ASC National Conference 2012

The Sydney Masonic Centre has been selected as the venue for the ASC conference. It has impressive facilities and is well located. The dates for the conference are 27-29 February 2012. Very shortly Rod Lamberts will issue the call for papers for the research stream of the conference.

Rod has lined up a significant keynote speaker and I expect that we can build some important sessions around this dignitary. I’ll leave it to Rod to make the the relevant announcements soon.

I’m looking forward to a thought provoking three days. Be sure to mark it in your diaries and attend what I anticipate will be a terrific group of sessions.

Jesse Shore

National President

Tall Poppy Awards – Judging now underway

The Science Excellence Awards is South Australia’s premier event to recognise and reward outstanding scientific endeavour, including its application in industry and the advancement of science and mathematics education.

New categories for Awards

This year’s Awards are being launched with an exciting new set of categories focussed on high achievers in the early stages of their careers, including PhD graduates and early career STEM professionals and educators.

Judging is now underway. Finalists will be announced mid October and a Gala Dinner will be held at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre on November 3rd. All eight 2011 SA Tall Poppies will be invited to the event where the TPoY will be announced and awarded.

More information:http://www.scienceawards.sa.gov.au/

New look for ASC Website & Scope

A big thanks to James Hutson for putting a lot of (volunteer) effort into reviving the ASC website – the new look is fresh and clear – we love it!

Also, our new Scope editors, Sally Miles and Silvia Piviali, have given our newsletter a new look. Sally, Silvia and I welcome suggestions from members for content and further ideas for making Scope more valuable.

I like the section listing Internet sites of interest. This is one area where members can surely contribute new or refreshed websites that they have come across, that address science communication and related areas.

Given the growing flood of information, it’s useful to have many eyes to help pick the plums from the orchard.

Jesse Shore

National President

Victorian Branch

VICTORIA

The Victorian Committee of the ASC promotes and supports science communication by organising professional development and networking events for local ASC members. We invite knowledgeable and relevant professionals to speak on current issues relating to science communication.

Previous Events

The Brain That Repairs Itself?
Tuesday September 13 2011

Dr Clare Parish and Dr Lachlan Thompson, from the Florey Neuroscience Institutes, gave a special talk to ASC members about the latest treatments for neurological conditions including stroke, motor neuron disease, Huntington’s disease and Parkinson’s disease. Stem cell therapy offers a contemporary way forward for people seeking treatment for these neurological conditions.   Clare and Lachlan are trying to stop brain degeneration by placing genetic material directly into a cell, delivering signals to tell the cell to stay alive.

Novel sci-comm activities targeting adults
Tuesday 2 August 2011
The Victorian re-science team ( www.re-science.org.au ) has been piloting novel events in unusual venues and everyday environments which target adult audiences. Whether it is scientists presenting at the local fruit ‘n’ veg market or a drama & science performance at Melbourne Anglican Cathedral these ideas are novel experiments in science communication.

Communicating science in a crisis
Tuesday 5 July 2011
Ed Sykes from the Australian Science Media Centre and Dr Mark Quigley, Department of Geological Sciences, University of Canterbury, Christchurch to discussed how scientists, science communicators and the media dealt with this year’s natural disasters. What are the lessons for future reporting?

Science Centric 2010
Bring along your colleagues and friends for a social evening, a chance to meet Melbourne’s leading science communicators and to find out about ASC future activities and plans.

What do the public really think?
How easy is it to conduct a survey? What can surveys reveal? And how can we use them to better direct our communication efforts. A discussion on public surveys, polls and focus groups with speakers from the academic, private and government sectors.

Bushfire Science: communicating in an emotionally charged environment
Using the Black Saturday bushfires as a case study, panellists discussed the role of scientists, science communicators and the media in communicating science in an emotionally charged environment.

Brochures, banners and budgets. Oh my!
A designer, a publisher and a typographer provided insights about design matters and the sometimes complex journey in producing printed resources such as public brochures, banners and annual reports.

 

Web 2.0: A practical info session for science communicators
A fascinating discussion on the world of Web 2.0 with experts and academics speaking about the possibilities for science communicators.

Science Centric 2009
A “meet up” for science communicators and their mates held at the Three Degrees Bar and Brewery in central Melbourne.

Movember – Science communication and men’s health
Health communicators, scientists and staff from ‘Movember’ led a panel discussion on how we might better communicate the science of men’s health issues.

ASC Victorian Committee (2010–2011)

President: Ian Muchamore  vic_president@asc.asn.au

Vice President: Laura Miles

Treasurer: Jason Major

State Representative to National ASC Council: Maia Sauren

Committee Members: Niall Byrne, James Hutson, Adrienne Jones, Vivienne Lee, L.E. Ohman

Updated September 2011

 

15th Annual Kenneth Myer Lecture by Prof. David Attwell

The Florey Neuroscience Institutes presents the 15 Kenneth Myer Lecture Brain Power” by Prof David Attwell

Have you ever wondered how our brains have evolved over the years? Or why it is still not possible to do a brain transplant?

