Issue 99 – Monday 8 May 2023
Contents
HeadsUp
One of the perks of knowing someone in the corporate sector is learning of various quirky attempts to sharpen the delivery of service. Some seem cheesy but on occasions something resonates. Like that word ‘perk’ as an acronym. Once capitalised, PERK is apparently Purpose, Engagement, Resilience and Kindness. Helpful words to keep front of mind as we continue through challenging times.
What is our purpose as a School? As educators and/or researchers? What at one level might seem a banal question – like most of life’s questions – warrants reconsideration and revisiting from time to time. Perhaps a good discussion-starter for a School retreat!
Engagement demands we move out of the comfort zone of our own preoccupations and research expertise. Embracing the potentials of transdisciplinarity comes to mind. As does engaging with, rather than just lecturing to, students. Teaching at its best is surely engagement.
Resilience is a reminder we are in precarious times and need to act accordingly. We have, for example, ‘soft’ enrolments across many of our courses, and need in such times to be ready to act for the collective good rather than simply for personal gain. Course rationalisation, restoration of a suite of summer school offerings and developing responses to the CFT and School Review all demand we go the extra kilometre. As does agreeing to in-school service roles. To not do so weakens our collective as well as individual futures as a School.
And kindness. It’s too easily regarded as an extra, that dessert of workplace values. Something we all know is important and think we know how to practice. But unlike desserts, there’s never too much consideration, empathy, and mutual care.
So, perks of the workplace can be more that a sly bit of photocopying or piggybacking a family visit onto an international conference. Let’s keep PERKS – purpose, engagement, resilience and kindness – to the fore. And I’ll keep an open mind to what might be of value coming from a certain glass tower down the road.
Contracting
One insight in being responsible for approving contracts in the School is how many are set up by Patricia in any one week. I was saying to the other FoS Heads recently that the most frequent words I seem to write these days are ‘Happy to Approve’. One wit retorted that I could cut my effort by two thirds and just write ‘Approved’!
Seriously, though. Michael (School Manager) and I need to state some reminders.
- No one should be asked, or agree, to start work before a contract is signed.
- A casual contract is one where there is no regular set of hours or pattern of work
- Allow 2 weeks for a casual contract and 4 weeks for a Fixed term contract.
- If a contracted employee resigns, activate a termination of their contract immediately. Situations of overpayment are embarrassing, potentially expensive and time-consumptive to deal with.
If you have any uncertainties about any of the above points, contact Patricia or Michael.
Graduation
Thank you to those (few, unfortunately) other academic staff who attended graduation. It was somewhat embarrassing to see PhD graduands cross the stage with neither supervisor present. Let’s up our numbers for next time, please. It’s a fundamental act of kindness to students and supporters that we are present to acknowledge their achievements. If access to robes from your home (ie PhD-granting) university is an issue, we are happy to sign off purchasing them from your PD account.
HoS absence
I’ll be away 18 May – 2 June. George Perry will be Acting HoS in my absence. Please direct queries to him during that time as my access to email will be irregular.
Have a good week
Robin Kearns
General Announcements
Changes to Research Support
Sophie Yu has recently joined the team as an RPC as cover for Franca Peverelle while she is on parental leave. Sophie has previously been working as a GSA in the Business School, and will be located in 302 Level 6. We will be getting in touch with any PI’s impacted by this change, but if you passing by Level 6 do drop in and say hi. Franca’s last working day will be 9 June.
SBS Snr Technician Role
SBS are advertising for a Senior Technician – Ecology to fill ranks in the fieldwork technical team. This is a permanent position. Candidates with either terrestrial or marine backgrounds are welcome to apply.
Links to advertisement:
- On UoA Jobs Page
- On SEEK (NZ)
For any questions please contact me.
Regards,
Blair Sowman
Technical Manager | School of Environment
Whakawhanaungatanga – Communities
| [INVITATION] MBIE Endeavour Kick-Off Session with Max Kennedy and Rebecca Adams – 7th June 9:30 – 12:00pm |
| We invite you to join us for the 2024 MBIE Endeavour Kick-off Session on the 7th of June 2023, from 9:30 am to 12:00 pm, with special guest speakers Max Kennedy (former director of MBIE contestable funding) and Rebecca Adams (Director of Government Relations, Auckland UniServices).
