Robyn's Blog : Prizes

Australia-Italy Award

robyn.owens — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 01:52:00 GMT

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

The 2008 AusBiotech-GSK Student Excellence Awards

robyn.owens — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 13:03:00 GMT

BIOTECH STUDENTS - here is your chance to show off your work and attend AusBiotech 2008 - Australia's Biotechnology Conference

The AusBiotech-GSK Student Excellence Awards are national awards that are partnered exclusively by GlaxoSmithKline (GSK).

The awards encourage students that completed honours or started their masters or PHD in 2007 and 2008 to think strategically about their research in the biotechnology field. Finalists are required to pitch the commercial application of their research to a panel of judges, competing against other finalists in their state.

One winner from each state will be presented with their award during a ceremony at the AusBiotech 2008 conference and are given the opportunity to display a poster of their abstract during the conference. The award covers the students' travel, accommodation expenses and registration for AusBiotech 2008 to be held in Melbourne from 26-29 October.

Western Australian award applications close on Friday 22 August 2008.

Students are invited to attend the Western Australian launch of the AusBiotech-GSK Student Excellence Awards.

Date:           Tuesday 12 August 2008
Where:          Department of Industry & Resources
                     Level 6, 1 Adelaide Terrace, East Perth
Time:          5pm for 5:30pm – 8pm (no entry permitted after 5:45pm)
Cost:           AusBiotech student members (FREE);
                     Non-member students ($10)

Only 50 registration places available so register ASAP! To register go to Events at www.ausbiotech.org

Best thesis in the country

robyn.owens — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 06:44:00 GMT

I'm on a judging panel at the moment to decide on the best computing thesis in Australia or New Zealand for 2007. So I have a box of theses to read, and no instructions on how to decide. Firstly, the good news is that this competition, like so many others that I find myself judging, is by nomination, and you'd be surprised how few people nominate for things like this. It's quite a prestigious award to have on your CV, so my first piece of advice is "apply for everything" like this. Read the instructions carefully, if there are any; take the entry seriously, because any work done for it can usually be re-packaged for something else, and then see how it works out.

But back to my task. Here's what I am looking for at the moment: a clear enunciation of the problem considered in the thesis; a clear statement of the solution or solutions found or constructed; what the implications of the thesis might be, both from what is stated in the thesis itself, and from any publications arising from the thesis. Since all these theses resulted in publications, I am also looking at the quality of the outlets (journal impact factors or the quality of the peer-reviewed conferences at which the work was presented), and whether there have been any citations (excluding self-citations). And since all these theses have resulted in publications that are co-authored, I'm also looking for a clear statement on what the candidate's contribution has been. After all that, I'm then getting a feel for the style of writing, the quality of the document in terms of publication standards, and a sense of the scholarship involved. I wonder, at the end of all this, whether my choice will coincide with that of the other judges?

The Robert Street Prize

robyn.owens — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 03:00:00 GMT

The Robert Street Prize was established by the University in 1996. A capital sum of $20,000 was raised to honour the career of Emeritus Professor Robert Street, AO, Vice-Chancellor of The University of Western Australia (1978–86) and eminent physicist. This sum provides a prize for the most outstanding thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in each year, awarded in accordance with the following conditions:

1. The prize consists of the annual income of the fund after capitalisation in accordance with Senate policy.

2. The prize is awarded to the student whose PhD thesis, of all those PhD theses passed with distinction in a designated 12-month period, has, in the opinion of the Board of the Graduate Research School, made the most outstanding contribution to its field.

3. The prize winner is acknowledged at a graduation ceremony at the University.

The 1996 Robert Street Prize was awarded to Mr John T Host for his thesis “Narratives of the Past or Histories of the Present? Myth, Meaning and the Mid-Victorian Labour Experience”.

Since then, the winners have been as follows:

1997. Dr Peter Burton (Anatomy and Human Biology)

1998. Dr Patrick Wheatley (Clasics and Ancient History)

1999. Dr Anthony Hughes-d'Aeth (English)

2000. Dr Thomas Ridsdill-Smith (Geology & Geophysics and Mathematics)

2001. Dr Nicholas Anstey (Pharmacology)

2002. Dr John Hunt (Zoology)

2003. Dr Suhejla Hoti (Economics)

2004. Dr Eric May (Physics and Oil & Gas Engineering)

2005. Dr Simon Young (Law)

2006. Dr Amanda Hooper (Medical Genetics)

Who's next?

Time for a new image

robyn.owens — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 02:18:00 GMT

I think it's time to update some of the photos featuring research students "creating new knowledge or innovatively re-interpreting existing knowledge" as featured on the Graduate Research School website. So over the next couple of weeks I invite you to upload some of your favourite photos of yourself, or your friends, undertaking research. I look forward to a variety of activities, venues, and sources of inspiration. The top 10 photos, as judged by the mRS team, will be featured on the GRS site for the next 12 months, and the best photo, as judged by you, will win a prize (yet to be determined). Snap away.