leaner, meaner model more suited to the US market.”
The Griffith MBA team initially came together about 12 months ago to put together a successful entry for the inaugural $100,000 G20 Global Business Challenge. Their innovative business plan to supply potable water in developing communities in the Asia-Pacific region caught the imagination of judges who considered 40 entries from 18 countries. The Griffith team ultimately took out third place, behind teams from Canada and Poland at a gala finale in Brisbane.
“Our team is determined to follow through on what we have achieved so far and we will endeavour to make it a commercial reality and not just another team assignment,” Andrew Zaniewski said at the time.
The team has been true to its word, establishing a business venture called 3rd Step Enterprises, and making a strong impression in Thailand at the start of 2015. Once again, the Griffith team led the charge from the Southern Hemisphere, and was ultimately nudged out for top spot by leading business schools from Cornell and Kellogg in the United States.
The annual competition hosted by Sasin Graduate Institute of Business Administration at Chulalongkorn University attracted 48 entries from around the world this year.
“This competition was a real challenge for us,” Nathan Pugliese said. “Over a series of rounds, we continually tweaked the plan and the presentation to incorporate the judges’ comments in the preceding round. We were the only Australian team to make the final round, and were up against the best US and Asian business schools. It was exhausting but at the same time it was a lot of fun.”
Their business plan concerned the application of two new technologies to the desalination of sea water for coastal and island communities who suffer drinking water shortages due to population pressure. The technology used a patented solar power generator and an advanced multiple effect distillation process to desalinate sea water and eliminate the need for diesel or electric power for desalination or for pumping.
“Once set up, these desalination projects draw on two inexhaustible natural resources, the sun and the oceans, for their power and their raw materials,” academic supervisor, Professor Evan Douglas (left), said.
“The cost of drinking water is projected to be only $2.06 per kilo-litre, and their projects will foster local employment and the growth of industry that requires potable water.”
For the forthcoming competition in Austin, Texas, which runs from May 7-9, the team’s focus will shift somewhat from social development to a more capitalist market.
“It’s another great opportunity to develop our knowledge as we operate at the other end of the corporate spectrum,” Andrew says. “They are very different markets but the inherent issue is the same — water scarcity.
“It’s also a wonderful chance to build new contacts from around the world and take the next steps towards commercialising our venture and, ideally procuring contracts for implementation in Southeast Asia and North America in the not-too-distant future.”
Written by Dr Lauren Ball, Menzies Health Institute Queensland at Griffith University.
Research shows that general practitioners are highly trusted as providers of nutrition advice. Despite this and the fact that medical appointments provide a perfect avenue to talk about diet, doctors are failing to either give nutrition advice or refer their patients to other parts of the health-care workforce that could help.
Nutrition is prominent in clinical guidelinescreated for GP use because it’s the basis of good health as well as bad.But doctors are not only failing to give dietary advice, research published todayin the Medical Journal of Australia shows they are also not screening for obesity, a risk factor for early mortality that’s explicitly linked with diet.
Cutting through noise
A big part of the problem is social rather than medical: nutrition messages are inherently “noisy”, with an abundance of specific — and often contradictory — advice available through advertising, media and well-intentioned family and friends. We’re constantly hearing new messages about food from sources that lack credibilityand these messages create confusion about what it means to have a healthy diet.
GPs are in the ideal position to help people cut through “nutrition noise”, encourage them to have a healthier diet and highlight what advice to trust.
Doctors know nutrition is importantbut giving nutrition advice has to contend with the competing priorities of often more pressing health-care needs. On top of this, many are uncertain about how effectivethey can be in helping people improve their diet.
But if they don’t feel they have enough time during appointments, or enough nutrition knowledge or skills to provide their patients with the right advice, doctors can provide referrals to dietitians, or not-for-profit services that support healthy eating.
Patients report feeling confusedabout the role of different health professionals regarding nutrition, particularly dietitians and nutritionists. This too highlights a significant role for doctors in helping patients cut through “nutrition noise” by explaining what advice they can trust and where to find safe, evidence-based advice.