Following his five and a half years as the Manager for Contestable Investments at MBIE, Max is now available to help researchers build on their awareness about MBIE Endeavour and use that knowledge to take their proposals to the next level. Teaming up with Max this year, Rebecca Adams will focus on giving an overview and practical advice around areas of research that align with the current Government priorities for the MBIE Endeavour Fund. This session is a strategic value-add for those already familiar with the contestable funding world in Aotearoa. The information provided in this session aims to help researchers gain a better understanding of how the Endeavour fund can be used to meet the grand challenges researchers face to make life better for New Zealanders, how research can be better positioned to issues at the centre of government policy and strategy, and will provide additional insight from Max’s vast experiences at the heart of NZ’s science investment strategy. The session will be primarily presentation based and followed by a Q&A interview, guided by questions received from registrants in advance email toaul.researchdevelopment@uoa.auckland.ac.nz |
| Key Information
– Date: Wednesday the 7th of June 2023 – Time: 9:30am – 12:00pm. – Location: Sir Owen G Glenn Building – 260-051 (12 Grafton Road Auckland, Auckland 1010) – Audience: Targeted to participants who already have a general understanding of the MBIE Endeavour and contestable funding environment in Aotearoa. Open to UoA researchers and research support staff (FIRST). Registration Link: https://www.eventbrite.co.nz/e/mbie-endeavour-2024-kick-off-session-tickets-606914285967 – |
| [INVITATION] MBIE MBIE Endeavour 2024 – Research Impact Webinar & Workshop with Dr Faith Welch |
| Research Impact Manager, Dr Faith Welch, will be hosting a webinar to give you practical advice on how to plan your MBIE Endeavour funding application to achieve maximum impact. She will cover how to articulate the benefits of your research, and how to develop an implementation plan to ensure those benefits can occur. The session will be an hour, questions are encouraged and there will be at least 15 minutes of Q&A at the end. Following the webinar, if you would like to have a discussion about the impact of your research, please contact Faith at researchimpact@auckland.ac.nz. |
| Key Information:
Date: Tuesday the 20th of June 2023 Time: 10:00 am – 11:00 am. Location: Online via zoom link. Audience: Targeted to UoA researchers and research support staff (FIRST) Registration Link: |
An introductory R Workshop is being run on Thursday 29th and Friday 30 th of June 2023. The course will be run by the Statistical Consulting Centre (SCC) in the Department of Statistics.
What’s covered in the workshop?
Introduction
Getting familiar with R
- Using R Studio and loading projects/scripts
- Basic functions using R
- Reading in Data Files (.csv, .xls/.xlsx)
- Introduction to R Objects. How R thinks (vectors, matrices, basic data formats)
Working with data(sets)
- Cleaning and subsetting
- Merging datasets and reformatting
- Grouping variables and summarising
R graphics
- Starting with plots in R (boxplots, histograms, bar graphs)
- Graphics in R with ggplot2 (customising plots)
Data analysis
- Introduction to performing t-tests, chi-square tests, ANOVA, and general linear models
As per our previous introductory R workshops, the cost is $300 for UoA students and staff.
You can pay using your PRESS account, research grant, or other UoA account.
You can also opt to use a debit/credit card (however we will have to also add GST for this type of payment and payment can only be made at the Student Resource Centre on main campus).
The payment authorisation form for UoA participants paying from a UoA account is attached.
The cost for non-UoA attendees is $500 + GST. Please contact Joei Mudaliar (j.mudaliar@auckland.ac.nz) for payment instructions.
We will be sending out a pre-workshop information email the week prior to the course, however here are some of the details:
Location
We will be in room 302.190. Building 302 is on the corner of Symonds St and Wellesley St. The room we will be using is on level 1, room 190.
Time and schedule
The approximate schedule for both days is attached (since this is the schedule from our previous course, it may yet be altered very slightly).
We will start at 9am and finish at 5pm.
Morning and afternoon tea will be provided, and there are cafes nearby for lunch.
Computers
We will be using a Faculty of Science computer lab.
You are also welcome to use your own laptop. However, please make sure that you have downloaded R and RStudio onto your machine before the workshop (they are free to download).
We will also include some instructions on how to do this in our pre-workshop information email.
Access to computers and the internet
We will arrange access to the lab computers for all non-UoA participants.
We will also have a guest wireless password for non-UoA participants who are bringing their own laptops.
UoA staff and students will be able to access the FoS computers using their normal UoA upi and password.
I hope you can make it on the 29th and 30th June 2023, and we look forward to seeing you there.
Ngā mihi (Kind regards),
Joei Mudaliar | Group Services Coordinator
Department of Statistics | Faculty of Science
The University of Auckland | Te Whare Wānanga o Tāmaki Makaurau
Sign up and join the student association RTEA and the Compass programme
1/ Please do encourage your students to join our student association RTEA. The new roster of officers is planning exciting activities for this year and they welcome support and contribution from fellow students. To encourage students to join just use the QR codes for the Facebook page and a Google form to formally sign up: https://rtea.auckland.ac.nz/
2/ Do encourage your PG students to also join our Compass programme. Larissa and her team of captains have planned regular activities to foster students’ wellbeing throughout the year.
