Staff Bulletin 4 June 2012
Date posted: Monday 4 Jun 2012
In this issue:
Transit of Venus
Next Wednesday 6 June will see a once-in-a-lifetime event, as Venus passes directly between the Earth and the Sun, The Transit of Venus will begin at 8.16am and last about six and a half hours.
This planetary spectacle occurs in a pattern that repeats every 243 years, with pairs of transits eight years apart separated by long gaps. The last transit was in 2004 and the next won't occur until December 2117.
To mark the occasion Swinburne astronomers will set up the university's refracting telescope at the base of the ATC building, from 9.00am and keep moving it to follow the Sun.
Staff and students will be able to look at Venus and the Sun through a sun funnel which will project the image onto a 13cm circular screen. But everyone is warned to NOT look directly at the Sun.Associate Professor Sarah Maddison discusses what we can learn from the Transit of Venus in an interview with Peter Spinks from The Age.
VC writes for the Australian
Read the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Linda Kristjanson's opinion piece published in The Australian last week.
In this piece, Professor Kristjanson highlights that education and innovation will drive Australia's economic success and that more than ever this will depend on higher skills and deeper expertise.
She writes about the demand driven system and outlines areas of under performance in the sector that need greater attention and makes suggestions for tackling these areas.
Swinburne ALL Strategy project
The first stage of Swinburne's Academic Language and Learning (ALL) strategy is now complete. An over-arching plan has been identified based on meeting students' academic language and learning needs.
The second stage of the project is now underway and a Project Advisory Team has been created to ensure the strategy aligns with other university-wide strategies. A project team will then develop an action plan to bring the strategy to life.
Over the coming weeks members of the ALL Project will be contacting staff for input into strategies and action plans for the second stage of the ALL Project.
Find out more about the project.
Karl Glazebrook earns prestigious citation
Astrophysicist Professor Karl Glazebrook has been named one of the 12 most influential Australian researchers at the 2012 Thomson Reuters Australia Citation and Innovation Awards.
The Thomson Reuters Australia Citation and Innovation awards recognise Australia's continuing influence on international scientific research and innovation and range across the sciences.
The recipients were selected based on citation impact and patent analysis completed by Thomson Reuters, the world's largest international multimedia news agency, using their Web of Science and research evaluation tool InCites.
Find out more about Karl Glazebrook.
Astronomy lecture
Staff are invited to attend a lecture on The secret life of an elliptical galaxy presented by third year PhD student Christina Blom.
Christina will discuss the uniform appearance of elliptical galaxies and how they often have complex and disturbed formation histories.
It is vital to understand how these galaxies form since elliptical galaxies contain the highest proportion of stars in the universe and the largest ones dominate galaxy clusters.
When: Tuesday 12 June, 6.30pm
Where: ATC101, Hawthorn campus
Fully funded PD opportunity
The National Centre for Sustainability and project partners are offering an opportunity for VET practitioners to complete the TAE Sustainable Practice Skill Set as part of the implementation of the national Green Skills Agreement.
The Sustainable Practice Skill Set units to be completed are:
TAESUS501A - Analyse and apply sustainability skills to learning programs
TAESUS502A - Identify and apply current sustainability education principles and practice to learning programs
For more information on the program email Elizabeth Akister by 15 June.
Study seeking participants
Swinburne's Centre for Human Psychopharmacology is looking for participants to participate in a study on how to treat depression.
The study is investigating responses to antidepressants in depressive disorders and is seeking participants who are over the age of 18 who have symptoms of depression.
Participation will involve two visits to the Centre for Human Psychopharmacology and seven online surveys to complete over 12 months.
Visits will include cognitive testing, EEG and a blood test. Researchers will work closely with your doctor during the course of study participation.
Participants will be reimbursed for their time.
For more information email Karen Savage or call ext. 8267.
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