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P-Cubed Newsletter Issue 80 – Monday 4 July 2022

July 4, 2022 • asim086

Contents

HeadsUp

When I WFH (interesting how that abbreviation is suddenly a thing) my usual company is a quietly snoring dog. This week, campus didn’t seem much livelier. As I went in and out of my office I enjoyed some jolly laughter with the Group Services Team (and hearing their disbelief that I swim in the sea in winter) and there was some busyness with a Tuakana programme workshop happening in the Level 6 Common Area.  But otherwise, all quiet on Symonds St!  

Later this month the buzz will return, and I encourage you to take opportunities to (re)connect with colleagues. We’ll restart our 10am Wednesday morning teas with a little extra catering: the first week to welcome (back) PhD students; and in the second week to farewell Ingo Pecher who is leaving us for Texas. There’s rumour of further events as the weeks unfold.

For now, please do two things for the good of your wellbeing and that of the school:

  1. Plan on taking some annual leave and enter the days in Peoplesoft HR. If you don’t know how, ask Patricia. Heads of Schools are getting regular reminders that we have balances owing that are way too high.
  2. Do all you can to generate enthusiasm in your classes such that students might consider returning in 2023 to take our courses. Our EFTS are ‘soft’ and the imperatives of the School Review such as course rationalisation become stark as our student numbers fail to reach previous levels.

A few other unrelated matters:

  1. You may be looking towards conference participation as travel becomes easier again. Please in the first instance, consider the distance you are thinking of travelling against the returns in light of emissions.  But if it’s a compelling opportunity recall we have the PD fund ($4.5 k over 3 years) that can be drawn on:

[Cost centre – 4140, Project Code – 15890 (ENV Professional Development), Product code – your unique code (ask Michael if you have forgotten it)]

  1. Thanks for all your exam-marking efforts, especially those who soldiered on afflicted by winter illnesses. May the final-grade mop-up go well.
  2. Best wishes to those who are now on RSL for Sem2 (Jenny, Michael, Sila, Mark, Karen…) may it be a productive time.
  3. Job opportunity for a recent graduate:

Green Ideas Project (GIP) is conducting a study to explore the ways in which people living in Aotearoa interpret and understand the term ‘nature’ and the concept ‘connectedness to nature’. They are looking to hire a Qualitative Research Assistant. This role would suit someone who has completed their Honours or Masters with a qualitative focus. It is a 6 month full-time contract and will involve co-facilitating focus groups, qualitative analysis and supporting some other qualitative projects. Please pass the job description along to any one you think might be interested https://jobs.greenpeace.org.nz/o/research-assistant. Thank you very much for your support with this. 

Enjoy catching up on annual leave, research, and /or teaching prep in these quieter weeks till Semester 2 begins.

I’m looking forward to getting in front of students again and lecturing for the first time in a while. I hope you are too.

Robin Kearns

General Announcements

Amgen Scholars Program 2023

The University of Melbourne are pleased to advise that applications for the Amgen Scholars Program is now open from Friday 1 July, 2022.  

 The Amgen Scholars Program is part of a global program that gives undergraduate students research experience over an 8-week program. We are striving to host the best emerging scientists to help foster their future careers by enabling them to have real-world experience with all facilities provided. The program is open to students who are currently finishing their 2nd year of their undergraduate science degree (2nd year completed by start of program). There is no cost to students, as travel, food, accommodation and more is covered, so it’s a fantastic opportunity accessible to all students.     

  • The Amgen Scholars Program is a summer research program that gives high-achieving 2nd year undergraduate Science students real-world research lab experience from 4 January – 24 February 2023. 
  • Up to 23 students will be selected to undertake the eight week program, which includes free travel, accommodation, food, and cultural experiences, alongside an up to stipend of up to $3600. In addition to the research experience, scholars will attend industry, career and science workshops, tour elite research facilities and participate in social and cultural activities in Melbourne, the cultural and sporting capital of Australia. Hardship will be considered in applications.
  • Research areas include drug discovery, structural and chemical biology, medicinal chemistry, bioscience discovery genomics, proteomics and metabolomics, nano and materials science, biotechnology, neuroscience, biomedical engineering and clinical research and more.  
  • The Program was started by the Amgen Foundation in 2006 in the USA, and is now offered by 24 prestigious institutions across the globe, including Harvard and Cambridge. Get connected with a global community of research excellence with the Amgen Scholars Program.   

For further information about the Amgen Scholars Program and application details, please visit: https://amgenscholars.research.unimelb.edu.au/.  

If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to contact Ailsa Traves at amgen-scholars@unimelb.edu.au.   

 

Travel and carbon emissions

Colleagues,

Many of you are working through travel requests.

As you will be aware the sustainability strategy and the Net Carbon Zero strategy will be open for consultation in July/august. Both clearly identify that we need to reduce our air travel. The proposal to consultation is a 50% reduction by 2030. This document provides the carbon cost for some return flights to Europe US, Asia and Australia to help with staff travel conversations. I am happy for you to share this further.

