Director's Message

Dear Colleagues,

My belated congratulations to Distinguished Professor Susan Scott on her career award of the prestigious Thomas Ranken Lyle Medal from the Academy of Science. The link takes you to a nice video of Susan. My congratulations also to our colleague from the School of Engineering, Prof Yuerui (Larry) Lu, on his award of the 2023 Pawsey award. Wonderful to see.

Immediately below are the lovely photos from the Royal Society Awards evening I mentioned a few weeks ago. RSNSW President Dr Susan Pond can be seen presenting to Susan and Shankar (and my apologies to Shankar, who is of course in Dept Material Physics and not EME as mentioned).

The top pic this week comes from the HIAF control room in full shake-down mode of the new space testing beamline. Colleagues from DSTG (middle) joined Drs Lauren Bezzina (left) and Christian Notthoff to learn about the capabilities of the space beamline undergoing final commissioning tests. The date of the official “launch” will be announced soon.

Together with 23 start-up companies and a bunch of investors I attended the Canberra Innovation Network (CBRIN) Investor Showcase last Tuesday. It was great to see Physics partnerships represented in over a quarter of the companies at the event. A few photos below show the ACT Chief Minister, Andrew Barr, speaking to the audience about the $500M uplift start-ups have brought to the region. If you look closely you’ll see Prof Ilya Shadrivov and Dr Vladlen Shvedov next in line to pitch their novel hydrogen production technology. The MC for the event was Dr Craig Davis, a graduate from the SP3 Group, and now entrepreneur and a driving force within CBRIN.

I had the distinct pleasure of joining the VC as he showed alumni around the new building last week as part of ANU Alumni Week. The event was commemorated with physics-y cupcakes (below), specially made for the event by an alumnus.

Just a short reminder that there just over a month left to initiate your PDRs and complete the necessary training to access hazardous areas. Your Heads will be talking to you about removing any unnecessary modules based on areas you actually need to access.

If you haven’t already, please take the ANYOU survey. It doesn’t take long and will make you feel good!

Cheers,
Tim

ANYOU - Staff Engagement Survey

Last day to complete the survey is Tuesday 28th March

Staff can complete the survey using:

• Link emailed directly from Culture Amp;
• Link in On Campus; or
• QR code featured on posters and Xibo screens across campus – the code takes you to our internal web page which features a button to access the survey

The ANYOU Survey web page features all relevant information about the survey, including a link to Frequently Asked Questions.

» read more

Janet Elspeth Crawford Postgraduate Leadership Prize for 2023

Nominations due by 17 April 2023

We are calling for nominations for the Janet Elspeth Crawford Postgraduate Leadership Prize for 2023. 

The objective/s of the prize are to recognise a postgraduate student who has demonstrated significant leadership and outstanding academic achievement. Available each year to a student who is enrolled in or has completed a program leading to the award of a Graduate Coursework Degree or Higher Degree by Research in the ANU College of Science. 

Selection is made on the basis of academic achievement and leadership with a particular focus on gender equity. Other factors such as study in an area where females are under-represented may also be taken into account. Preference may be given to a female student.

» read more

Ben Barres Early Career Acceleration Award RFA

Applications due April 20 by 5pm Pacific Time.

Apply Now

The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI) invites letters of intent from early career academic investigators, especially those who are new to the field of neurodegeneration, for the Ben Barres Early Career Acceleration Award. Awards are $1.2M in total costs over 4 years, and will provide mentored support for early career investigators to conduct bold, innovative, and rigorous research in the basic science underlying neurodegenerative disease and fundamental neuroscience.

» read more

The Disaster Challenge calls out to early career researchers and postgraduate students across Australia to send in innovative ideas and solutions for the wicked problems the country faces with natural hazards.

» read more

Specialist Media Training Session For Science Researchers

ANU Media is teaming up with the Australian Science Media Centre to deliver a free online specialist training session, taking place Tuesday 28 March, 12-2pm.

During this online session, Dr Susannah Eliott and Dr Joseph Milton from the Australian Science Media Centre will provide you with some practical tips on how to navigate public engagement through the media when working in a potentially contentious field.

» read more

National Science Foundation Global Centers Program - Now Open

Applications for the National Science Foundation Global Centers Program are now open, closing on 11 May 2023.

Through the NSF Global Centres, Australian researchers will join with partners in the US and other countries to mitigate climate change impacts and develop clean energy solutions. The expected award duration is four to five years. NSF anticipates making awards of up to USD $5 million each, with international funding agencies expected to support roughly comparable effort by their own researchers. The total funding from CSIRO will be at a maximum of AUD $7m over five years for Australian participants in the Global Centers. There is no minimum or maximum grant amount, but grants cannot exceed the amount of available funds and there is an expectation that grants will be in the vicinity of AUD $ 3 to 7 million in total per project.

» read more

Australia-Germany Joint Research Cooperation Scheme - 2023 Round

The 2023 application round of the Australia-Germany Joint Research Cooperation Scheme will open 5 April 2023.  This scheme is a joint initiative of Universities Australia (UA) and the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD).

» read more

International Trans Day of Visibility at ANU

All ANU staff, students, and alumni are invited to come and celebrate the International Trans Day of Visibility at ANU! Come along to learn more about LGBTQIA+ friendly ANU programs and services, and deepen your understanding of the Trans and gender diverse community.

When: Friday, March 31st 3pm-5pm
Where: Marie Reay - Ground Floor Kambri
Who: This event is open to all ANU staff, students and alumni.

Register here

» read more

2023 Wall Planners

Need to Edit a Requistion?

If you are new or old to the RSPhys online requisition system, 'read more' for time saving tips when editing a requisition with a mistake.

» read more

ANU Industry Engagement for Researchers - Community of Practice

All are welcome to join. We meet virtually on Microsoft Teams, from 1:30 – 2:30pm on the fourth Monday of the month.

» read more

EVENTS

Departmental seminars

Professor Xi-Wen Guan - 3 April
Separating spin and charge in one dimensional atomic Fermi gas
» read more

School Seminar Program - 30 March

Engineering the properties of exciton polaritons in an atomically thin semiconductor - Dr Matthias Wurdack

» read more

College of Science 'Town Hall' - 5 April

Wednesday 5 April, 2.30-3.30pm (venue to be confirmed)

» read more

From The Equity And Diversity Committee...

For thirty days from Thursday the 23rd March (give or take a day depending on location). Muslims across the world will be observing the holy month of Ramadan. 

This means that from sunrise to sunset they will be abstaining from food and drink and breaking their fast in the evenings.

This article outlines how you can support colleagues who are observing Ramadan.