Director's Message

Published in the RSAA Lunations
Vol1 Issue13 1–28 February 2021

As more people come back from the holidays, RSAA is coming alive again and more of our regular institutional events are starting up for 2021. While many of these activities are still having to occur, at least in part, over Zoom, we are edging towards more face-to-face events with the less rigorous physical distancing requirements now in place. Although that could change again at any time if there is another COVID outbreak, I hope this positive trend will continue, to the point that we might soon be able to allow some limited forms of communal events such as morning coffee - though I fear we are some way from re-starting the fortnightly barbecues!

During the consultation period for the CoS Managing Change Proposal affecting RSAA  I have been meeting with various groups who have asked to discuss the Proposal from various perspectives, such as the IDEA Committee and the AITC staff. I’ve also had one-on-one discussions with individuals who have wanted to express opinions or seek  clarification on aspects of the Proposal. I hope that these consultations and the feedback that RSAA staff are providing in various forms to org.change@anu.edu.au will improve the Proposal as it is reviewed and revised on the way to becoming the Change Implementation Plan. I expect the Plan will be issued within a week or so of the close of the consultation period. 

The ARC major grants round is now well upon us. I hear that the applicants who were nominated for external review by GrantEd are getting valuable assistance and I trust that all RSAA applicants will get useful feedback from the CoS review panel and CoS research office. In a similar vein, I see that a good number of LIEF proposals are in preparation and I anticipate that most of these should be able to get external reviews from Gemaker to help increase their success rate this year. Good luck to all ARC applicants at RSAA!

Matthew Colless