Dear Colleagues,

Next Thursday Department Heads, two reps from each Department and Professional Staff reps will meet to contemplate some of the boundary conditions for our Strategic Plan to be complete by the end of this year.  Principally, we will be setting the terms of reference for working parties on key topics such as staff and student career pathways, research infrastructure, academic standards and many other topics recently brought out in the VC’s Strategic Plan for ANU.  On Monday I will send a list of topics and welcome you to send some initial thoughts along with your HoDs and reps.  The meeting is really to put a framework around forming a School view on these topics, and not to conclude any specific plan on Thursday.  Over the next 6 months there will be plenty of scope for additional input.

Many thanks to all those who have contributed to the review of the Preliminary Sketch Plans.  We’ve had Simon working doubly hard on documenting the suggestions and I would personally like to thank him for his skill and diligence. Next week he will place large A1 prints of the floor plans in the Link Tea Room to assist the process further.  I fully appreciate this is a mountain of detail and extremely difficult to review.

Have a relaxing weekend,

Tim

Ode to String Theory

Modern Physics based on strings
Can model all existing things
And put each one into its place
In twenty-four dimensioned space.

But does this any insight give
About the world in which we live?
Or does it simply give a reason
For theorists’ annual travel season?

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• Coaching for Excellence Leadership Program
• Responding to Mental Ill-Health in the Workplace
• Managing Mental Ill-Health in the Workplace
• Effective Performance Conversations - Academic Supervisors
• Effective Performance Conversations - Professional Supervisors

Academic and student funding opportunities.

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The ARC are seeking feedback on ROPE from the sector. They want to hear from applicants, assessors and research office staff to understand if ROPE is working – if not – what can they do to make it better.

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This international forum promotes interdisciplinary connections between aspiring academics, innovators, entrepreneurs, investors and professionals, known for their excellent work.

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Research Skills Training offers a two day intensive workshop to support your TPR twice a year. Be immersed in an intensive ‘writing studio’ where you will learn the secrets of highly productive academic writers. Along the way, you’ll pick up a range of tactics and strategies to help you succeed with the rest of your PhD.

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Aims to provide support, mentoring and training for early career academic staff in the STEM Colleges.

CPMS is seeking mid-career and more senior staff willing to act as a mentor for a more junior colleague.

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Departmental seminars

Sören Dörscher - 4 April
Frequency comparisons of optical clocks and their applications
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Dr Richard Henchman - 7 April
Computational Quantification of the Molecular Flexibility and Stability of Liquids and Solutions
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Staff movements

Department of Quantum Science (DQS)
Prof Ping Koy Lam will be acting HOD 3-10 April 2017.

Nuclear Physics (NP)
Prof Andrew Stuchbery is overseas 27 March - 11 April 2017.  Dr Greg Lane will be acting HOD during this period.

School Services (SS)
Mr David Anderson is on leave 27 March - 10 April.  Mr Steven Huynh will be acting EU Manager during this period.

Theoretical Physics (TP)
Prof Mukunda Das will participate and give a Keynote Talk in the 4th World Congress and Expo on Nanotechnology and Material Sciences at Barcelona, Spain during 5-7 April 2017.