Nutrition education
Many doctors may not feel confident about giving nutrition advice because they are not well educated on the subject. Indeed, the amount of nutrition education provided to medical students and doctors has traditionally been viewed by educators and government bodies alike as inadequate. But attempts to change medical education by incorporating nutrition knowledge are happening both in Australia and abroad.
A team of Australian medical and nutrition professionals has developedcompetency standardsoutlining the expected level of nutrition knowledge and skills to be developed during medical training. The curriculum of any medical course can be compared to these standards to make necessary changes.
Further, evidence-based online education modules developed by international institutions, such as the Nutrition in Medicine course created by the University of North Carolina,can also be incorporated into existing course material. And independent international education groups such as the Need for Nutrition Education/Innovation Program (NNEdPro) are starting to provide free or low-cost continuing education to all doctors, including general practitioners and hospital physicians, on the topic of nutrition.
Supporting GPs
There are three areas where GPs need support to provide safe, effective nutrition advice. First of all, they need encouragement to raise the topic of nutrition in every appointment. After all, every patient’s health can be improved by a healthy diet.
a 2015 reviewfound GPs can help patients improve their diet by providing simple, brief nutrition advice. But these studies were all interventions — that is, the doctors were instructed on the specific nutrition advice to provide, so they don’t reflect real-life situations.
Given that some doctors are uncertain about how or when to raise the topic of nutrition, they should be encouraged to focus on initiatingthese discussions as a priority for all patients.
Second, patients themselves might be the answer to starting nutrition conversations; research shows the strongest predictor for nutrition being discussed in a consultation is a patient request for nutrition advice.
This means patients have to be proactive about their nutrition needs. And it highlights opportunities for targeted initiatives, such as prompting patients in waiting rooms to consider asking about nutrition in their upcoming consultation.
Finally, once the topic of nutrition has been raised, the key to effective care by GPs is a focus on supporting healthy changes in behaviour, rather than specific facts about foods or nutrients.
Promoting evidence-based guidelines, such as the Australian Guide to Healthy Eating, and encouraging patients through simple but consistent messagessuch as “it’s important for your health to eat well” and “eating more fruits and vegetables would help your health” are likely to be the basis for effective care. Such statements demonstrate that GPs place importance on the foods patients eat, which is the key to motivating improvements in diet.
Following public hearings at the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse (March 25-27), Griffith University criminologist Professor Kathleen Daly says the commission has a lot of hard decisions to make.
“The Commission is engaged in a wide-ranging review of what is effective redress for victim-survivors of institutional abuse,’’ said Professor Daly, author of a new book on the history of redress schemes.
“The scope of the Commission’s work is a world-first. No other country has attempted to create a national redress scheme that includes multiple jurisdictions and different contexts of victimisation.”
She said the Commission was receiving diverse views on what a monetary payment is for, which will be difficult to reconcile.
“Some see it in a future-oriented way–to build a new life with greater economic security. Others see it as recognition and acknowledgement of the past. Still others see it in legal terms–an assessment of past injury and its current impact.
“Although survivor groups want to be treated ‘the same’ for the harms suffered, they also stress the importance of recognising individual differences. That too, will be difficult to reconcile.”
Professor Daly’s new book — Redressing Institutional Abuse of Children was launched at the Ship Inn, South Bank on Friday, April 10.
The book examines the history of responses to institutional abuse of children and analyses major Australian and Canadian cases that used civil litigation, public enquiries and redress schemes.
Drawing from first-hand accounts of survivor’s experiences, the book documents children’ memories growing up in institutions and their experiences with redress to examine if justice interests — for participation, voice, validation, vindication and offender accountable — are achieved.
Speakers at the official launch included:
The Hon Leneen Forde (Griffith University Chancellor and Chair of the Forde Enquiry)
Dr Stephen Winter (Politics and International Relations, University of Auckland)
What role did you play in establishing theJournal?
