HDR Update

February 2019

In this issue

• Campus wide HDR training calendar
• News & Events
• Opportunities for HDR students
• Roll of Honour

Welcome note

Belated New Year good wishes to you all! I hope you had a fantastic break over the holiday period and are feeling fit and ready for 2019. If you soldiered on, I hope this quieter time of year has been productive for you. Either way, it is never too late to think about setting new habits or renewing good intentions – I have just completed my new year’s resolutions, so am enjoying the illusion that 2019 is under control. A special welcome to all our newly commencing higher degree research candidates – I very much look forward to meeting you at our induction events in the next couple of months. This is a great time to join ANU, with the central campus in its final stages of transformation – enjoy exploring and getting lost!

I had a lovely break and came back to the wonderful news that we are able to launch the Graduate Research Office (GRO) in February (more details below).  I owe an enormous debt of gratitude to my colleagues across the University who helped make this happen, but particularly to GRO Manager Penny Swan who has tirelessly shepherded this project from vision to reality over the last year. This year is shaping up to be an exciting one; GRO is one of several projects which will enhance the HDR student experience – we will update you on other changes and improvements as the year goes on.

Professor Imelda Whelehan

Dean, Higher Degree Research

Penny Swan

Graduate Research Office Manager

Upcoming programs

February

Showcase

Expressions of Interest are now open for the first of two ANU Thesis Boot Camps in 2019, to be held from Friday 8 March to Sunday 10 March. Apply here.

The Graduate Research Office (GRO) brings together current central HDR administrative services into one office and will work collaboratively with Schools, Colleges and other Central Divisions to provide seamless, responsive, and consistent HDR administrative support. The GRO will support your HDR candidature from application to completion; assisting with admissions, scholarships, candidature management, examinations, and supporting individual HDR issues. The GRO will open on the February 18, stay tuned for more details.

Opportunities

Pitch it Clever

The Pitch it Clever competition challenges PhD students and early-career researchers to communicate their research and why it matters to non-specialist audiences via video. It’s a chance for students and ECRs to capture the attention of university leaders, industry, government, potential donors and the public. The application closing date is Monday 4 February, and more information on the competition can be found here.

Reef Guardian Research Grants 2019

The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority is inviting post-graduate students in the biophysical and social science fields to apply for its Reef Guardian Research Grants 2019.The grants provide financial assistance ranging from $1000 to $5000 for new management-relevant research that addresses risks and threats faced by the Great Barrier Reef. Project proposals may focus on any aspect of the physical, biological, social, cultural and economic aspects of the Great Barrier Reef, and could range from observing social attitudes towards Reef management to examining the biological characteristics of a particular reef species. Applications close 13 February and more information can be found here.

Academic Skills

ANU Academic Skills is seeking Writing Coaches for their new Writing Centre, commencing in 2019 and timed with their relocation to Kambri. We are looking for talented PhD students with a passion for writing and teaching, who enjoy helping their fellow students. Five candidates will be appointed to work one day a week in one-to-one appointments with students. Professional development and ongoing supervision will be part of the position. To find out more and to apply please view the job here on Career Hub.

Statistical Consulting Unit

The Statistical Consulting Unit (SCU) is located in the Computer Science/Mathematical Sciences Institute building (#145). Consulting support is available, free of charge, to Honours students with research projects, Higher Degree Research students (e.g. Masters, PhD) and staff in all parts of the University. If you would like to make an appointment or to find out more about the SCU please visit our website here.

ANU Library

Beginning your research at ANU? Our weekly workshops, Library Research, Digital Research and Advanced Digital Research will show you how to discover a range of information using the Library’s online catalogue, SuperSearch, scholarly databases, full text e-journal collections, ANU Press and ANU Open Research.  Register online via the full event catalogue.

Using Word to write your thesis? Our free workshops will show you how to format efficiently and navigate long documents, as well as understand section breaks and numbering.  The three workshops begin with the process of planning and formatting your document, focussing on creating its structure, style, and template. From here you can create chapters from the template, or apply the template to the existing chapters, in order to maintain consistency in your thesis and finally create a master document.

Manage and analyse qualitative data with NVivo – upcoming workshops are available on 5 February and 12 February (cost $180).

Research data management workshop will teach you the essential skills for organising and managing research data. Learn about the importance of backups, version control, security and privacy along with  data sharing and harnessing innovative and ethical methods. Associated data-related issues are explained and methods for solving problems with software tools and ANU services are discussed.

Navigating the sea of scholarly communications is a self-paced digital course designed to build the capabilities you need to navigate the scholarly communications and publishing world. Topics covered include finding a best-fit publisher, predatory publishing, research data management, increasing research impact, open access publishing and online researcher identity.