3/ The Student Experience Committee (SEC) offers a small budget to course coordinators who would like to order some kai to share with their class. Reach out to JC should you be interested.
3k writing grant available for students
Funds are available to support students writing up their thesis as publication(s). Each grant is worth $3000 (120 hours at 25$ all included). There is no deadline to apply. Applications are evaluated as they come by members of Rangahau (2 weeks turn over max.), until we use all the funds available.
Do you have a good candidate in mind? Please complete this form and submit to melanie.kah@auckland.ac.nz.
Proposal development support
The Rangahau Committee has a small fund set aside to help with proposal development (e.g. writing support, support to scope proposals etc). If you have an idea that fits within this scope please get in touch with Kelly Kilpin to discuss further.
Undergrad research experience
We are now recruiting undergrads who would like to gain a research experience with a post-grad student in our School (30-40 hours, they get paid $800). The aim is to promote research and increase enrolment in our research programmes. Feel free to make an announcement in your courses and collect nominations. We have 10 places. We are hoping to match students by the end of the month.
If you would like to nominate an undergrad student who could be part of this programme, please email their name and research interest to melanie.kah@auckland.ac.nz
ENV Masters research seminars 6 June 2023 (rm 302-140)
The seminars are an opportunity for students to present their research and for members of our school to give feedback. To help develop a school culture, staff and students are encouraged to attend. The sessions are grouped loosely by topic.
Phil Shane (DGA)
| (6 June) | Chair Nick Richards | |
| 9.00 | Ema | Nersezova |
| 9.15 | Kerensa | Jennings |
| 9.30 | Amy | Barclay |
| 9.45 | Shreya | Gounder |
| 10.00 | Fei | Guo |
| 10.15 | Niamh | Galligan |
| 10.30 | Kaiqi | Li |
| 10.45 | Sophie | Mansell |
| 11.00 | Saima | Sakik |
| 11.15 | Laurence Lorenza | Suarez |
| 11.30 | Georgia | Woodside |
| 11.45 | Samuel | Scott |
| Chair: George Perry | ||
| 1.00 | Olivia | Avery |
| 1.15 | Hannah | Sussex |
| 1.30 | Charlotte | Ko |
| 1.45 | Grace | May |
Funding
| Catalyst: Leaders (Round 2) | |
| Catalyst: Leaders supports incoming and outgoing targeted international fellowships for exceptional individuals that cannot be supported through other means. The following funding scheme is open in Round 2:
Julius von Haast Fellowship Award (1 award) Supports an internationally recognised researcher from Germany to undertake research in New Zealand for a minimum of 4 weeks per year for up to 3 years. |
|
| Value/Duration: | Internal Deadlines: |
| Duration: Up to 3 years
Value: $20,000 stipend $20,000 research and travel allowance $10,000 host institution administration |
10 July 2023, 5pm |
| Further Information (funding call, guidelines, registration info):
· Website Email your title, full name, email address, faculty/department and the funder/scheme to the Funds Advisor Team via submissions@auckland.ac.nz to receive the instructions on how to initiate the letter of intent and the application template for the letter of intent. Please also inform your FIRST team (Franca, Dianne or Kelly). |
|
| Catalyst: Seeding (Round 2) | |
| Catalyst: Seeding facilitates new small and medium pre-research strategic partnerships that cannot be supported through other means, and with a view to developing full collaborations that could be supported through Catalyst: Strategic over time. Funding is for research exchanges, research activities, and expenses related to hosting workshops for new strategic research partnerships with international collaborators. | |
| Value/Duration: | Internal Deadlines: |
| Duration: 24 Months
Value: $80,000 |
5pm, Monday 10 July 2023 |
| Further Information (funding call, guidelines, registration info):
· Funding Call · Website To register to apply, please email the following information to the Funds Advisor Team via submissions@auckland.ac.nz: title (e.g. Dr, A/P, Professor), full name, email address, faculty and department. Please Also inform your FIRST team (Franca, Dianne or Kelly). |
|
| 2023 MBIE Catalyst: Strategic – New Zealand-China Strategic Research Alliance | |
| The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) is calling for proposals for joint research collaborations between New Zealand and China.
