Now here's a challenge, in case you think this PhD business is getting too easy.

http://gonzolabs.org/dance/contestants/

A very interesting article on the ABC website today. See

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/05/11/2566534.htm

Climate: Science + Humanities

Graduate Perspectives from Australia, China, and the US

Information for Applicants

www.usyd.edu.au/graduate_studies_office/about_us

From James Lovelock’s Gaia thesis to Tim Flannery’s historical work, global discussion on climate and climate change spans the humanities and the sciences. This symposium will bring together c35 graduate students to exchange global perspectives from three very different national bases: Australia, China, and the US. It aims to highlight and sharpen work which displays genuine disciplinary crossover, and to extend local perspectives on global concerns. 16 Australian students will be selected and funded, one science and one humanities student from each University in the Group of Eight.

Convenor: Professor Alison Bashford, Chair of Australian Studies, Department of the History of Science, Harvard University, 2009/10.

Date: 3-4 March 2010

Venue: Dudley House, Harvard University, Cambridge Massachusetts, USA

Funding: 2 students from each G08 University will be funded, each to total of AUD2,500 travel + AUD800 accommodation.

Selection Criteria:

Excellence and innovation in research

Capacity to connect science and humanities on climate issues, broadly conceived.

Evidence of potential for research leadership

Eligibility:

Students must be enrolled in a research degree at a G08 University. Eligible students include those currently under examination.

Process:

3 copies of application form (from your School) + CV + 500 word abstract to be sent in hard copy to “Harvard Symposium” c/- Alison Bashford, School of Philosophical and Historical Inquiry, A14, University of Sydney, NSW 2006. A selection committee chaired by Professor Bashford will notify successful applicants by 1 August 2009.

Application Due: 1 July 2009. Late applications will not be considered.

Associated Conference: “Climate: Science + Humanities” will be followed by “Changing Climate: historians and hemispheres in conversation” (5-6 March). Confirmed speakers include Professors Warwick Anderson (Sydney), Peder Anker (Oslo), Joyce Chaplin (Harvard), Tom Griffiths (ANU), David Livingstone (Queens University, Belfast), Iain McCalman (Sydney), Libby Robin (ANU), Charles Rosenberg (Harvard).

Jacques Hadamard, who lived from 1865 to 1963, was a French mathematician whose most important result was about the distribution of prime numbers - basically, the bigger the numbers, the more sparse are the primes (the number of prime numbers less than n grows as fast as n/log(n) ). However, he also wrote quite a famous piece on the way in which mathematicians' minds work in the process of uncovering mathematical results.

He says: "The distinction between (invention and discovery) is well known: discovery concerns a phenomenon, a law, a being which already existed, but had not been perceived. Columbus discovered America: it existed before him; on the contrary, Franklin invented the lightning rod: before him there had never been any lightning rod."

Hadamard says that artists' creations are generally inventions, whereas scientists work is mostly concerned with discoveries. Mathematicians are often caught between these two worlds: Hadamard's prime number result is a discovery. But is the square root of minus 1 a discovery or an invention?

Is the new knowledge you are uncovering in your thesis a discovery or an invention? Which sort of new knowledge best advances humankind?

Christmas has come and gone, and the University has been shutdown for two days now, so it's time to sum up the year with some GradStats.

Enrolments and completions are both up in 2008, with completions being at their highest ever point in a calendar year.

Here is a summary for the past three years:

The American Australian Association is now accepting applications for its 2009 Australia to U.S. Fellowship Program. The Program offers Fellowships of up to US$25,000 to Australian researchers or students wishing to undertake advanced research or study in the U.S. Through these Fellowships, the Association encourages intellectual collaboration and innovation, building on the strong economic and social partnerships between Australia and the United States.

Fields of research supported by the Fellowships:

- Medicine
- Technology
- Science
- Engineering
- Business

General Requirements:

- Applicant's research or study must be at a graduate or postdoctoral level.
- Proof of acceptance into a U.S. educational institution.
- Applicant must be an Australian citizen or permanent resident.
- The Fellowships are intended to support part of the costs of one year of research/study in the U.S. (applicants must submit a proposed budget).
- Applicants should devote full time to their research or study.
 

Please send enquiries & applications to: atous@aaanyc.org

Postdoctoral and Invitation Fellowships in Japan 2009

The Australian Academy of Science, in association with the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS), invites applications from Australian researchers to undertake Postdoctoral and Invitation Fellowships in Japan. Postdoctoral Fellowships are for a period of 12 to 24 months, Invitation Fellowships short-term for a period of 14 to 60 days and the Invitation Fellowship long-term is for 2 to 10 months.

Researchers in any field of natural sciences, including technology, engineering and medicine can apply.

Applications in the humanities and social sciences are also accepted BUT ONLY for the Postdoctoral Fellowships. Please see website for information and guidelines.

Applications close Friday 5 December 2008

Postdoctoral Fellowships: http://www.science.org.au/internat/jspspd.htm

Invitation Fellowship short term: http://www.science.org.au/internat/jspsfst.htm

Invitation Fellowship long term: http://www.science.org.au/internat/jspsflt.htm  

GREENHOUSE 2009: “Climate change and resources” will be a significant and influential
conference.

