Contents:
1. Internationally Competitive Science in New Zealand
2. 2008 Loder Cup Nominations Sought
3. 2008 Bakerian Lecture Audio Recording
4. Fusionz Listings: Science and Technology Jobs
5. ANZCCART Student Award
6. International Symposium on the Biosafety of Genetically Modified Organisms
7. Professor Tim Naish Wins Award
8. Our Changing World Tonight 9.00 p.m. on Radio New Zealand National
1. INTERNATIONALLY COMPETITIVE
SCIENCE IN NEW ZEALAND
Comment by Professor Peter Hunter, Royal Society Academy Councillor
What follows is a personal view of the key factors for an
internationally competitive research team to operate in New Zealand and
contribute to the economy.
The key factors are:
*A pool of talented and energetic graduate students. This is by far the single
most important component of a research team. Input from a constant stream of
new young people is vital since in most successful labs throughout the world
the grad students and postdocs are the engine for new ideas, energy and
productive output.
*A multi-disciplinary environment. A discipline that is too 'pure' is probably
stagnant. New ideas often arise from old things seen in a new light and many
scientific advances occur at discipline boundaries.
*Close interaction between mathematical modeling, instrumentation development
and experimental work. Mathematics is the language of all quantitative science
and computational modeling is often the only way to understand complex
phenomena. New science often comes from the development of new measurement
techniques and experimentalists who benefit from past instrument makers owe it
to their discipline to be contributing back to new instruments for the next
generation.
*Integration of basic and applied science with translational science and
commercial outcomes. The interplay between basic science and its applications
is enormously exciting and productive and any research group that is not
engaged in both is missing opportunities. Business outcomes in a knowledge
economy must be underpinned by world class science (the $300 billion economy
around MIT is one of many examples).
*International connections. To be successful on the international stage - and
there is no other stage for science and technology - a NZ research group must
be interacting strongly with the best international researchers in the field.
*Critical mass. In most research areas (pure maths is a notable exception)
there is little chance of an individual researcher with a couple of postdocs
and a few grad students achieving international prominence. Experimental
science requires access to expensive equipment that can usually only be
afforded by larger teams.
*Links to undergrad teaching. All undergraduate university students deserve the
right to be taught by research-active staff and all research staff deserve the
privilege of teaching students in their specialist field. The ability to
attract good grad students and hence research staff is to a large extent
dependent on these links. This is a huge advantage for university-based
research teams.
*Secure careers for research scientists. Scientists engaged in long term
research careers need the security of knowing that, provided they continue to
be productive, their jobs are secure. Research team leaders need to manage risk
in a way that ensures long term careers for research scientists and this is
clearly easier for larger teams.
New Zealand faces a significant challenge: how to reduce our economic
dependence on primary industries. The dairy industry and tourism are holding us
up but dairy prices are on a long term downward trend and tourism is, from NZ's
point of view, probably saturated (2.5 million visitors per year in a country
of 4.2 million people). Apart from a few specialist areas, there is no way that
we can compete with China and India in manufacturing.
The only rational solution is an economy based more firmly on science and
technology - we've done it in the past - yet the two sectors capable of
together making this transformation, the Universities and the CRIs, appear to
hardly talk to each other at the management level. Astonishingly, the recent
announcement of 'Science NZ' to replace 'ACRI' made almost no mention of the
vital role that universities have in NZ science! CRIs have a great tradition of
applied science but they are often not internationally competitive in basic
science - which makes them very vulnerable. On the other hand, too many
university scientists and engineers do not form 'critical mass' research groups
and do not engage with the commercial sector.
Is it not time to consider reforming some CRIs as research institutes (or
similar) within universities? They would benefit both from the better
international linkages that universities have and from the closer association
with undergraduate and graduate research. The universities would benefit from
the greater focus on translational research and the better links with industry that
the CRIs would bring. This may not be appropriate for all CRIs but for a number
of them it would bring us closer to the successful US model, typified by the
close association between the Lawrence Livermore National lab and the
University of California.
2. 2008 LODER CUP NOMINATIONS SOUGHT
The Loder Cup is New Zealand's premier conservation award.
The Loder Cup was donated in 1926 by Gerald Loder. The Cup is entrusted to
the Minister of Conservation, who appoints the Loder Cup Committee that awards
the Cup. The Cup is awarded annually to the person, group of people, or
organisation which has excelled all other nominees in furthering the aims and
objects of the donor of the Cup. Any person, group of people, or organisation
can be nominated for the award by any of the following organisations:
* Royal New Zealand Institute of Horticulture and any society affiliated
hereto;
* Royal Society of New Zealand and any society affiliated hereto;
* New Zealand Universities;
* Nursery and Garden Association;
* New Zealand Recreation Association and any society affiliated hereto;
* Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society and any society affiliated hereto;
* New Zealand Conservation Authority and any Conservation Board;
* New Zealand Botanical Society;
* Any private person through one of the above-mentioned organisations.
Nominations for the Loder Cup are now being sought. Nominations submitted for
2007 will be reconsidered in 2008 unless you advise your wish to withdraw your
nomination. Only one nomination can be accepted from each organisation that is
entitled to nominate. Nominations close on 24 May 2008. For further information
and application forms please contact Eddie Davis, Royal Society of New Zealand,
email eddie.davis@rsnz.org
3. 2008 BAKERIAN LECTURE AUDIO RECORDING
Professor Robin Clark gave the 2008 Bakerian Lecture at the Royal Society of
London on 7 February 2008 with a live video link to the Royal Society of New
Zealand in Wellington.