MBIE will fund up to 4 joint New Zealand-China research projects to support the New Zealand-China Strategic Research Alliance, 2 each in the areas of food science and environmental science. Up to $300,000 over 3 years is available to each successful applicant, with successful projects expected to start in March 2024. New Zealand and China have agreed to support four projects through this funding round, two in each priority area of: • Food Science; and • Environmental Science |
|
| Value/Duration: | Internal Deadlines: |
| Duration: 3 years
Value: $300,000 |
5pm, Monday 10 July 2023 |
| Further Information (funding call, guidelines, registration info):
· Funding Call · Website Submission process: · Applications are submitted via the MBIE IMS Portal. · Returning applicants log in using your existing login details. · New applicants contact the Funds Advisor Team submissions@auckland.ac.nz to create your User Profile. Please Also inform your FIRST team (Franca, Dianne or Kelly). |
|
| Internet Society Foundation – Research Grant Program | |
| This scheme supports global research collaborations that advance understanding of the Internet and its value for all. Statements of interest and subsequent proposals should address topics related to one of the following thematic areas:
1. Greening the internet: The Internet both affects and is affected by the environment and climate change. Having a critical awareness of this impact is key to the Internet’s resilience and ensures its sustainability for generations to come. 2. The Internet Economy 3. A Trustworthy Internet 4. Decolonizing the Internet: We acknowledge that the Internet’s development depended on industrial societies that, by their nature, used resources from lands dispossessed from Indigenous people and communities throughout the world. Research on Decolonizing the Internet should explore practices and other methods toward an Internet for everyone. |
|
| Value/Duration: | Internal Deadlines: |
| Duration: 24 Months
Value: Each individual project from the university may be capped at US$500,000(circa NZ$790,000). |
5pm, Monday 22 May 2023 |
| Further Information (funding call, guidelines, registration info):
· Funding Call · Website To register to apply, please email the following information to the Funds Advisor Team via submissions@auckland.ac.nz: title (e.g. Dr, A/P, Professor), full name, email address, faculty and department. Also inform your FIRST team (Franca, Dianne or Kelly). |
|
| James Cook Research Fellowships | |
| The James Cook Research Fellowships are awarded to researchers who have achieved national and international recognition in their area of scientific research. The fellowships allow them to concentrate on their chosen research for two years without the additional burden of administrative and teaching duties. | |
| Value/Duration: | Internal Deadlines: |
| Grant Value: Up to $110,000 (plus GST) per year up to two years.
The Fellowships consist of: − $100,000 (plus GST) contribution toward researcher’s salary; and − $10,000 (plus GST) contribution towards relevant expenses. |
5pm Tuesday 9 May 2023 |
| Further Information (funding call, guidelines, registration info):
If interested, please also inform your FIRST team (Franca, Dianne or Kelly) |
|
| Ministry for the Environment – Plastics Innovation Fund Round 2 – Te Tahua Pūtea mō te Kirihou Auaha | |
| The Plastics Innovation Fund supports projects that will minimise plastic waste and its harm on the environment. They are seeking to fund projects that find ways to use less plastic and make what we do use reusable or recyclable. It should be noted that applicants are required to secure at least 50% co-funding. | |
| Value/Duration: | Internal Deadlines: |
|
· EOI deadline from 1 November 2022 to 30 June 2023
· The Funds Advisor team will accept EOIs at any time during this period for a QA check provided that you allow at least 7 working days before final submission to the funder. |
| Further Information (funding call, guidelines, registration info):
Please register or make contact with FIRST (Kelly, Dianne, Franca) if you wish to make a submission. |
|
Health, Safety and Wellbeing
Health and Safety reminder
- A wall mounted office book shelf partially collapsed last week in B301. Fortunately for the occupant, it happened out of hours. An investigation is underway and we are following up with property services. It is a good reminder that we should be mindful of heavy items stored at height. Reduce weight on the upper shelves and try not to overload wall mounted book shelves. Facilities can also provide floor standing bookshelves where there is space, speak to your facilities coordinator for more information.
- A reminder not to bring your uncovered cup of hot drink with you during an evacuation. Spills in the staircase or evacuation route can lead to slips and trips.
- Make sure you report concerns, incidents and hazards (no matter how minor) as soon as possible. Please bookmark the following link. It’s essential information for the University and helps keep everyone safe.
Let’s all work together to ensure that we maintain a safe and healthy work environment.
Publications
Thomas P.F. Dowling – Assessing landscape fire risk in Ukraine and Belarus (Polesia) temperate wetland conservation areas with remote sensing, with a paper titled: Landscape fires disproportionally affect high conservation value temperate peatlands, meadows, and deciduous forests, but only under low moisture conditions . https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969723024701