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May 2008 E-Newsletter of the
Australasian Society of Clinical and Experimental Pharmacologists and
Toxicologists
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Welcome to the May
edition of ASCEPT eNews. In this edition we are informing
members about the upcoming meetings in Canada (CPT) and New Zealand. We remind members of the ASCEPT
policy for submitting information for publication in the society eNews or
website. To view the ASCEPT Council Structure
& Composition for 2008, please click here. Don’t forget the 2008 edition for
the AMH handbook is still available to ASCEPT members at reduced prices. If any would like to contribute any
items to eNews, please send it along to Meetings First for consideration. Roselyn Rose'Meyer ASCEPT Newsletter Editor |
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HEAD OF DEPARTMENTS FOR 2008
If you are a Head of Department in 2008, please let us know at ascept2008@meetingsfirst.com.au. |
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The 2008 Scientific
Meeting of the NZ Section will be hosted by the University of Otago’s Dept of
Pharmacology and Toxicology at the Copthorne Hotel, Queenstown on the above
dates. This year’s meeting will take place in conjunction with the 26th
International Australasian Winter Conference on Brain Research (check http://www.awcbr.org/
for details). The ASCEPT programme will commence with a pre-meeting
gathering with wine/beer and nibbles on Sunday 24th 17:00 – 20:00h, and will
conclude on the afternoon of Tuesday 26th August. There will be at
least one joint session; ASCEPT registrants wishing to attend AWCBR sessions
other than the joint symposium should contact AWCBR directly (www.awcbr.org).
The
ASCEPT Registration Desk will open from 17:00 h on Sunday the 24th August The
conference will follow the usual format of oral and poster presentations.
More
details will follow as soon as we have them. Deadline
for abstracts and registration is 30th June 2008 Registrations
should be sent by email to Jacqui Carroll (jacqui.carroll@otago.ac.nz)
or by standard mail to the: Department of Pharmacology & Toxicology,
University of Otago School of Medical Sciences, PO Box 913, Dunedin NZ. Click here
to download the registration form. Abstracts
(electronic) in the usual ASCEPT format, should be sent to Jacqui Carroll (jacqui.carroll@otago.ac.nz).
For a map
of the area surrounding the Queenstown region click here. |
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AUSTRALIAN BUDGET 2008 Medical Research Implications, by ASMR $326.2 million over four years to fund new Future Fellowships to
attract and retain Australia's mid-career researchers. This will help support
Australia's research and innovation capacity and the development of new
knowledge, products and services in areas of national importance. The Future
Fellowships program will offer four-year fellowships valued at up to $140,000
a year to 1,000 of Australia's top researchers in the middle of their career.
In addition, each researcher's institution will receive up to $50,000 per
annum to support the purchase of related infrastructure and equipment for
their research project. The Government will provide $209.0 million over four years to
double the number of postgraduate scholarships available to higher degree
(PhD and Masters) research students from 4,800 to 9,600 by 2012. This will result
in nearly 25 per cent of commencing higher degree research students having
access to income support. The Government will provide $500.0 million in 2007-08 to
Australian universities as a contribution towards capital investment in five
priority areas including IT communications in research and teaching,
laboratories, libraries and places to study, teaching spaces, and critical
student amenities. The measure will begin to address past capital under
investment in these priority areas. Funding will be distributed among
universities through grants taking into account each university's share of
funds under the existing Institutional Grant Scheme and its share of total
domestic students. The Government will reallocate funding of $304.0 million from
the Higher Education Endowment Fund in 2008-09 for disbursement from the new
Education Investment Fund in 2009-10, bringing total funding in that year to
$608.0 million. The Higher Education Endowment Fund will be closed and its
assets subsumed in the Education Investment Fund. The funding has been
reprofiled in order that allocations can be directed following the completion
of the Higher Education Review. The Education Investment Fund will fund
capital expenditure in Australia's higher education institutions. $625.8 million will be provided to encourage more students to
study maths and science and take up related occupations. The Government will
provide $625.8 million to encourage more students to study maths and science
and pursue related careers. From 1 January 2009, HECS for commencing maths
and science students will be reduced from $7,260 to $4,077 (the national
priority rate). This reflects the national importance of maths and science
and aims to encourage more students to study these disciplines. New maths and
science graduates will also be eligible for a 50 per cent reduction in their
HECS repayments if they pursue a career in the field, including teaching.