This year’s lecture will feature leading British neuroscientist Professor David Attwell, an inspiring speaker and world expert in brain signals, who will  be talking about how electrical signals are used to think, how these signals are used to represent information in the brain, and how they can fail in brain disease.

This free public lecture is in memory of Kenneth B Myer, one of the founding benefactors of the Howard Florey Institute.

Since 1992, the Florey has invited many internationally distinguished scientists to speak to the Melbourne community

 Date: Tuesday 4th October 2011

Time: 6pm

Venue: The Plenary

                Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre

                1 Convention Centre Place, South Wharf

                Melbourne 3006

 Places are limited. Please call Jade on 03 9035 8629 or email jade.sarna@florey.edu.au to reserve your seat/s.

Alternatively you can register to attend online at www.florey.edu.au

For more information on transport and parking please visit www.mcec.com.au

Pressure for positive results puts science under threat, study shows

Scientific research may be in decline across the globe because of growing pressures to report only positive results, new analysis suggests.

A study by the University of Edinburgh examined more than 4,600 scientific research papers published between 1990 and 2007 and found a steady decline in studies in which the findings contradicted scientific hypotheses.

Papers reporting null or negative findings are in principle as useful as positive ones, but they attract fewer readers and citations, so scientific journals tend to reject them.

It is acknowledged among scientists that this problem might be worsening, because competition in science is growing and jobs and grants are given to scientists who publish frequently in high-ranking journals. Many researchers, therefore, have speculated that scientists will increasingly pursue predictable outcomes and produce positive results through re-interpretation, selection or even manipulation of data.

The study examined research papers in which a hypothesis had been tested, in various scientific disciplines. Over the period studied, positive results grew from around 70 per cent in 1990 to 86 per cent in 2007. The growth was strongest in economics, business, clinical medicine, psychology, psychiatry, pharmacology and molecular biology.

The findings, published in Scientometrics, also show that papers reporting positive results are more frequent in the US than in Europe.

Dr Daniele Fanelli of the University’s Institute for the Study of Science, Technology and Innovation, who led the study, said: “Either journals are rejecting more negative results, or scientists are producing more positives. It is most likely a combination of both.

“Without negative evidence in the literature, scientists might misestimate the importance of phenomena and waste resources replicating failed studies. The higher frequency of US papers reporting positive findings may suggest that problems linked to competition are greater in the US than elsewhere.”

Science @ the Brisbane Writers Festival 2011

Discover a host of interesting internationals and exciting new Australian writers at the Brisbane Writers Festival 2011!

Panels of interest include:

  • The Ten Desires That Drive Us – Hugh Mackay
  • People are Animals Too – Andrew Westoll
  • Geeks, Freaks and Eggheads – Barry Brook
  • Green by Degrees- Polly Higgins
  • Why vs. Why: Nuclear Power – Ian Lowe

Take advantage of the BWF 3 for $39 ticket offer to catch a couple of your favourites in conversation, and use your third ticket to experience an intriguing, new writer in the Festival program.

What: Brisbane Writers Festival
When: Friday 9 – Saturday 10 Sep, 2011
Where: State Library of Queensland
To learn more: check out the BWF website.

Double Helix Events

CSIRO Education in Brisbane offers a great range of holiday and after-school science events for kids of all ages.

Kids can learn how to set up a scientific experiment, find out what makes a colour and how they can mix and change colours, program a robot to dance, build a spaghetti bridge and marshmallow tower, or go on a GPS scavenger hunt.

Bookings are essential for all programs.

What: CSIRO Double Helix holiday events
When: 1-29 September, 2011
Where: CSIRO Education’s centre at the EcoSciences Precinct in Dutton Park, Brisbane
To learn more: check out the Double Helix website.

Garrett and Heath on sustainability

Queensland’s Chief Scientist Dr Geoff Garrett and Queensland Solar City community engagement manager Julie Heath will be joining us for drinks at this September’s get-together. The Theme of the night will be Sustainability in Queensland – Science and the Environment.

Dr Garrett was appointed Queensland Chief Scientist from January 2011, after 8 years as Chief Executive and member of the Board of CSIRO.

The Queensland Solar City project is part of the Australian Government’s leading-edge Solar Cities program.

The project will trial a range of initiatives that aim to reduce wasteful energy usage, increase solar energy usage and cut greenhouse gas emissions by more than 50,000 tonnes.

What:

Sustainability in Queensland – Science and the Environment

When:

Wednesday 14th Spetember 2011, 6pm-8pm

Where:

Ship Inn, Cnr Stanley & Sidon Streets Southbank Parklands

Entry:

Free. Meals and drinks at bar prices

RSVP:

Please RSVP robbie[at]econnect.com.au ASAP so we can cater for numbers