Sage [was chosen] to launch the Journal because they are not only global in their scope, reach and reputation, but also have a commanding presence in South Asia through their India office and marketing centres throughout the region. Having published three books with Sage India, we know each other pretty well which helped in establishing rapport and trust.
Associate Professor Mohan Thite
What does the Editor-in-Chief of a journal do?!
After signing an agreement with Sage India, [Mohan, pictured left] set about establishing an Editorial Advisory Board with highly reputed academics and practitioners globally and in South Asia. They act as strategic advisors and ambassadors. My next task was to recruit a dedicated team of Associate Editors in charge of different geographical regions in South Asia. We then set about establishing the submission guidelines and policies and procedures to carry out the peer review system and editorial decisions. Next, I approached some high profile academics and practitioners to contribute papers and interviews for the Journal to set high quality standards. After the first issue was out I informed the academic community widely (and loudly!) about the Journal through electronic discussion forums and personal networks.
We are now in the second year with a very healthy flow of manuscripts (over 80 last year), and our acceptance rate is 16.5 percent which is very competitive for a brand new journal. The research and writing standards among South Asian scholars are yet to reach international standards and that means the editorial team has to spend lot of effort and time to edit the papers to bring them up to standards. It’s back-breaking work but also immensely satisfying!
Why the need to target publishing research about South Asia specifically?
South Asia is home to over one-fifth of the world’s population with highly uneven economic development. Human resources are at once both a positive and negative for the future of this region and hence a journal solely focused on HRM in this region would go a long way in serving both the academic and practitioner community in addressing and serving this community. The Journal will focus equally on HRM at local, national, regional and international levels, as well as both the theory and practice of HRM. We believe the focus on South Asia is just about right as it is neither too narrow (e.g., India) or too broad (e.g., Asia-Pacific). There are journals serving this area but they cover all aspects of business and management whereas we exclusively focus on human capital management.
Tell us about the Journal’s exciting initiative, Practitioner Perspectives…
This isundoubtedlya key differentiating feature andstrengthof theJournal. This section features case studies, essays, research notes, commentaries and interviews to illustrate how HRM is actually practiced in this region. The editorial team has extensive industry contacts in the region to conduct practitioner interviews. We have published interviews with the Presidents of national HR associations and heads of HR in reputed companies in the region. In the upcoming special issue on gender (in)equality in South Asia, we are publishing interviews with women business leaders and a case study written by personnel from the British High Commission in Pakistan.Thanks go to WOW member, Professor Glenda Strachan, who is editing the special issue. (BothGlenda, and WOW Director, Professor Adrian Wilkinson, are great supporters of the SAJHRM, imparting valuable experience and expertise also as Editorial Advisory Committee members).
The current issue (2, December 2014) of ‘SAJHRM’ is now available from Sage.
Article by Elise Stephenson, New Colombo Plan Scholar and Undergraduate in Asian Studies and Intercultural Communication at Griffith University
What role does social enterprise play in today’s society? Is it possible that every business has the potential to be a social enterprise? Is social enterprise a viable business and social solution for the future?
These are questions I thought about extensively during the recent week I spent in Shanghai competing in the Hult Prize, an initiative of the Clinton Global Initiative and the Hult Foundation. I went over with a team of highly engaged and ambitious students from the School of Government and International Relations at Griffith University to pitch our idea of a social enterprise which tackles Bill Clinton’s 2015 call-to-action — early childhood education (ECE) in slums.
This year the competition drew over 20 000 applications globally, with 250 teams short-listed to compete in five regional finals. Our team comprised of a diverse range of individuals from across disciplines – Chris Eigeland (law, education and technology), Janna Mallon (communications, disaster relief, government), Brad McConachie (public policy, higher education, Asia-Australia relations) and myself, Elise Stephenson (Asia Pacific, women’s leadership, social enterprise). At the Shanghai regional final our team pitched to a panel of judges and peers and had the opportunity to mingle with investors from across the region.