This will help ensure that more graduates stay in maths and science
professions following graduation. Students graduating from the second
semester 2008 will be eligible for the reduction. The Government will provide $238.6 million over four years from
2008-09 for the Scholarships for a Competitive Future program, to increase
the number of higher education graduates in areas of skills shortages. The
measure will double the number of students receiving Commonwealth
Scholarships from 44,000 to 88,000 by 2012. Further, two new scholarship
categories will be created: -
The National Priority Scholarship will be available
for students enrolled in undergraduate degrees in identified priority areas
such as nursing, teaching, science and engineering; and -
The National Accommodation Scholarship will be
made available for students who have to relocate interstate to study
specialist courses not available in their home state. $37.8 million over five years to establish the Excellence in
Research for Australia (ERA) initiative. Funding for this measure will be
provided from the redirection of funds from the Research Quality Framework.
The ERA will assess research quality using a combination of metrics and
expert review by committees comprising experienced,
internationally-recognised experts. It will enable Australia's academic
achievements to be more readily measured against peers around the world. The Health and Hospitals Fund will finance the renewal and
refurbishment of the nation's hospitals and health facilities and fund major
medical research projects with $10 billion.
Government research funding
* Largely due to the 3.24% efficiency dividend Budget, by FASTS The budget was pretty much as expected with the Government
honouring its election and pre-election commitments.
$500m Building better universities fund This is a one off grant from the 07-08 surplus allocated
to universities on basis of 70% - share of total domestic student load and
30% share of research income. Additional $10m for ANU. $11b fund that adds $5b from 07/8 and 08/09 surpluses to
existing $6b Higher Education Endowment Fund (HEEF) for infrastructure,
special projects. HEEF committee to advise Government on priorities this
year. Differs from HEEF in two important ways: 1.
can
access interest and capital whereas HEEF was interest only (so a future
Minister could choose to really run down the capital), and 2.
dilutes
access by allowing TAFE sector (and possibly schools over time) and public
sector research institutions to access as well. However TAFE sector funded by States/Territories so
interesting to see if States decide to withdraw some funding in view of this
new source from Commonwealth. Fund to be established by 1 January 2009.
First payments from fund in July 2009, after the Bradley Higher Ed and
Cutler Reviews and the 2009-10-budget process. Similar to EIF. $10b from surpluses in 2007-08 and
2008-09. Future surpluses may be allocated from time to time. Some will go to
medical research and infrastructure. Key priorities will include capital
expenditure, renewal and refurbishment of hospitals, medical technology
equipment, major medical research facilities and projects. The Government honoured election commitments. The four key
ones for science/higher education are:
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CPT 2008 – UPDATE 18 APRIL 2008 Just 100 days remain before The IXth
World Conference on Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics (CPT2008), which
will take place from July 27 - August 1, 2008 at the Québec City Convention
Centre, in Canada.
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RESEARCH AUSTRALIA "THANK YOU" DAY AWARDS 2008: CALL
FOR NOMINATIONS Thursday, 27th November - Doltone House, Sydney Nominations for the 2008 “Thank
You” Day Awards are now open! This is your chance to recognise
and thank the supporters of health and medical research who make your work
possible. We are also delighted to
announce two new awards*: The Advocacy Award combines
the celebrity and media awards. This award recognises an Australian from
either the Health and Medical Research Community, media, celebrity or a
member of the community that has raised community awareness about the
benefits of health and medical research and the need for increased funding. The Discovery Award is open
to an early career researcher (no more than five years past PhD) whose
paper/patent/discovery has already demonstrated its importance or impact. In addition, we invite
nominations for: ·
The Great Australian Philanthropy Award ·
The Leadership and Innovation Award ·
Lifetime Achievement Award ·
Leadership in Corporate Giving Award Please complete the
nomination form by Monday, 9th June. You can download a copy
from the Events Page at www.researchaustralia.org Kandy Musgrave Marketing and Events Manager,
Research Australia |
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TRENDS IN AUSTRALIAN RESEARCH Thomson
Scientific has analysed and compared publication data for research in
Australia. In 2006, Australia reached 3% of total publications worldwide
(ranked 9 in the world) with a growth rate of 28% from 1981. The average