News & links

Academic Skills

Need some advice on writing up your research? Want some ideas on how to effectively manage your research milestones, the publishing process, and presentations? Through one-to-one appointments a Learning Adviser can work closely with you to develop and improve your writing and writing habits. They can offer in-depth feedback on your thesis and publications. Academic Skills also offers workshops throughout the year on topics relevant to different stages in the PhD candidature, from writing an effective thesis proposal to editing and finishing the thesis. These workshops can be found on Eventbrite. Academic Skills also runs tailored writing programs in most Colleges. Links are provided in the events list above and personal invitations are sent to candidates. If your College or School does not currently have a program, contact Academic Skills at academicskills@anu.edu.au to discuss tailoring a program for you

ANU Online Wattle, Turnitin & Echo360 training

ANU Online provides training on Wattle (Moodle), Turnitin, ePortfolio, Echo360 ALP, and using technology for teaching and learning.
We offer:

• Face-to-face training 
• Self-paced online training on Wattle Basics, Turnitin, ePortfolio, or Echo360 ALP.
• Monthly online coffee courses – where we discuss topical educational technologies in 15 minutes
• or join the conversation about education technology with our ANU Online Community.

We also have a monthly newsletter with news, upcoming events and tips – see the latest version here. For more information on Wattle please contact wattle.support@anu.edu.au, or for training please contact EdDesign@anu.edu.au.

ANU Qualitative Research Network

QRN Forum: Qualitative research at the margins: case studies of innovative methods

Centre for Higher Education, Learning &Teaching

Are you a PhD student who has tutored at ANU? Learn about new ideas and practices. Are you interested in gaining new skills to improve your effectiveness as a tutor/demonstrator? Principles of Tutoring and Demonstrating (PTD) is an intensive 10 module program, designed to help you develop teaching strategies, apply effective lesson planning principles, offer practical help with marking and examples of how to give feedback to your students. Find course and register here.

Counselling Centre

A new Mindfulness Short Course is now available on the ANU Counselling Centre website along with a whole range of talking tips on common student issues.

Ethics training

Twice monthly Human Ethics Training sessions

Library

The ANU Library will begin semester one opening hours starting on Monday 25 February. WK Hancock and JB Chifley branches continue to have 24/7 access. All Library branch opening hours are available on the Library website.

A free shuttle to the NLA departs on the hour from 10am to 5pm, Monday to Friday from Hancock to the National Library of Australia. Look for the yellow and blue bus at Biology Place, the road next to Hancock Library. The ANU Campus Traveller bus can be tracked in real time using the ANUOK app.

ANU Archives
The manuscript collections of Professor Frank Fenner held by the ANU Archives, Australian Academy of Science and the University of Adelaide Archives, have been recognised as one of eleven new inscriptions in the UNESCO Australian Memory of the World Register. This Register contains a selective list of Australia’s significant and influential documents. The ANU Archives holds a series of awards, medals, publications and papers of Frank Fenner. Visit the ANU Archives website to find out more about the collections available for all researchers. 

ANU Press

New this month from the ANU Press:

Pacific Exposures: Photography and the Australia–Japan Relationship
Photography has been a key means by which Australians have sought to define their relationships with Japan. The remarkable photographs collected and discussed in this book for the first time shed new light on the history of Australia’s engagement with its most important regional partner. Pacific Exposures argues that photographs tell an important story of cultural production, response and reaction—not only about how Australians have pictured Japan over the decades, but how they see their own place in the Asia-Pacific.

Atlas of Butterflies and Diurnal Moths in the Monsoon Tropics of Northern Australia
Northern Australia is one of few tropical places left on Earth in which biodiversity—and the ecological processes underpinning that biodiversity—is still relatively intact. However, scientific knowledge of that biodiversity is still in its infancy and the region remains a frontier for biological discovery. Written by several experts in the field, the main purpose of this atlas is to compile a comprehensive inventory of the butterflies and diurnal moths of northern Australia to form the scientific baseline against which the extent and direction of change can be assessed in the future.

The Lives of Stories: Three Aboriginal-Settler Friendships
This book traces three stories of Aboriginal–settler friendships that intersect with the ways in which Australians remember founding national stories, build narratives for cultural revival, and work on reconciliation and self-determination. Each is an intimate story about people involved in relationships of goodwill, care, adoptive kinship and mutual learning across cultures, and the strains of maintaining or relinquishing these bonds as they took part in the larger events that signified the colonisation of Aboriginal lands by the British.

All titles can be purchase or download for free from the ANU Press website.

Statistical Consulting Unit

The Statistical Consulting Unit (SCU) would like to thank Dr Teresa Neeman for her work at the SCU. Terry worked at the SCU for 11 years, providing one-on-one consulting to students and staff around the ANU. Terry has also mentored PhD students in the College of Medicine, Biology and the Environment and the College of Arts and Social Sciences. Terry has contributed towards over 60 publications, particularly focusing on biological research. We wish Terry the best luck at her new position at the ANU Biology Data Science Institute.

ANU Technology Transfer Office

Do you have a question about the commercialisation of your research? Not sure where or how to get started? Find out more about how the TTO can help you here.

Postgraduate & Research Students' Association (PARSA)

Shut Up and Write (SUAW) facilitated day and night sessions will be continuing with some great additions and changes to its delivery. SUAW is held at the Molly Huxley Room at University House. To stay up to date with session times and SUAW opportunities, or to register for a session, please visit the PARSA website here.

From the Thesis Whisperer

Roll of Honour

Warm congratulations to these following students who have been recently approved to graduate from their PhD or MPhil. Well done all!

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