Regards,

Gillian Lewis, AD Sustainability

 

Extension of expiry date – RDA and HOD accounts

Message from Nicholas Kearns, ORSI: In recognition of the need to reinvigorate research activity following protracted COVID-19 disruptions, the DVC(R) has agreed to extend the expiry date to 31 December 2023 for 50% of any residual balances in Research Development Accounts (RDAs) and/or Head of Department (HOD) accounts currently due to expire in 2022 (or before). Updates will be made to the RDA Policy, Expiry of HoD Accounts Policy and the RDA/HoD Accounts Dashboards in Strategic Management Reports (SMR) to reflect the above.

 

Whakawhanaungatanga – Communities 

Kia Ora Disaster Researchers!

Welcome to the Disastrous Doctorates 2022 has a new date! The DD2022 symposium is rescheduled for 11-13 July. It will be hosted by The University of Auckland in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland. At this time, this conference is moving forward with in-person attendance.

Please follow us on Twitter and Facebook for the most up-to-date information.

Disastrous Doctorates is an annual multi-day symposium for PhD students enrolled at a New Zealand university who are directly studying disaster-related topics. It is organized by PhD students for PhD students. The symposium provides a forum for students to network and learn from each other and subject experts, share best practices and learn helpful tips on managing a PhD career and beyond. We welcome students from across the full range of disciplines, including social sciences, engineering, geology, geography, and law.

Please register on the link below;

Official Registration Form – Disastrous Doctorates (wordpress.com)

 

Honours Research Projects and sub-90 points Masters dissertations 

Dear colleagues,

Thank you to everyone who supervised and/or examined Honours Research projects and sub-90-point Masters projects/dissertations in 2021. Your time and effort in supervising students and/or examining projects in what was a disrupted year, protracted by deadline extensions, is greatly appreciated. The 2021 cohort should now be all finished and moving onto new things.

In 2022, we have students completing Honours and MENVSCI 30-point research projects, and Bachelor of Advanced Science 60-point dissertations, with submissions in Semester 1 (Monday 27 June) and Semester 2 (Monday 14 November).

For your diary: 

S2 Honours, MENVSCI and BAdvSci Oral Presentations – Wednesday 26 October. Time and venue to be confirmed.

These are on the same day as Masters presentations and every effort will be made to avoid clashes.

Finally, if you are supervising Honours/MENVSCI/BAdvSci students this year, please ensure their project is achievable within the one- or two-semester timeframe and that it can be completed under pandemic conditions. Please encourage your student(s) to meet the end-of-semester submission date too, even if Covid-19 extensions are again offered by the Faculty; it is helpful to the students, for getting grades back in time to go on to further study or work, and to those involved in the examination process if we can all stick to the schedule.

Kind regards

Gretel Boswijk, (Honours coordinator)

Funding

School of Environment DRDF funding call

Applications due 15 July 2022

The purpose of this fund is to increase the quality and international reach of our research output. It will support initiatives that produce tangible outcomes that are in line with the School strategic objectives and improve our future PBRF quality scores. The fund will be distributed in two contestable application rounds in March and July 2022.

You can apply for direct research costs up to $10,000 for a single applicant, and up to $15,000 for a group of applicants from the SoE.

Please refer to the attached Guidelines for DRDF applications for 2022 for further information or contact Katarzyna.sila-nowicka@auckland.ac.nz   with any questions.  Email your application using the attached application form to Katarzyna.sila-nowicka@auckland.ac.nz  by 15 July 2022.

 

Post-doctoral Research Award Opportunity 

Applications are now open, closing date: 19 August 2022

The Kate Edger Educational Charitable Trust offers Post Doctoral Research Awards (Dame Joan Metge & Emeritus Professor Dame Charmian J O’Connor Post-Doctoral Research Awards) of $16,000 each to assist women who have qualified to graduate with a doctoral degree within the last two years to carry out research on a specified, independent project at an approved Institute in the Auckland area.

Eligibility Criteria: NZ Citizens or Permanent Residents for a specified, independent, limited term research project.

The successful awardee should not undertake more than 20 hours per week paid employment during tenure of the award.

For further details see: www.academicdresshire.co.nz /Academic Awards. Any enquiries, please email awards@kateedgertrust.org.nz

 

The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) Unlocking Curious Minds Contestable Fund

For the Fund’s 2023 investment round, approximately $1.6 million (excluding GST).The funding available per project is between $50,000 (minimum) and $150,000 (maximum).

  • Registration: 12 noon, Friday 22 July 2022.
  • Full Proposal:12 noon, Monday 22 August 2022.

Duration: Projects will run for up to 11 months from 1 February 2023 until 31 December 2023

All registration and proposal submissions should be made through the MBIE IMS Portal with existing login details. New applicants Contact submissions@auckland.ac.nz

For more information regarding this fund, please visit here. For help developing your application, please contact your local support (FIRST) team. If you have any funder specific queries or require funder portal help, please contact the UniServices Funds Advisor Team via submissions@auckland.ac.nz

 

Rutherford Foundation Fellowships and Scholarships

Internal Deadline: 5pm Tuesday 26 July 2022

These fellowships aim to build human capability in research, science and technology, including social sciences and the humanities, by providing early career support for New Zealand’s brightest and most promising researchers.