This lecture is now available online as an audio recording at http://royalsociety.tv/dpx_live/dpx.php?dpxuser=dpx_v12
4. FUSIONZ LISTINGS: SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY JOBS
This week, Fusionz has 8 vacancies for jobs. The latest jobs are
Environmental Scientist (Nutrient Mitigation), Hamilton: Hamilton
Soil Scientist (temporary) : Rotorua
Senior/Policy Analyst/s - Climate Change: Wellington
Manager, Research Funding: Wellington
Scientist: Rotorua
Water Quality Technician: Hamilton
Freshwater Ecologist: Hamilton
Ph.D. Scholarship in Geochemistry / Cosmochemistry: Dunedin
More at http://fusionz.rsnz.org
5. ANZCCART STUDENT AWARD
This award is being offered in association with the ANZCCART conference 2008
entitled "Blue sky to deep water: the reality and the promise", for
the best abstract of a paper provided by an honours or post-graduate student in
New Zealand or Australia. The conference will be held in Auckland from 29 June
to 1 July 2008.
Applicants should submit a 300-word abstract on an animal welfare theme
relevant to the conference (see http://www.rsnz.org/advisory/anzccart/conf2008/
for programme) and to the objectives of ANZCCART.
ANZCCART's objectives are:
*To promote excellence in the care of animals used in research and teaching and
thereby minimise any discomfort that they may experience;
*To ensure that the outcomes of the scientific uses of animals are worthwhile;
*To promote the Three Rs (Replacement, Reduction and Refinement) as they apply
to the use of animals for scientific purposes;
*To foster informed and responsible discussion and debate within the scientific
and wider community regarding the scientific uses of animals.
The award is open to all disciplines and is worth $1000 to offset costs of conference
attendance, and will be presented during the conference. Conference
registration will be free to the winning student. The successful applicant will
be required to give a 10-minute paper on their winning topic at the conference.
Applications should include full name, postal address, phone and fax numbers,
and email address, and should be submitted electronically by 30 April 2008 to:
Executive officer, ANZCCART (anzccart@rsnz.org)
6. INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON THE BIOSAFETY OF GENETICALLY
MODIFIED ORGANISMS
An International Symposium on the Biosafety of Genetically Modified Organisms
(ISBGMO) is held biennially by the International Society for Biosafety
Research.
The 10th ISBGMO is being held at Te Papa, Wellington during 16-21 November
2008 and is the first time the symposium is to be held in the Southern
Hemisphere. The symposium will highlight past achievements and future
directions in environmental biosafety research and risk assessment of GMOs.
Abstract deadline is 30 April 2008 and full information etc is available at http://www.isbgmo.info/
7. PROFESSOR TIM NAISH WINS AWARD
Professor Tim Naish's geological re-evaluation of the Wanganui Basin is one of
the many achievements for which he has won the 2009 James Lee Wilson Award.
To acknowledge young scientists' excellence in sedimentary geology, the
award is administered by the Society for Sedimentary Geology.
Recently appointed as Director of the Antarctic Research Centre, Professor
Naish has built an academic record in sequence stratigraphy - the study of
climate and sea-level cycles in continental rock strata - since completing his
PhD at Waikato University.
He continued to research the Wanganui Basin as a post-doctoral fellow at James
Cook University, Australia.
The research results have been published in international journals, and in 2006
he was awarded the Geological Society of New Zealand's highest honour, the
McKay Hammer, in recognition. In April next year he will receive the James Lee
Wilson Award at the Society for Sedimentary geology's annual convention in San
Antonio.
8. OUR CHANGING WORLD TONIGHT 9.00 P.M. ON RADIO NEW
ZEALAND NATIONAL
Presented and produced by Amelia Nurse, http://radionz.co.nz/ourchangingworld
email ourchangingworld@radionz.co.nz Tel (04) 474 1910.
Amelia Nurse talks to the people who live, work and play alongside the
Hurunui river. In part one, she talks to Forest and Bird's Chris Todd on the
south branch of the river. He tells her how the river was formed and what its
various flows mean for the creatures that live there. In part two they head up
river to meet members of the NZ Recreational Canoeing Association. Finally,
they meet some of the locals. Rosemary Gunn and her husband Dave run Lake
Taylor Station, which has been in their family since the 1950s. Claudia
Weersing and her husband Mike own Pyramid Valley vineyard near Waikari, which
they manage biodynamically. And Sam Mahon and his partner Alison Erickson -
both artists - live in a converted mill and spend a lot of time campaigning for
river conservation in the area.
Our Changing World airs every Thursday evening after the 9.00 p.m. news.
Shorter features also air during Afternoons with Jim Mora at 3.45 p.m., Tuesday
to Friday. The programme is repeated at 1.10 a.m. on Sunday mornings.
You can download the podcast or listen to streaming audio of programmes you've
missed in the complete programme archive at: http://radionz.co.nz/ourchangingworld
EVENTS CALENDAR
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Alert but for a complete listing of events go to http://www.rsnz.org/events/
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