Running from 23-26 March 2009 at the Burswood Convention Centre in Perth,
Western Australia, the conference will feature many examples of industry and government
approaches to adapting to, and mitigating climate change, as well as presentations on the
latest Australian and international science findings.  

GREENHOUSE 2009 will cover themes including agriculture; biodiversity; climate change
impacts and adaptation; climate modelling; communicating climate change; energy efficiency;
geosequestration; government initiatives; human health; national and international case
studies; measurements and observations; mitigating emissions; renewables; and water
resources.

For more information on the conference please go to the conference website.

For abstract submission guidelines or to submit an abstract go to the registration site.

The deadline for abstracts is 14 November 2008.  

If you have any queries, please contact ian.macadam@csiro.au.

The UWA Library has recently upgraded its subscription to ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Database to allow access to documents in full text.

The ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Database (PQDT) is a comprehensive collection of dissertations and theses, from all fields of study, from around the world. The full text version includes 2.4 million dissertation and theses citations from 1861 to present day with 1 million full text dissertations that are available to download in PDF format. Full text dissertations include most from 1997 with a strong retrospective collection for older works. Each year more than 60,000 new full text dissertations and theses are added to the database.

You can access this exciting resource from the Library website. Simply search for the title ProQuest Dissertations and Theses in the Library catalogue and link through to the online resource.

The Australian Academy of Science is inviting applications for the Australia-Italy Award for short-term scientific research visits (1–3 months) between Australia and Italy in 2009. One Australian and two Italian PhD students and early postdoctoral researchers will be supported under this award.

Aim of the Award

The award is aimed at recognizing excellence in research cooperation between Australia and Italy and to foster further research activity among PhD students and early postdoctoral researchers.

Areas of Science

Proposals in any field of natural science, basic and applied, including mathematics and engineering science, will be considered. Information, closing deadlines and application forms are available on theAustralia-Italy web site

I've been thinking a lot recently about the way in which scholars become productive writers. It's not just that a scholar writes - a productive scholar writes a lot. So, with the analogy of pumping weights at the gym, how can you build up your writing productivity so that the words just flow, and eventually you can pump out a few thousand words a day, and more importantly, a competitive number of journal articles a year?

There are quite a lot of tips on the web for building up your writing productivity. 5 Steps to Boost Writing Productivity suggests: 

1. Turn off your email
2. Limit news reading
3. Just say no to IM
4. Limit blogging, and
5. Separate writing from research
   

Just Write suggests just that:

1. You should just write 30 - 45 minutes every day, about anything. Just practice the physicality of the activity.
2. Talk about your story
3. Write the summary

Another idea is to Have a Baby - read this, it's a good idea about creating deadlines in your writing zone.

I thought that we might be able to share tips on building up writing productivity, with the aim of creating our Top Ten Tips for Boosting Your Research Productivity. If we get more than 10 ideas we'll run a vote to select the top ten.

iVEC Internship Program 2008-9

Applications Open

iVEC, the hub of advanced computing in WA, is searching for students 
who are ready to challenge themselves through the student internship 
program.

iVEC will give access to high performance computing, visualisation and 
rendering facilities, large-scale data storage and high speed 
communications - and expert help to make best use of technology.

Applications are welcome from all fields and disciplines.

Internships will run for approximately 10 weeks during the period 
December through February, although dates and exact length of the 
internship are negotiable. The award is for up to $6,000 (tax-free) 
per student, dependent on the length of the project.

Information Session:
UWA:  2pm Monday 22nd September, WASP, Physics Building, University 
of Western Australia

RSVP: please email rsvp@ivec.org

See http://www.ivec.org/interns for more information.

Applications close 5pm 8th October 2008

Applications for the Go8 Germany Joint Research Co-operation Scheme close on 22 August for exchanges taking place in 2009. The scheme is a joint initiative of the Group of Eight and the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD).

The scheme aims to:

	foster research collaboration of the highest quality between Australian researchers from Go8 universities and German researchers.
	result in research outcomes and the exchange of skills and knowledge of mutual benefit to Australia and Germany.

Total Funding
The Go8 and the DAAD have each agreed to provide approximately 160,000 euros (AUD250,000) per year for the period 2008-2010 (approximately AUD1.5 million) to support the scheme.

Eligibility
Exchange participants must either be employed as academic staff members in a teaching and research or research only role at a Go8 university, or a PhD student involved in the research project submitted by an eligible staff member.

Assessment criteria
The criteria to be used in assessing Australian applications include:

	the quality of the research project;
	the experience and track record of the participating researchers/research groups and the level of involvement of early career researchers; and
	the potential of the project to result in outcomes of mutual benefit to Australia and Germany.

Application key dates
Applications for exchanges in 2009 open on 4 June 2008 and close on 22 August 2008.

Evaluation of the scheme
At the end of the second year of the scheme (2009) the Go8, in consultation with the DAAD, will conduct an evaluation of the scheme to inform decisions about whether it should be continued beyond 2010, and if so, whether any changes are required to improve it. The evaluation shall be completed no later than 1 March 2010.

Further information

Ms Olivia Langensiepen
Administrative Officer (Grants)
Phone: +61 08 6488 4708
Email: olivia.langensiepen@uwa.edu.au