citation rate per paper rose from 2.7 in 1981 to 5.0 in 2006 with Australia
ranked in the top 10 above the world average. Australian Pharmacology was one
of 16 out of 24 fields with an average citation rate (5.6) above the world
average of 5.2 for pharmacology. |
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ASCEPT 2008
The 2008 ASCEPT
Annual Scientific meeting will run within the 4th Australian Health and
Medical Research Congress will be held November 16-21, 2008 in the Brisbane Convention
and Exhibition Centre. Organisers have commenced preparation of the congress
program, so please mark these dates in your 2008 diaries. The dates for
ASCEPT presentations are Tuesday - Friday (18th - 21st). Please note the following
deadlines for registration and abstract submissions. Early Bird Registration; Friday 15th August, 2008 Oral presentation submission; Friday 15th
August, 2008
Poster Only presentation submission; Friday
19th September, 2008
Roselyn
Rose’Meyer Queensland member on Council |
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ASMR WORKFORCE SURVEY We are pleased to announce the
publication in the Medical Journal of Australia the results of a pilot
study "Perceptions of Health and
Medical Research Careers: The Australian Society for Medical Research Workforce
Survey" http://www.asmr.org.au/breakingnews.html ASMR MRW® is fast approaching. The
hard-working ASMR state committees and National board have put together
another great program for ASMR MRW®. We are looking forward to hearing our
2008 Medalist, Sir Gustav Nossal AC CBE. Sir Gus will be speaking in
all states and at the National Press Club in the ACT. Bookings
are still available for most dinners and the NPC. I urge you to
spread the word about all the ASMR MRW® events in your state.
Program
information available from http://www.asmr.org.au/MRW.html |
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E-NEWS ASCEPT MEMBER LISTS AND THE PRIVACY ACT From time to time the ASCEPT Secretariat is asked
to provide a complete list of members and their contact details so that a
member can distribute marketing material relating to conferences, courses,
jobs, book publications and the like. It has always been ASCEPT Council’s
policy that this contravenes the Australian Privacy Act. Council recently
reviewed this policy and the Privacy Act, and came to the same conclusion.
The Privacy Act is quite clear. A member must agree to have their details
made available to other organizations if we are to provide such details. We
currently do not ask members for permission to pass on their details, and so
the Secretariat cannot provide any member with a membership database. However, since 2002, other arrangements have been
in place. Those wishing to contact the entire membership are welcome to
distribute material via the Secretariat. Each request is reviewed by the
Secretary and is either included in the e-news or sent as a stand-alone
announcement. There is no charge for a news item sent on behalf of a member.
A small charge for outside organisations applies. Should postal distribution
be required, the material and relevant lists are provided to the ASCEPT
mailing house and all costs passed onto the advertiser.
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FORTHCOMING
CONFERENCES Please click here for a list of
meetings that may be of interest to members. These are displayed on the
ASCEPT website. ASCEPT NEW
ZEALAND MEETING University of Otago Pharmaceutical
safety evaluation and regulation: Methodological advances impacting drug
registration 1 – 3 September 2008 RMIT University, Melbourne |
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NEWS
FROM OTHER ORGANISATIONS Please click on the relevant links for any news from other
organisations that may be of interest to ASCEPT members. Federation of Australian Scientific and Technological Societies
(FASTS) Administrative
arrangements orders President’s
message – 2 May 2008 2008 Professional
Scientist Remuneration Survey National Prescribing Service |
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POSITIONS VACANT Looking for a new job? Listed below is a
position currently vacant that you may be eligible to apply for. Please click
on the link for jobs you’re interested in. Senior Lecturer
in Drug Development (part-time), Faculty of Medicine, School of Medical
Sciences, University of New South Wales
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INFORMATION
FROM PREVIOUS ISSUES
Please click here for more news, jobs and information that have appeared in past
issues of the ASCEPT newsletter that are now displayed on our ASCEPT website. |
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The next e-news will be sent out on Monday 16 June 2008. If there
is information you would like to include, please email it to athina@meetingsfirst.com.au by Monday 9
June 2008.
ASCEPT Newsletter Editor
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Please do not hesitate to contact Meetings First, our ASCEPT
Secretariat, if you have any queries: Angela, Athina and Jennifer Phone +61
3 9739 7697 Fax +61
3 9739 7076 Email ascept2008@meetingsfirst.com.au
Web www.ascept.org |