Our idea was the result of six weeks of fast-paced brainstorming and consulting with a group of industry professionals drawn from government, social enterprise and early childhood education. It comprised of three main elements: build a network of formal and informal ECE centres, equip them with low-technology Bluetooth enabled play kits, 3D printed from recycled slum plastics, and use the play kits to track key developmental data and play patterns for use by the centres themselves, governments, NGOs, the private sector, and international bodies. We acknowledge that our proposed idea was comprehensive, however access to education is a systemic, ingrained problem, and so we needed a systemic, inclusive solution.
There are many reasons why we became so engaged in the issue of early childhood education, social enterprise, and entering a competition like the Hult Prize. As a team we had come together over a range of issues before – the Haiti earthquake, equipping schools with supplies in Timor Leste, meeting with young leaders at Peking University and finding real, tangible solutions to problems of gender inequality, disaster management, and education in our region. We are incredibly well-placed in terms of our education, experience, and geography to lead those in the Asia Pacific. And we are engaged because it takes active ‘doers’ to step up to some of the most entrenched problems in our global society if we want any real and socially-inclusive change.
Whilst we did not commence through to the Hult Prize final in New York, our team will regroup later this year to move onto the next step of realising our social enterprise. It has been an incredible experience and as one of only three Australian teams that made it to the regional finals, we strongly believe that Griffith University has an active place in providing the students and solutions needed for systemic change in our region. We have an A Grade team, now it is all about finessing our idea into an A Grade solution.
Cameron McEvoy (Bachelor of ScienceAdvanced Honours) has overpowered James Magnussen in the final of the 100m freestyle event at the 2015 Hancock Prospecting National titles in Sydney.
Defending champion McEvoy claimed the national title in 48.06sec, the fastest time in the world this year.
This is McEvoy’s third win over Magnussen in the past four meets and puts him in good contention for the World Titles being staged in Kazan in July.
McEvoy also took out the 200m Freestyle and is back in the pool today for the 50m freestyle semi final.
“It’s a really solid start to the Nationals and I think we will continue to see great things in the pool over the next few days,” said Sean Carolan from Griffith Sports College.
Other Griffith students who finished with impressive results during the national titles include:
They are the Roar’s Generation Next but suddenly their time is now.
Brisbane Roar winger Brandon Borrello (Bachelor of Business) along with team mates; James Donachie, Corey Brown, Fraser Chalmers, Devante Clut and Shannon Brady are undoubtedly the bright future of the club.
Amazingly, when the Roar stood up just 10 years ago as a foundation member of the then new Hyundai A-League, these six hopefuls were still chomping on quartered oranges at half-time of the weeklySaturdaymorning junior soccer melee at their local clubs.
Tomorrowthey will be showcased in the most pivotal game yet in Group G of the Asian Football Confederation’s prestigious intercontinental club competition.
The Roar has never travelled with so many youngsters in its squad, let alone for a game against a club rated as a football powerhouse in South Korea.
Adding further importance to the clash, Suwon and the Roar are locked on four points each, behind runaway group leaders Beijing Guoan (nine points), in the battle to finish in the top two after the Group Stage round-robin and advance to the knock-out Round of 16.
Roar Head Coach Frans Thijssen has describedtomorrownight’s match, in Suwon’s 43,000-capacity “Big Bird” Stadium, as his side’s toughest so far in the competition after an injury-time 1-0 loss to Beijing Guoan, a 1-0 away win to Japan’s Urawa and the come-from-behind 3-3 draw with Suwon, after the Roar led 2-0, at Robina Stadium three weeks ago.
And Thijssen says he will have no hesitation turning to the youngsters in either his as-yet-undisclosed starting XI or off the benchtomorrownight.
“All these young players have proven in matches or in training that they can do the job necessary for us,” Thijssen said.
“It is very pleasing we have so many young players coming through, it creates pressure for positions in our starting side.”
Kick-off fortomorrow’smatch is8.30pmBrisbane time. The game will be telecastlive on Fox Sports 4 (Channel 505).