Cambridge-Rutherford Memorial PhD Scholarship: These scholarships are intended to provide full support to enable completion of a PhD at the University of Cambridge in pure or applied science and the social sciences.

Application: Please discuss your intention to apply with Academic Head, Robin Kearns first, once approved, please proceed with the following:

  1. Email the following information to the Funds Advisor Team via submissions@auckland.ac.nzfor portal access: title, full name, email address, faculty and department.
  2. Contact your local support (FIRST) team for research support assistance for your application.
  3. Complete the application on the Portal and submit it to the Funds Advisor Team by 5pm Tuesday 26 July 2022.

 GUIDELINES
Postdoctoral Fellowship
Doctoral Scholarship

 

NZ Association of Scientists 2022 Science Medals

Closing date is 31 July 2022

 

Funding for class meet and greets 

The Student Experience Committee has limited funding available for class related activities. If you want to run a class event, online or otherwise (challenging given the current restrictions), and would benefit from some funds, please contact Joe (j.fagan@auckland.ac.nz). The Committee would prefer to fund several small events rather than one big one (but we are open to suggestions).

 

Rangahau – Research

TE PŪNAHA HIHIKO VISION MATAURANGA CAPABILITY FUND (VMCF) 2023 – Scoping and Support on offer

UniServices and ORSI are planning a support programme for the upcoming MBIE 2023 Te Pūnaha Hihiko: Vision Mātauranga Capability Fund (VMCF). Applications will open mid- September and close mid-November (exact dates TBC by MBIE).

This fund invests in activities that strengthen capability, capacity, skills and networks between Māori organisations and the science and innovation system, to deliver benefit to Aotearoa.

 For researchers who have previously been unsuccessful, or have well-formed relationships with Māori organisations, there is a more targeted package that takes a researcher-centric approach focused on providing support that researchers identify. This more targeted package is in addition to the webinars and application templates, and provides panel reviews of proposal, writing support, business development support, and funding for a facilitator or catering for Hui with established partners.

 UniServices would like to identify potential interest – if this applies to you please get in touch with Kelly Kilpin asap.

 

Rangahau Committee Funding

The Rangahau Committee has a small amount of funds set aside ($5,000 total) 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.

 

Scholarships for students to undertake research at the SoE

The Rangahau Committee coordinates the distribution of three new scholarships to support students in undertaking research in our School. If you know potential applicants or if you are a potential applicant, make sure you contact the people below. There is no strict deadline at this stage, but the earlier we hear from you, the better. Note that these scholarships are also advertised via other channels.

  1. Moana PG Research Scholarship: NZ$500-1000 (5-10 awards available) to support Pacific students to do research at the SoE at the post-grad level (Master or Hons). Contact Sonia Fonua s.fonua@auckland.ac.nz
  2. Māori PG Research Scholarship: NZ$500-1000 (5-10 awards available) to support Māori students to do research at the SoE at the post-grad level (Master or Hons). Contact Kimoro Taiepa kimoro.taiepa@auckland.ac.nz
  3. Undergrad Research Experience: NZ$800 (up to 10 awards available) for undergraduate students to shadow a researcher (Master/PhD student, research fellow etc.) for a period equivalent to 2 weeks (as a block or spread over a longer period that suits the research). Contact Melanie Kah melanie.kah@auckland.ac.nz

 

The Research Committee Funding available

This is for activities to benefit Postdocs and RFs and allow them to connect. To all those who fall into the following categories, we invite you to contact the new RF rep in the Rangahau/Research committee Joa Paredes-Mariño (for RFs/postdocs) joa.paredes.marino@auckland.ac.nz, for further information.

  • Postdocs/Research Fellows
  • People conducting research on non-permanent contracts at the post-doctoral level

 

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.

 

2023 MBIE Endeavour Fund Support Sessions

Details on the support for MBIE Endeavour Fund 2023 is available on the Research Hub. There are a number of other events and workshops on offer, details of which can be found on the Research Hub.

 

Health, Safety and Wellbeing

Metro Testing 

Please note that staff from Metro Test will be around doing test and tag in offices during the next two weeks. Would appreciate if staff can allow access to their offices and any other collaboration they require.

 

Health & Safety Tip

 

Publications 

S. Bull, S. J. Watson, J. Hillman, H. E. Power, and L. J. Strachan (2022), “Landslide graveyard” holds clues to long-term tsunami trends, Eos, 103, https://doi.org/10.1029/2022EO220263.

Macnaughtan, M. T., Pecher, I. A., and Strachan, L. J. (2022) Sedimentary bottom simulating reflection muting — A new model of hydrate and fluid redistribution from the Pegasus Basin, New Zealand. Basin Research, 00, 1– 26. https://doi.org/10.1111/bre.12681

Zheng Chen, Melissa Bowen, Gaoyang Li, Giovanni Coco, Brendan Hall, Retention and dispersion of buoyant plastic debris in a well-mixed estuary from drifter observations, Marine Pollution Bulletin, Volume 180, 2022, 113793, ISSN 0025-326X, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2022.113793. (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0025326X22004751)

Please email content to Anna-Marie Simcock for next edition of P-cubed by Friday

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