News & Views Index
October
2008

 

 

Royal Society Launches Climate Geoengineering Study.    31/10/08

    The Royal Society today announced it is undertaking a new study looking at whether planetary scale geoengineering schemes could play a role in preventing the worst effects of climate change. [More

 

Universities' Shabby Infrastructure in Dire Need Says Tertiary Education Facilities Management Association.    31/10/08

    The Tertiary Education Facilities Management Association estimates that tertiary education has a shortfall of  $1.8 billion to $2 billion for building maintenance and a further $2.5 billion is required to refurbish old buildings. [More]

 

Why Not the Best Schools: Brian Caldwell Has His Say.    30/10/08

      Brian Caldwell is the former Dean of Education at The University of Melbourne. He, together with Jessica Harris, have just published the analyses of the school systems of six "nations". [More]

 

That Charter of Rights and Obligations for Public Agencies -- The State of Play.    30/10/08

    First a bit of background to be followed by an except from Senate estimates worthy of a libretto for a Rossini opera. [More]

 

House Standing Committee Releases Interim Report on Research Training.    28/10/08

     The interim report consists of 24 recommendations with regard to Research Training in Australian Universities, twelve of which have bi-partisan support. [More]

 

arXiv Then and Now.    24/10/08

    This month, the arXiv preprint server posted its 500,000th preprint. Created in 1991 by particle physicist Paul Ginsparg. [More]

 

French Government Allocates 250 Million for Science Incentives.    24/10/08 [More]

 

Former V-C of Adelaide University Chosen as NSW Chief Scientist/Engineer.    24/10/08

    New South Wales Premier Nathan Rees has announced the appointment of Mary O'Kane as the state's first chief scientist, She has also been designated the state's chief engineer. [More]

 

There's More to Universities' Infrastructure than Sandstone, Bricks and I-Beams.    22/10/08

    Fast-tracking the beginnings of upgrading universities' inanimate infrastructure of capital and research facilities is welcome news even though being bred from the world's current financial woes. [More]

 

 Government Announces Strengthening University Infrastructure Through Fast-Tracked Investment.    22/10/08 [More]

 

Australian GERD as a Percent of GDP Rises Above 2% Solely on the Back of Increased Private Sector Funding.    22/10/08

    Yesterday the Australian Bureau of Statistics made available its 2006-07 data on research and development expenditure in Australia. [More]

 

Citation Statistics Brought to Heel?  Italian Academics Say So.    21/10/08

Question: Can you meaningfully compare citation statistics between disciplines? [More]

 

US Congress Looks a Bit Beyond Sub-Prime Mortgages, Credit Default Swaps, and the "Bailout".    20/10/08

    Support for the growing industries within the renewable energy sector is maintained. [More]

 

The Complete Nature.    20/10/08

    If you are a subscriber or your institution has a site license, you are now able to access any contribution to Nature back to its first issue of November 4, 1869. [More]

 

Comments from the President of Australian Academy of Science.    20/10/08

    The Australian Academy of Science has released a "Note" from its President. [More]

 

Ms Gillard on What to do For and With Primary and Secondary Public Education.    18/10/08

    Last Wednesday the federal Minister for Education, Julia Gillard, allotted a half-hour of her time to address the joint Teaching Australia, Business Council of Australia Symposium. [More]

 

Prime Minister Awards 2008 Prize for Science to Queensland’s Professor Ian Frazer.    17/10/08

    Yesterday evening the 2008 Prime Minister's and Science Minister's Science prizes were awarded at the Great Hall, Parliament House in Canberra. [More]

 

ARC Discovery Grant Success Reduces to 20.4%.    16/10/08

    A success rate for grant applications of the sort funded by the Australian Research Council's (ARC) Discovery Grants scheme of 20% is considered to be at the low end of the internationally recognised optimum range. [More]

 

Heather Ridout (AIG) and Wes Stein (CSIRO) Speak to the Greening of Australian Industry.   14/10/08 [More]

 

UK's New Science Minister:  Britain Must Maintain Its Investment in Science and Technology.    13/10/08

    British Prime Minister Gordon Brown in his cabinet reshuffle on October 6 awarded Paul Drayson  the science portfolio. [More]

 

Journal Impact Factors and the ERA.    12/10/08

     Will the incoming Chief Scientist, Penny Sackett, be prepared to use her office to critically evaluate the ERA and put forward proposals on evaluation of research, researchers and  peer review? [More]

 

The Times World University Rankings, 2008.    10/10/08

    The Times Higher Education Supplement, QS - 2008 has published its list of the world's top 200 universities. It differs significantly from that released by the Institute of Higher Education, Shanghai Jiao Tong University. [More]

 

Nobel Prize for Chemistry Awarded for the Discovery and Development of the Green Fluorescent Protein, GFP.    09/10/08

    Today fluorescent proteins "are probably as important as the development of the microscope." [More

 

Minister Downplays Prospects of Significant Funding Increase For Universities in 2009/10 Budget.    08/10/08

    We are not talking about one budget and we are not talking about one parliament, we are talking about a 10-year program. [More]

 

Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences Awards Nobel Prize for Studies of Broken Symmetry in Particle Physics.    08/10/08

    Three Japanese-born physicists were today award the Nobel Prise in Physics by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences for their work on "broken symmetry". [More]

 

French and German Researchers 2008 Nobel Laureates in Medicine or Physiology.    07/10/08

    Two French researchers who discovered the human immunodeficiency virus, HIV, and the German scientist who demonstrated that human papilloma virus is the cause of cervical cancer have received the 2008 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. [More]

 

Bryan Gaensler Comments on Shortcomings in the Awarding of Governmental Research Grants.    06/10/08

    "The way scientific research is funded in Australia’s universities puts an excessive emphasis on guaranteed results." [More

Australia's Chief Scientist, as of November, Gives Direct Answers to Direct Questions.    06/10/08

    "I had a wonderful teacher in physics in year 11 who made me realize that physics was much more than pulleys and levers... that was a turning point for me." [More]

 

Ig Nobel Awards for 2008 Announced.    04/10/08

    The Nobel Prize for Medicine or Physiology will be announced this coming week, but yesterday Marc Abrahams, editor of the Annals of Improbable Research, presided as Master of Ceremonies at the presentation of the 2008 Ig Nobel Prizes. [More]

 

League of European Research Universities Have Their Say as to Their Role.    03/10/08

    Twenty of Europe's leading Research Universities have just released a nineteen page pamphlet What are Universities For. [More]

 

Winds Implicated in Reduction of Greenland and Antarctic Ice Sheets.    03/10/08

    Aside from the direct effect of global warming on the melting of Greenland's Jakobshavn Isbræ glacier and that of the West Antarctic ice sheet, two recent studies implicate random, wind-induced circulation changes in the ocean. [More]

 

Recognising the Full Costs of University Research: The Discussion Paper.    01/10/08

    Toward the end of last month the minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research, Kim Carr, released the issues and discussion papers provided to it by the Allen Consulting Group dealing with recognising the full costs of university research. [More]